Inducing Innovation in Anaerobic Digestion Technology for Small- and Medium-Scale Farms through International Exchanges China, Brazil, and the United States

We address an important gap in knowledge, science, technology, policy and extension practices regarding innovation in and diffusion of anerobic digester technology for small- and medium-scale farms. The paper presents the current situation in the U.S., Brazil, and China regarding the state-of-art of AD technologies for such farms; and explores the potential for innovation in scale-appropriate AD technology through international exchanges among scientists and producers in the three nations. The U.S., Brazil, and China are major methane emitters with very large livestock sectors including a substantial number of small- and medium-scale farms. In the U.S. the vast majority of state resources to develop and install AD technology, useful for reducing methane emissions and producing power for the farm, are dedicated to larger-scale producers, and there has not been significant innovation in AD technologies for smaller farms. This situation occurs despite documented interest by smaller livestock producers in the U.S. for such investment and innovation. The same is true for Brazil. In China, by contrast, there is substantial investment and innovation in appropriate-sized AD for livestock farms. We explore the possible farm structure, policy and other explanations for the differences, and discuss our longer-term project to induce innovation in the smaller farm livestock sector along these lines through promoting the appropriate research trajectories, and the sharing of resources and information across the three nations. We wish to induce innovation in scale-appropriate AD technology for small-and medium-farms in the U.S. and Brazil especially- but also inform ongoing work in China. In the U.S. we are working with farmers, universities and the cooperative extension system. In Brazil we are working with scientists and the Landless Workers Movement, Latin America’s largest smallholder social movement, with over 1 million members. And the International Food Policy Institute is facilitating connections with Chinese scientists and producers.