EXPLORING DYNAMIC MECHANISMS OF LEARNING NETWORKS FOR RESOURCE CONSERVATION (original) (raw)
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Social networks and environmental management at multiple levels: soil conservation in Sumatra
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Social networks influence farming practices and agrarian sustainability
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The social-ecological effects of agricultural intensification are complex. We explore farmers’ perceptions about the impacts of their land management and the impact of social information flows on their management through a case study in a farming community in Navarra, Spain, that is undergoing agricultural intensification due to adoption of large scale irrigation. We found that modern technology adopters are aware that their management practices often have negative social-ecological implications; by contrast, more traditional farmers tend to recognize their positive impacts on non-material benefits such as those linked with traditions and traditional knowledge, and climate regulation. We found that farmers’ awareness about nature contributions to people co-production and their land management decisions determine, in part, the structure of the social networks among the farming community. Since modern farmers are at the core of the social network, they are better able to control the i...
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This paper examines the existence of social learning in agriculture in Ethiopia. We use a ‘random matching within sample’ technique to collect data on social networks and elicit details of the relationships and information exchange between network members, complementing the analysis with information on self-reported networks. We find that, while kinship or membership in certain groups, informal forms of insurance, or having frequent meetings with network members are all associated with a higher probability of forming an information link, none of these are correlated with observed innovative behavior such as the adoption of row-planting. This may suggest that behavior is more likely to be affected by the nature of information that passes through the network, rather than the number of information links. In support of this, we find that information links that exclusively involve discussions on farming or business matters are indeed associated with a higher likelihood of adopting row-pl...
Social networks (SNs) are social frameworks that form good entry points for business and socioeconomic developments. Social networks are important for small-scale, resource-poor farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, who overly rely on informal sources of information. SNs provide opportunities for establishing effective functional multi-stakeholder Innovation Platforms (IPs) necessary for catalysing wide adoption of SLM innovations. This paper analyses the significance of SNs in sustainable land management (SLM), focusing on stakeholders' characteristics and their association among agricultural rural communities in central Ethiopia and eastern Uganda. The analysis conducted in both countries revealed a positive relationship between the strength of social networks and SLM innovation practices. The closeness of centralisation of networks in Ethiopian and Uganda was 56 and 45%, respectively; implying that only about half of the potential networks among partners actually function. The factors associated with strength of the networks included the age, the physical distance between partners, frequency of interaction, and source of information. Unfortunately, significant weaknesses remain in the existing networks. There exist several networks in both countries without active interactions with key actors in land management. Also, private sector networks particularly important in playing critical roles such as fostering market-led innovations for enhanced adoption, are conspicuously lacking.
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Studies in Agricultural Economics, 2015
This study empirically examined the effects of the participatory approach on the adoption of new crop varieties and agricultural practices. Particularly, we focused on the social network structure and examined how the introduced technologies diffused through networks in rural Ethiopia. Our empirical results indicate that if farmers knew and trusted fellow participants, the probability of adopting a new maize variety increased by 25 percentage points. However, this network had no statistical impact on the diffusion of new agricultural practices. We conclude that the participatory approach has great potential in the adoption of new crop varieties through the social networks of farmers in Ethiopia.
Conservation Agriculture (CA) knowledge systems are shaped by the power relationships among actors in the social systems and this influences how innovations maybe accepted or not by farmers. Using the Social Network Analysis (SNA), three scales of measurement, distance, centrality, and in and out degrees were used to determine actor centrality positions in the CA agricultural network. The objective was to determine which actor had the most power and if their positioning within the network could influence the CA knowledge diffusion process and therefore acceptance of the CA technology. The open source software, Social Network Visualizer (SocNetV) version 19, was used for the social network analysis. The study sample was purposively selected and a household survey conducted for 150 CA farmers, key informant interviews for eleven policy makers and four Information Communication Technology (ICT) service providers in the three wards of Tigithi, Ngobit and Umande in Laikipia County, Kenya. Key findings suggest that the emergence of power and influence in a network are closely related to the positioning of an actor. In this study, the farmers occupied the position of prominence and influence for both the Information and Power centrality. Also noted was that even in loosely knit networks, there is a pattern of relationships that shapes the dynamics of how knowledge networks function. In this network 84 possible relationships were observed, however for optimal functioning of the network, there were 462 possible relationships. Findings also indicate that farmers rely heavily on fellow farmers for acceptance and validation of innovations. The implication is that although a network may function with a few essential links, for the successful diffusion of an innovation, all possible links have to be utilized. By their position of power and influence in the network, farmers have to be engaged in all knowledge processes for the acceptance of the CA technology. RUFORUM Working Document Series (ISSN 1607-9345) No. 14 (1): 371-383. Available from http://repository.ruforum.org