Session 5.6 The role of informal social networks in agroforestry adoption and management
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Transcript of Session 5.6 The role of informal social networks in agroforestry adoption and management
The role of informal social networks in agroforestry adoption and management
Marney E. IsaacUniversity of Toronto
World Congress on Agroforestry, Feb. 2014
Collaborators:Forestry Research Institute of Ghana
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Funding:International Development Research Centre
Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Agroforestry management under environmental and economic change
– Continuously changing biophysical interactions operate in diverse agroforestry systems
– Producers require access to specialized information in order to appropriately manage productive and persistent systems
Agroforestry and networks
• Agroforestry management prescriptions are based on informed diagnosis and manipulation of an agroecosystem
• To do this, producers may seek information from formal sources [e.g. organizations or institutions] or informal sources [e.g. neighbours]
• Reposition our understanding of adoption of sustainable practices relative to relational data = social networks
Theoretical considerations
• Network theory suggests both information and transfer via personal network ties (Granovetter 1973; Coleman 1991; Burt 1992; Rogers 1995)– Information related to a particular practice is frequently
embedded in social transactions • Social network configurations differentially impact diffusion
and durability of ideas:– Understanding barriers to access and identifying key
actors in the development and transfer of critical information
Information networks of agroforestry systems
• 1) what is the structure, and environmental consequence, of informal information networks?
• 2) how do heterogeneous actors impact network structures and agroforestry practices?
• 3) do distinct information network topologies coincide with predictable patterns of land use change to and from agroforestry?
Whole network structure
Isaac et al (2007) Ecology and Society
How do organizational ties affect the structure of these networks?
Are these networks correlated to adoption of agroforestry?
• Individuals in diffuse but diverse networks with few redundant ties are more likely to report trees on farm• Dense, homophilous networks, which often promote collective action, may be less effective in innovation
driven agricultural systems
Isaac (2012) Agricultural Systems
r = 0.41; P = 0.043
Individual network density
0 20 40 60 80
Sp
eci
es r
ich
ne
ss
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
r = 0.35; P < 0.100
Individual network efficiency
Source: Van Geest 2011 International Migration
Agroforestry information networks exposed to new members
Agroforestry information networks exposed to new members
Agroforestry information networks exposed to new members
o Migrant farmers in brokerage roleso Tend to use pro-environmental management
regimes including agroforestry practices o Positioned to transfer environmentally-adapted
agroforestry management
Isaac et al (2014) Ecology and Society
Socio-spatial dynamics of agroforestry management
• Do network topologies correlate with land use change to and from agroforestry systems?
• Manage three types of land use:• Crop cultivation• Timber plantations • Cocoa agroforestry systems
Dynamic land cover
Land use distribution= institution= NGO active= land use types
o Centrally positioned and NGO active farmers overrepresent those with multiple land use types
o Diverse, but not necessarily more, network ties correlate to land diversification and the emergence of agroforestry land use
Implications
• Network metrics relate to agroforestry management strategies• Couple social networks and actor position to land use outcomes • Social network diversity appears as a strong structural indicator
for the persistence of agricultural landscapes with high environmental services
• A social networks approach elucidates the flow and coordination of information on suitable but innovative agroforestry management
2012
2013
2012
2013
Collaborator
Coordinator
Gatekeeper
Liaison
Are network topologies related to land use change to and from
agroforestry systems?
Environmental change and networks
Source: Van Geest 2011 International Migration
Collaborator
Coordinator
Gatekeeper
Liaison
Adapted from Hanneman and Riddle 2005
Brokerage roles