Abstract
Informal network helps disseminate agricultural knowledge in the rural area where formal extension is lacking. However, how the interplay between formal training and informal network promotes technology adoption is still under-studied. This paper aims to examine the effects of training locations upon knowledge and adoption of agricultural techniques via strengthened informal and formal social networks. We administer agricultural training of identical contents in farmers’ hometown and in more remote but advanced locations and arrange farmers to travel to the respective locations. Then, we examine locational heterogeneity effects upon conservation and plant-rehabilitation techniques, and social network variables with formal extension services, informal network, and between participants and non-participants. Only farmers trained in the most remote location increase the size and depth of social network with their peers, extension expert, and non-participants upon returning from training. These changes in social networks may encourage them to adopt the technology. While formal training is important for knowledge diffusion, informal network is the key for successful adoption, and these networks are strengthened via training held in the most remote location.
Highlights
The majority of the world’s poor lives in rural areas and is engaged in subsistence agriculture (Bank 2007); initiatives aimed to improve their well-beings are often geared toward improving agricultural practices as a means of increasing productivity, efficiency, and income (Parvan 2011; Mendola 2007)
We identify to what extent social networks influence diffusion and adoption of technology of the participants and nonparticipants, by defining several reference groups: (i) among the participants in the same and different training location, (ii) between participants and extension services and peer-farmers, and (iii) between participants and non-participants
This paper shows that agricultural training may have helped improve farmers’ knowledge of conservation technique
Summary
The majority of the world’s poor lives in rural areas and is engaged in subsistence agriculture (Bank 2007); initiatives aimed to improve their well-beings are often geared toward improving agricultural practices as a means of increasing productivity, efficiency, and income (Parvan 2011; Mendola 2007). While training has generally positive effects on adoption (Noltze et al 2012; Sidibé 2005), what works best in practice can differ from what is taught as best practices in formal trainings, especially in remote villages when local contexts matter (Vasilaky 2012). In these cases, personal networks can play roles to disseminate the locally-appropriate information (Boahene et al 1999; Lyon 2000; Katungi et al 2008). The process of social learning may change farmers’ beliefs about the return of certain agricultural techniques, while at the same time teach them the practical knowledge to implement different technologies
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