Literature review: scaling agricultural technologies and innovation diffusion

USAID’s Bureau for Food Security (BFS) commissioned this literature review to identify evidence or evidence gaps on innovation diffusion and the related field of market strategy for scaling up new technologies, particularly in the context of agriculture markets in relevant developing countries. The review is expected to inform the design of future BFS programming related to the scaling of agricultural innovations. 

This review focuses on the literature in the marketing and technology diffusion field related to how innovations scale up through forms of diffusion and places it in the context of agriculture markets relevant to development in select countries. Its first part provides an overview of innovation diffusion modeling and the primary models associated with that field of study, along with a definition of relevant terms. Part II discusses the relevant findings based on a review of literature, organized into six sub-sections. The third and final part summarizes the most relevant topics and conclusions derived from the findings that are of relevance for BFS.