one in an underdeveloped region like Ekumdipe. However, I did not study the human barriers to success as much as I studied the potential pitfalls of the physical system itself. Sure, I surveyed the participants under the assumption that they were rational human beings that would automatically want to participate in the system to make more money, but was that even a safe assumption to make? After all, during the dry-season, people are normally idle. Was it safe for me to assume that they did not enjoy this off period more than they would enjoy the fruits of additional labor? I approached Professor Freeman, as well as my new thesis advisor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Sociology, Professor David Ager, with my new concerns. Both of them encouraged me to bolster my research on the human component of development, and Professor Ager even specifically suggested that I start researching the subject of diffusion of innovations. The first book he suggested to me was Diffusion of Innovations by Everett M. Rogers. I started with that piece of literature and then proceeded to explore more literature on the subject (more on this is in the Chapter 5). The second task that I knew I needed to accomplish if I was going to reduce my dependency on Professor Bawa and ensure the success of Phase 2 of the project was revamping the method by which I communicated with the farmers in Ekumdipe. The fact that I received notice of the underperformance of the irrigation system in late Spring was unacceptable. Several months had passed between that time when Darryl left Ekumdipe and when I was notified of the underperformance of the irrigation system. Although there were plenty of opportunities for me to receive notice that things were not going well this information was never communicated to me. This was not Professor Bawa’s fault, as he was not frequently around the village and did not know of many of the ongoing issues
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