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