IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/afjare/156980.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Interaction patterns determining improved information and knowledge sharing among smallholder farmers

Author

Listed:
  • Mashavave, T.
  • Mapfumo, P.
  • Mtambanengwe, F
  • Gwandu, T
  • Siziba, S

Abstract

Limited access to timely and adequate information has been identified as a major hindrance to smallholder agriculture in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. This has negatively affected the socio-economic welfare of smallholder farmers, resulting in high numbers of foodinsecure households. This paper explores the potential value of social interactions between smallholder farmers in improving integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) information and knowledge access and sharing, in the context of field-based learning alliances. With a particular focus on understanding the structural layout of the smallholder social network, the study quantified the connectedness of smallholder farmers along an innovation learning cycle. The study revealed that smallholder farmers within learning alliances had a denser network structure of social interactions. The magnitude of communication efficiency was generally higher for learning alliance participants than non-participants. Field-based learning alliances facilitated improved social interactions, subsequently shortening the innovation dissemination horizon and hence increasing the likelihood of ISFM adoption.

Suggested Citation

  • Mashavave, T. & Mapfumo, P. & Mtambanengwe, F & Gwandu, T & Siziba, S, 2013. "Interaction patterns determining improved information and knowledge sharing among smallholder farmers," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:afjare:156980
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.156980
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/156980/files/1.%20Mashavave%20et%20al%20Smallholder%20farmer%20interaction%20patterns.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.156980?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Awudu Abdulai & Wallace E. Huffman, 2005. "The Diffusion of New Agricultural Technologies: The Case of Crossbred-Cow Technology in Tanzania," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 87(3), pages 645-659.
    2. Oriana Bandiera & Imran Rasul, 2006. "Social Networks and Technology Adoption in Northern Mozambique," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(514), pages 869-902, October.
    3. Stephen P. Borgatti & Rob Cross, 2003. "A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 432-445, April.
    4. Pretty, Jules & Ward, Hugh, 2001. "Social Capital and the Environment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 209-227, February.
    5. Pedro Sanchez & Glenn Denning & Generose Nziguheba, 2009. "The African Green Revolution moves forward," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 1(1), pages 37-44, February.
    6. Krishna, Anirudh, 2001. "Moving from the Stock of Social Capital to the Flow of Benefits: The Role of Agency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 925-943, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ivan S. Adolwa & Stefan Schwarze & Imogen Bellwood-Howard & Nikolaus Schareika & Andreas Buerkert, 2017. "A comparative analysis of agricultural knowledge and innovation systems in Kenya and Ghana: sustainable agricultural intensification in the rural–urban interface," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 453-472, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Feng, Yao, 2011. "Local spillovers and learning from neighbors: Evidence from durable adoptions in rural China," MPRA Paper 33924, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Gobillon, Laurent & Wolff, François-Charles, 2020. "The local effects of an innovation: Evidence from the French fish market," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    3. Pacillo, Grazia, 2016. "Market participation, innovation adoption and poverty in rural Ghana," Economics PhD Theses 0916, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    4. Zhang, Biao & Fu, Zetian & Wang, Jieqiong & Zhang, Lingxian, 2019. "Farmers’ adoption of water-saving irrigation technology alleviates water scarcity in metropolis suburbs: A case study of Beijing, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 349-357.
    5. Fang, Di & Richards, Timothy, 2016. "New Maize Variety Adoption in Mozambique: A Spatial Approach," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235388, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Crentsil, Christian & Gschwandtner, Adelina & Wahhaj, Zaki, 2020. "The effects of risk and ambiguity aversion on technology adoption: Evidence from aquaculture in Ghana," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 46-68.
    7. Konda, Bruhan & González-Sauri, Mario & Cowan, Robin & Yashodha, Yashodha & Veetill, Prakashan Chellattan, 2021. "Social Networks and Agricultural Performance: A Multiplex Analysis of Interactions Among Indian Rice Farmers," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315134, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Abdulai, Awudu & Owusu, Victor & Bakang, John-Eudes A., 2011. "Adoption of safer irrigation technologies and cropping patterns: Evidence from Southern Ghana," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1415-1423, May.
    9. Sébastien Desbureaux & Eric Nazindigouba Kere & Pascale Combes Motel, 2016. "Impact Evaluation in a Landscape: Protected Natural Forests, Anthropized Forested Lands and Deforestation Leakages in Madagascar's Rainforests," Working Papers halshs-01342182, HAL.
    10. Varshney, Deepak & Joshi, P. K. & Kumar, A. & Mishra, A. K. & Dubey, S. K., 2022. "Examining the transfer of knowledge and training to smallholders in India: direct and spillover effects of agricultural advisory services in an emerging economy," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 160:106067..
    11. Catherine Ragasa & Jennifer Golan, 2014. "The role of rural producer organizations for agricultural service provision in fragile states," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(5), pages 537-553, September.
    12. Tesfamicheal Wossen & Thomas Berger & Salvatore Di Falco, 2015. "Social capital, risk preference and adoption of improved farm land management practices in Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(1), pages 81-97, January.
    13. Singha, C., 2018. "Analysing adoption of soil conservation measures by farmers in Darjeeling district, India," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277549, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Jing Li & Carla Barbieri, 2020. "Demystifying Members’ Social Capital and Networks within an Agritourism Association: A Social Network Analysis," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-18, December.
    15. Desbureaux Sébastien & Eric Kéré Nazindigouba & Combes Motel Pascale, 2016. "Working Paper 238 - Impact Evaluation in a Landscape: protected natural forests, anthropized forested lands and deforestation leakages in Madagascar’s rainforests," Working Paper Series 2341, African Development Bank.
    16. Chandan Singha, 2017. "Analyzing Adoption of soil Conservation Measures by Farmers in Darjeeling District, India," Working Papers id:12204, eSocialSciences.
    17. Lu, Wencong & Horlu, Godwin Seyram Agbemavor Kwasi, 2019. "Transition of small farms in Ghana: perspectives of farm heritage, employment and networks," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 434-452.
    18. Barham, James & Chitemi, Clarence, 2008. "Collective action initiatives to improve marketing performance: Lessons from farmer groups in Tanzania," CAPRi working papers 74, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Ira Matuschke & Matin Qaim, 2009. "The impact of social networks on hybrid seed adoption in India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(5), pages 493-505, September.
    20. Milanov, Hana & Justo, Rachida & Bradley, Steven W., 2015. "Making the most of group relationships: The role of gender and boundary effects in microcredit groups," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 822-838.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:afjare:156980. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaaeaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.