As Good as the Company They Keep? : Improving Farmers’ Social Networks

Leonard, Kenneth ; Vasilaky, Kathryn

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: COTTON;    TRAINED FARMERS;    KNOWLEDGE;    CROP YIELDS;    AGRICULTURAL TRAINING;   

RP-ID  :  103850

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Extension services have a history ofbeing relatively expensive and not always effective. At thesame time, studies show that informal social networks can bevery beneficial in helping increase productivity. In Uganda,the authors tested the value of informal social networks forwomen farmers by connecting the least-productive 30 percentto some of the most productive women farmers in their ownvillages. Results show significant gains in productivityindicating that the path to better outcomes is containedwithin their own community. Women learned the agriculturalinformation at least as well in a network setting as in amore intensive, formal extension setting. On average, thesocial network intervention was less costly and moreeffectively targeted women and the least productive farmersthan traditional extension services. By exploiting the powerof social ties, social network interventions offer alower-cost alternative to traditional agricultural trainingprograms and can be particularly effective at improving theproductivity of women. The results of the study featured inthis brief are particularly relevant to policymakers inSub-Saharan Africa, where productivity differentials stillexist between males and females, and women are lessfrequently targeted for training.