How Social Networks Influence Access and Utilization of Weather and Climate Information: The Case of Upland Farming Communities in the Philippines

Social norms and structures are vital factors that shape people’s behavior and attitudes. Therefore, analyzing such underlying forces in creating strategies to influence behavior and activities is useful. Agricultural extension services, such as information dissemination and farmers’ training, are some of the interventions that can benefit from such analyses, especially within a context of limited human and financial resources. The lessons learned from analyzing social networks and norms can be used to identify potential local knowledge and information disseminators, thereby aiding the extension services. It also helps in formulating more contextualized approaches to reach the underserved and hard-to-reach areas. Applying this approach, this study used the case of a remote upland area in Atok, Benguet, a major vegetable producer. A social network analysis was used to develop insights for designing more effective extension strategies. The results show that interventions like information and education campaigns can be improved by acknowledging the nuances in social relation structures.