IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v40y2023i3d10.1007_s10460-023-10415-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Male and stale? Questioning the role of “opinion leaders” in agricultural programs

Author

Listed:
  • Petr Matous

    (University of Sydney)

Abstract

Social networks can influence people’s behaviour and therefore it is assumed that central individuals in social networks, also called “opinion leaders”, play a key role in driving change in agricultural and food systems. I analyse the outcomes of an intervention (that encouraged Sulawesi smallholder farmers to take a specific action toward improving the health of their cocoa trees) to assess the impact of engaging opinion leaders in agricultural programs that aim to change farmers’ practices. The intervention has been implemented through (a) 18 opinion leaders identified by interviews and a social network survey of 1885 cocoa farmers; and (b) 18 randomly selected farmers who were not central in local social networks. The obtained social networks and statistical data were quantitatively analysed and the results were interpreted with input from the field staff. Contrary to expectations, the highly socially central opinion leaders were not more effective in promoting the initiative in their communities. On average, randomly selected low-centrality farmers convinced almost twice as many of their peers to take the recommended action as compared to the identified opinion leaders (17.1 versus 8.6) but the variation within the random group was also significantly higher. Importantly, while the identified opinion leaders were mostly senior men, women performed better in influencing others into taking action even when their centrality in local social networks of agricultural advice was lower. I discuss the implications of the conventional selection of perceived opinion leaders as model farmers for achieving sustainable and equitable change at scale in agriculture and propose practical alternatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Petr Matous, 2023. "Male and stale? Questioning the role of “opinion leaders” in agricultural programs," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(3), pages 1205-1220, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:40:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s10460-023-10415-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-023-10415-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-023-10415-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-023-10415-9?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aaron Thompson & Adam Reimer & Linda Prokopy, 2015. "Farmers’ views of the environment: the influence of competing attitude frames on landscape conservation efforts," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(3), pages 385-399, September.
    2. Kristen Nelson & Rachel Brummel & Nicholas Jordan & Steven Manson, 2014. "Social networks in complex human and natural systems: the case of rotational grazing, weak ties, and eastern US dairy landscapes," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(2), pages 245-259, June.
    3. Feder, Gershon & Savastano, Sara, 2006. "The role of opinion leaders in the diffusion of new knowledge: The case of integrated pest management," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1287-1300, July.
    4. Munthali, Nyamwaya & van Paassen, Annemarie & Leeuwis, Cees & Lie, Rico & van Lammeren, Ron & Aguilar-Gallegos, Norman & Oppong-Mensah, Birgitta, 2021. "Social media platforms, open communication and problem solving in the back-office of Ghanaian extension: A substantive, structural and relational analysis," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    5. Naama Teschner & Daniel E. Orenstein, 2022. "A transdisciplinary study of agroecological niches: understanding sustainability transitions in vineyards," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 33-45, March.
    6. Kabirigi, Michel & Abbasiharofteh, Milad & Sun, Zhanli & Hermans, Frans, 2022. "The importance of proximity dimensions in agricultural knowledge and innovation systems: The case of banana disease management in Rwanda," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    7. Vanesse Labeyrie & Bernard Rono & Christian Leclerc, 2014. "How social organization shapes crop diversity: an ecological anthropology approach among Tharaka farmers of Mount Kenya," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(1), pages 97-107, March.
    8. Adam Reimer & Aaron Thompson & Linda Prokopy, 2012. "The multi-dimensional nature of environmental attitudes among farmers in Indiana: implications for conservation adoption," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(1), pages 29-40, March.
    9. Skaalsveen, Kamilla & Ingram, Julie & Urquhart, Julie, 2020. "The role of farmers' social networks in the implementation of no-till farming practices," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    10. Sartas, Murat & Schut, Marc & Proietti, Claudio & Thiele, Graham & Leeuwis, Cees, 2020. "Scaling Readiness: Science and practice of an approach to enhance impact of research for development," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    11. Michele L. Barnes & Peng Wang & Joshua E. Cinner & Nicholas A. J. Graham & Angela M. Guerrero & Lorien Jasny & Jacqueline Lau & Sarah R. Sutcliffe & Jessica Zamborain-Mason, 2020. "Social determinants of adaptive and transformative responses to climate change," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 10(9), pages 823-828, September.
    12. Till Rockenbauch & Patrick Sakdapolrak & Harald Sterly, 2019. "Correction to: Do translocal networks matter for agricultural innovation? A case study on advice sharing in small-scale farming communities in Northeast Thailand," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(4), pages 703-703, December.
    13. Shrestha, Ram K. & Alavalapati, Janaki R. R. & Kalmbacher, Robert S., 2004. "Exploring the potential for silvopasture adoption in south-central Florida: an application of SWOT-AHP method," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 185-199, September.
    14. Karolin Andersson & Katarina Pettersson & Johanna Bergman Lodin, 2022. "Window dressing inequalities and constructing women farmers as problematic—gender in Rwanda’s agriculture policy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1245-1261, December.
    15. Centola, Damon & Eguíluz, Víctor M. & Macy, Michael W., 2007. "Cascade dynamics of complex propagation," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 374(1), pages 449-456.
    16. Neilson, Jeff, 2008. "Global Private Regulation and Value-Chain Restructuring in Indonesian Smallholder Coffee Systems," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 1607-1622, September.
    17. Boun My, Kene & Nguyen-Van, Phu & Kim Cuong Pham, Thi & Stenger, Anne & Tiet, Tuyen & To-The, Nguyen, 2022. "Drivers of organic farming: Lab-in-the-field evidence of the role of social comparison and information nudge in networks in Vietnam," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    18. Anne M. Cafer & J. Sanford Rikoon, 2018. "Adoption of new technologies by smallholder farmers: the contributions of extension, research institutes, cooperatives, and access to cash for improving tef production in Ethiopia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(3), pages 685-699, September.
    19. Shawn A. Trivette, 2019. "The importance of food retailers: applying network analysis techniques to the study of local food systems," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(1), pages 77-90, March.
    20. Wiltrud Terlau & Darya Hirsch & Michael Blanke, 2019. "Smallholder farmers as a backbone for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 523-529, May.
    21. Bin Wu & Liyan Zhang, 2013. "Farmer innovation diffusion via network building: a case of winter greenhouse diffusion in China," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(4), pages 641-651, December.
    22. Till Rockenbauch & Patrick Sakdapolrak & Harald Sterly, 2019. "Do translocal networks matter for agricultural innovation? A case study on advice sharing in small-scale farming communities in Northeast Thailand," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(4), pages 685-702, December.
    23. Li, Fuduo & Zhang, Kangjie & Ren, Jing & Yin, Changbin & Zhang, Yang & Nie, Jun, 2021. "Driving mechanism for farmers to adopt improved agricultural systems in China: The case of rice-green manure crops rotation system," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    24. Hikaru Hanawa Peterson & Gail Feenstra & Marcia Ostrom & Keiko Tanaka & Christy Anderson Brekken & Gwenael Engelskirchen, 2022. "The value of values-based supply chains: farmer perspective," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 385-403, March.
    25. Kene Boun My & Phu Nguyen-Van & Thi Kim Cuong Pham & Anne Stenger & Tuyen Tiet & Nguyen To-The, 2022. "Drivers of organic farming: Lab-in-the-field evidence of the role of social comparison and information nudge in networks in Vietnam," Post-Print hal-03727783, HAL.
    26. Thomas W. Valente & Rebecca L. Davis, 1999. "Accelerating the Diffusion of Innovations Using Opinion Leaders," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 566(1), pages 55-67, November.
    27. Kim S. Alexander & Garry Greenhalgh & Magnus Moglia & Manithaythip Thephavanh & Phonevilay Sinavong & Silva Larson & Tom Jovanovic & Peter Case, 2020. "What is technology adoption? Exploring the agricultural research value chain for smallholder farmers in Lao PDR," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(1), pages 17-32, March.
    28. Isaac, Marney E., 2012. "Agricultural information exchange and organizational ties: The effect of network topology on managing agrodiversity," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 9-15.
    29. Seán M. Muller, 2015. "Causal Interaction and External Validity: Obstacles to the Policy Relevance of Randomized Evaluations," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(suppl_1), pages 217-225.
    30. Andriamihaja, O. Ravaka & Metz, Florence & Zaehringer, Julie G. & Fischer, Manuel & Messerli, Peter, 2021. "Identifying agents of change for sustainable land governance," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    31. Joe Peters, 2001. "Transforming the ``model'' approach to upland rural development in Vietnam," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 18(4), pages 403-412, December.
    32. Knowler, Duncan & Bradshaw, Ben, 2007. "Farmers' adoption of conservation agriculture: A review and synthesis of recent research," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 25-48, February.
    33. Rick S. Llewellyn & Brendan Brown, 2020. "Predicting Adoption of Innovations by Farmers: What is Different in Smallholder Agriculture?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 100-112, March.
    34. Faustina Obeng Adomaa & Sietze Vellema & Maja Slingerland & Richard Asare, 2022. "The adoption problem is a matter of fit: tracing the travel of pruning practices from research to farm in Ghana’s cocoa sector," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(3), pages 921-935, September.
    35. Slijper, Thomas & Urquhart, Julie & Poortvliet, P. Marijn & Soriano, Bárbara & Meuwissen, Miranda P.M., 2022. "Exploring how social capital and learning are related to the resilience of Dutch arable farmers," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    36. Melissa Parks, 2022. "Exploring the influence of social and informational networks on small farmers’ responses to climate change in Oregon," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(4), pages 1407-1419, December.
    37. Junquera, Victoria & Rubenstein, Daniel I. & Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne & Knaus, Florian, 2022. "Structural change in agriculture and farmers' social contacts: Insights from a Swiss mountain region," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    38. Alamgir Hossain, Shah M. & Crouch, Bruce R., 1992. "Patterns and determinants of adoption of farm practices: Some evidence from Bangladesh," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-15.
    39. Tian, Dong & Zhang, Min & Zhao, Anping & Wang, Bo & Shi, Jia & Feng, Jianying, 2021. "Agent-based modeling and simulation of edible fungi growers' adoption behavior towards fungal chaff recycling technology," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    40. Simon Heß & Dany Jaimovich & Matthias Schündeln, 2021. "Development Projects and Economic Networks: Lessons from Rural Gambia [Network Structure and the Aggregation of Information: Theory and Evidence from Indonesia]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(3), pages 1347-1384.
    41. Winnie Wangari Wairimu & Ian Christoplos & Dorothea Hilhorst, 2016. "From crisis to development: the policy and practice of agricultural service provision in northern Uganda," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(4), pages 799-812, December.
    42. Woltering, L. & Fehlenberg, K. & Gerard, B. & Ubels, J. & Cooley, L., 2019. "Scaling – from “reaching many” to sustainable systems change at scale: A critical shift in mindset," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    43. Wendy Harcourt, 2017. "Gender and sustainable livelihoods: linking gendered experiences of environment, community and self," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(4), pages 1007-1019, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Gaitán-Cremaschi, Daniel & Klerkx, Laurens & Aguilar-Gallegos, Norman & Duncan, Jessica & Pizzolón, Alejandro & Dogliotti, Santiago & Rossing, Walter A.H., 2022. "Public food procurement from family farming: A food system and social network perspective," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    2. Mariel, Juliette & Sanchez, Isabelle & Verzelen, Nicolas & Massol, François & Carrière, Stéphanie M. & Labeyrie, Vanesse, 2024. "The role of farmers' networks in sourcing planting material and information in a context of agroforestry transition in Madagascar," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    3. Izak B. Foster & Trevor McIntyre & Natalie S. Haussmann, 2019. "Understanding the relationship between farmers and burrowing mammals on South African farms: are burrowers friends or foes?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(4), pages 719-731, December.
    4. Kim S. Alexander & Garry Greenhalgh & Magnus Moglia & Manithaythip Thephavanh & Phonevilay Sinavong & Silva Larson & Tom Jovanovic & Peter Case, 2020. "What is technology adoption? Exploring the agricultural research value chain for smallholder farmers in Lao PDR," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(1), pages 17-32, March.
    5. David Weisberger & Melissa Ann Ray & Nicholas T. Basinger & Jennifer Jo Thompson, 2024. "Chemical, ecological, other? Identifying weed management typologies within industrialized cropping systems in Georgia (U.S.)," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 41(3), pages 935-953, September.
    6. Skaalsveen, Kamilla & Ingram, Julie & Urquhart, Julie, 2020. "The role of farmers' social networks in the implementation of no-till farming practices," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    7. Gabrielle E. Roesch-McNally & J. Gordon Arbuckle & John Charles Tyndall, 2017. "What would farmers do? Adaptation intentions under a Corn Belt climate change scenario," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 333-346, June.
    8. Markow, Jekaterina & Fieldsend, Andrew F. & Münchhausen, Susanne von & Häring, Anna Maria, 2023. "Building agricultural innovation capacity from the bottom up: Using spillover effects from projects to strengthen agricultural innovation systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    9. Han, Guang & Niles, Meredith T., 2023. "An adoption spectrum for sustainable agriculture practices: A new framework applied to cover crop adoption," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    10. McGuire, Erin & Al-Zu'bi, Maha & Boa-Alvarado, Maria & Luu, Thi Thu Giang & Sylvester, Janelle M. & Leñero, Eva Marina Valencia, 2024. "Equity principles: Using social theory for more effective social transformation in agricultural research for development," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    11. Blazquez-Soriano, Amparo & Ramos-Sandoval, Rosmery, 2022. "Information transfer as a tool to improve the resilience of farmers against the effects of climate change: The case of the Peruvian National Agrarian Innovation System," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    12. Ryschawy, Julie & Tiffany, Sara & Gaudin, Amélie & Niles, Meredith T. & Garrett, Rachael D., 2021. "Moving niche agroecological initiatives to the mainstream: A case-study of sheep-vineyard integration in California," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    13. Magnus Moglia & Kim S. Alexander & Silva Larson & Anne (Giger)-Dray & Garry Greenhalgh & Phommath Thammavong & Manithaythip Thephavanh & Peter Case, 2020. "Gendered Roles in Agrarian Transition: A Study of Lowland Rice Farming in Lao PDR," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-20, July.
    14. Tingting Liu & Randall J. F. Bruins & Matthew T. Heberling, 2018. "Factors Influencing Farmers’ Adoption of Best Management Practices: A Review and Synthesis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-26, February.
    15. Jessica Rudnick & Mark Lubell & Sat Darshan S. Khalsa & Stephanie Tatge & Liza Wood & Molly Sears & Patrick H. Brown, 2021. "A farm systems approach to the adoption of sustainable nitrogen management practices in California," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 783-801, September.
    16. Lu, Chen-Fu & Cheng, Chia-Yi, 2023. "Exploring the distribution of organic farming: Findings from certified rice in Taiwan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    17. Zimmerer, Karl S. & Olivencia, Yolanda Jiménez & Rodríguez, Laura Porcel & López-Estébanez, Nieves & Álvarez, Fernando Allende & Olmo, Rafael Mata & Ochoa, Carolina Yacamán & Pulpón, Ángel Raúl Ruiz &, 2022. "Assessing social-ecological connectivity of agricultural landscapes in Spain: Resilience implications amid agricultural intensification trends and urbanization," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    18. Rosalia Filippini & Maria Elena Marescotti & Eugenio Demartini & Anna Gaviglio, 2020. "Social Networks as Drivers for Technology Adoption: A Study from a Rural Mountain Area in Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-18, November.
    19. Pranay Ranjan & Jonathan D Witter, 2020. "Promoting adoption of two-stage agricultural drainage ditches: A change agent perspective," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, March.
    20. Cherine Akkari & Christopher Robin Bryant, 2017. "Toward Improved Adoption of Best Management Practices (BMPs) in the Lake Erie Basin: Perspectives from Resilience and Agricultural Innovation Literature," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-15, July.

    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:spr:agrhuv:v:40:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s10460-023-10415-9. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.