Adoption of Land Management Practices in Ethiopia: Which Network Types

In recent years researchers have begun to discuss the impact of social networks on the adoption of land management practices. However, key research questions about both the types of social networks and how specific networks influence adoption are not sufficiently addressed. Using World Bank’s data, we fill this research gap by exploring the impacts of three types of social networks (relatives, friendship and neighborhood) on the adoption of soil conservation and tree-planting in the context of Ethiopia. The results show that networks with relatives have a positive impact on tree-planting but its impact on soil conservation is negative. This indicates the presence of “egoistic behavior” even in stronger ties such as relatives. Hence, our conclusion is that farmers tend to plant trees as a means of securing land holdings. However, such “private benefit” incentives may disappear when it comes to soil conservation, which is more of a “social benefit”.