Development Interventions and Agricultural Adaptation in a Changing Environment: A Social Network Analysis of Farmer Knowledge Transfer in Ghana

Formal social ties play an important role in agricultural knowledge exchange, particularly in developing-country agriculture with high exposure to development interventions. However, little is known about informal agrarian knowledge transfer in such an institutional agricultural information landscape and the consequences in terms of smallholder farm management in regions undergoing environmental change. Using a social network approach, I chart the structure of agrarian knowledge networks in six communities which have been differentially exposed to agriculture development intervention in the Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions of Ghana. Farmer network size, density and composition were distinctly variable, with development project affiliated and male farmers tending toward larger networks and engaging in more diverse agricultural production. Furthermore, agriculture-related knowledge sources were dependent on the type of crop species produced. As promotion of diverse agriculture systems continues as a response to environmental change, understanding such social and agroecological complexities will be important for effective agriculture interventions.M.A