The importance of proximity dimensions in agricultural knowledge and innovation systems:The case of banana disease management in Rwanda

CONTEXT: Social networks play an important role in the diffusion of knowledge, and farmers draw on their personal networks to enhance their adaptive capacity to shocks. Different forms of proximity have been long recognized as important factors in knowledge and information exchanges. However, the specific roles and their interactions in agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKISs) are still far from clear. In this study, we investigate the underlying forces that drive tie formation within the knowledge-sharing networks of banana farmers in four different villages in Rwanda. OBJECTIVE: Our study has three objectives: First, we discuss the importance of various types of proximities in AKIS research. Second, we empirically contribute to how different forms of proximity influence the way knowledge diffuses in formal and informal networks by studying a plant disease's management. Finally, we discuss our findings' relevance for targeted interventions to help rural communities transition to greater resilience. METHODS: We review different proximity concepts and adapt them for use within an AKIS context. We then apply this framework to assess the proximity effects on the advice-seeking networks of banana farmers in four purposefully chosen villages in Rwanda. We used a structured questionnaire to collect social network information about the management of banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW), from all banana growers (N = 491) in these four villages. We distinguished the informal advice networks among farmers from the official government extension system—the formal advice network. We employed exponential random-graph models to assess the determinants of the networks we observed, especially geographical, cognitive and social proximity indices. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We found that geographical proximity significantly affects knowledge exchange within larger villages' informal advice networks; but not in smaller villages, where both cognitive and social proximities play substantial roles. We argue that farmers are socially closer in smaller communities where geographical distance does not matter, and that geographical distance only starts to matter after a certain community size threshold is reached. SIGNIFICANCE: We provide solid empirical evidence to help plan targeted interventions toward greater resilience for rural communities. We argue that properly integrating informal social networks can result in more effective knowledge exchange within AKISs, enhancing their resilience.