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Factors Influencing The Adoption Behavior Of Coffee Producers

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Selected explanatory variables
A micro-level approach was used in order to test which factors influence the adoption behavior of coffee producers with regard to SMPs. The model incorporates farm and management characteristics, the socioeconomic profile of producers and social capital indicators. Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics of the data collected.
Several factors that were considered are accepted as common predictors of adoption in developing countries. However, three questions related to explanatory variables were not included in the final questionnaire. Firstly, we did not take into account access to bank loans since coffee farmers in Mexico are mostly unable to obtain investment credit from lending institutions. Producers usually have the option of obtaining short term financing (cash advances) either from local traders or from coffee cooperatives for those who are members. However, the availability of long term credit has virtually disappeared making it difficult for producers to defer the costs of implementing new practices over several years (AMECAFE, 2009).
Secondly, tenure arrangements were not considered since households in the sampled area are governed by a communal land resources committee, an institution independent of the municipality. Under this system, producers hold usufruct rights to their coffee parcels. While a 1991 amendment to the Mexican constitution made the privatization of communal lands (ejidos) possible it remains the dominant type

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