Understanding
social networks
in farmer production decisions
and the implications
for food security policy in
Guyana and Saint Lucia
Arlette Saint Ville
Natural Resource Sciences Department-Graduate Seminar I
December 1st 2011
LITERATURE
Social Networks in Farmer Production
REVIEW
and Agricultural Policy:
A Case Study of Guyana and Saint Lucia
Arlette Saint Ville
RESEARCH
Natural Resource Sciences Department-Graduate Seminar I
DESIGN December 1 2011METHODS
st
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Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
15 nations and dependencies
 Population: 6.5 M (2000) 15.9 M (2008)
 Land area: 458.480 sq km (15%)
 1988 2% World food market share 2010 0.3%
 www.caricomstats.org; Singh and Jacque, 2006)
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Declining Production:Increasing Imports
Decreasing food exports primary 2004 food import bill US$2.2 billion
commodities (sugar, spices, bananas) 1994 to 2004 annual increase of 2.4%
(FAO online Database)
1994 to 2004 annual decrease of 2.5%
(FAO online Database)
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Characteristics of production
" 2-tiered
production systems (Caribbean Commission,1947; Richardson,1992)
" Contract
" Poorly
farming integration into international market (Grossman,1998)
developed markets, signals and linkages (CARICOM, 2011)
" Prevalence
" High
of non-market economic activity (Jolly,1956; Patterson,2003)
levels of rural women in agricultural labour force (FAO,1998).
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Jagdeo Initiative (2006): Call to action
“[F]ood production...complex and interrelated...not possible to single
out just one objective, like maximizing production... other
needs...maintenance of public health...rural employment...protection
of the environment and...overall quality of life (Caricom, 2011).”
Complex interplays - social, political, ecological and historical (Brierley and
Rubenstein, 1988; Saint Ville, 1999)
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Social Networks in Farmer Production
INTRODUCTION
and Agricultural Policy:
A Case Study of Guyana and Saint Lucia
Arlette Saint Ville
RESEARCH
Natural Resource Sciences Department-Graduate Seminar I
DESIGN December 1 2011METHODS
st
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Social Capital
" Enduring
reciprocal relationships
of trust (Bourdieu,1985)
" Embedded
in social networks (Lin,
2001)
" Invested
and accessed to gain
returns (Lin, 2001)
" Impact
knowledge transfer and
decisions (Warde, 2004)
" Builds
resilience (Folke, 2006)
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Social Capital in Networks
" A
set of actors (nodes)
" A set of ties (links, lines) connecting actors
" Directed or undirected
" Valued or presence/absence
" Ties = social relation; different-- relations, structures and
consequences (Hanneman and Riddle, 2005)
*Study of help with rice harvest, Entwistle et al, 1997
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Reality
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Social networks in food security policy decision-making process
Social capital embedded within farmer social
networks impacting production decisions
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Concepts: Relations and Dimensions
" 2
dimensions of social capital: structural & cognitive (Inkpen and Tsang,2005)
" Structural (network--ties, configuration and stability)
" Cognitive (shared goals, culture, relational trust)
" 2
domains (types of relations-Systems Theory): material and
informational (Hanneman and Riddle, 2005).
" Material "conserved"-- tools, labour, germpalsm, technology
" Informational "non-conserved" --ideas, techniques
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LITERATURE
Social Networks in Farmer Production
INTRODUCTION
REVIEW
and Agricultural Policy:
A Case Study of Guyana and Saint Lucia
Arlette Saint Ville
METHODS
Natural Resource Sciences Department-Graduate Seminar I
December 1st 2011
13 of 22
Research Question
How does the various components of social
capital influence farmer production decisions and
the implications for food security policy?
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Hypothesis
H1: Large-scale farmer production decisions will be more
influenced by formal relations, and a lower ratio of flows from the
informational domain than the material domain
H2: Smaller-scale and subsistence farmer production decisions
will be more influenced by informal relations, and a higher ratio of
flows from the informational domain than the material domain
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Research Objective
1. To understand how social capital
informs farmer response to policy
directives
2. To assess the structural
impediments faced by policy
institutions in influencing farmer
production decisions
3. To trace production information
flows between farmers
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Multiple Case Study
" 3 components:
– Asks how and why questions
– Investigator little control of events under study
– A contemporary phenomenon within a real life context
Case studies can justifiably state that a particular process,
phenomenon, mechanism, relationship, dynamic, or practice exists
(Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Lofland and Lofland, 1995; Yin 2002).
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Case Selection:Method of Agreement
(Mills)
Potential Explanations
Guyana
St. Lucia
Tourism investment
Low
High
Agricultural export production
High
Low
Productive land base
Large
Small
Policy support for small farmer
Low
Low
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LITERATURE
Social Networks in Farmer Production
INTRODUCTION
REVIEW
and Agricultural Policy:
A Case Study of Guyana and Saint Lucia
Arlette Saint Ville
RESEARCH
Natural Resource Sciences Department-Graduate Seminar I
DESIGN December 1 2011
st
19 of 22
Data Collection-Quantitative
Methods
Producer Surveys
Guyana
St. Lucia
300
100
16
12
(Information source for purposive sampling)
In-field Assessments Farm Production
technology tracing*
*(Farm assessments ---establish flows in the material domain of inputs,labour,
(Data triangulation with surveys and
12
10
materials, germplasm, and technology)
interviews)
16
12
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Data Collection-Qualitative
Methods
Guyana
St. Lucia
Focus Groups
4
4
Stakeholder Semi-Structured Interviews
12
10
Farmer Observations
Case Dimensions Guyana
Gender
2
St. Lucia
2
x
Cases with multiple
dimensions
minimum2observations
2
x = no.
Race (Amerindian,
Eastrequire
Indian, African)
2 of dimensions (Hancke, 2009)
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Farm size/land capability
2
2
Social Network Analysis
" Facilitate quantitative or qualitative analysis-- numerically or visually
" Multi-modal analysis (levels of analysis)
" Node-level structural features-- betweeness and centrality
" Community level—embeddedness (connection)
" Including individual attributes such as age, sex, or income.
" UCINET software to conduct analysis
" NetDraw to graphically represent structures
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LITERATURE
Social Networks in Farmer Production
INTRODUCTION
REVIEW
and Agricultural Policy:
A Case Study of Guyana and Saint Lucia
Arlette Saint Ville
RESEARCH
METHODS
Natural Resource Sciences Department-Graduate
Seminar I
DESIGN December 1 2011
st
23 of 22
Acknowledgements
Supervisor Dr Gordon Hickey
Sustainable Futures Lab
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Social Network
1900s (Durkeheim, Simmel)
 1930s Sociometry (Moreno)
 1940s & 1950s Psychologists &
Anthropologists (Barnes, Bott)
 1960s Anthropologists & graph
theorists (Mitchell)
 1970s Sociologists - Social Network
theory (Milgram; White; Granovetter)
 1990 Software (UCINET IV); Pajek;
Wasserman & Faust text; Social capital,
 2000s Physicists’ “new science”
(Borgatti, 2008)
 25 of 22
The Link-Social Capital and Networks
Used to better understand human communities-repeated and enduring
exchange relationships (Podolny & Page, 1998).
Networks multidimensional with social capital dimensions embedded within;
Encompass theories, models, and applications expressed as relational concepts
or processes; and
Relations defined by linkages among units (Wasserman and Faust, 1994)