Matuschke and Quaim analyzed the impact of social networks on the adoption of hybrid wheat in India and concluded that the results from a social network study could also provide extension agencies and agents with a new set of diagnostic tools that could fit well with the new extension emphasis on participatory and demand-driven extension approaches. However, research on the role of social networking in seed and information exchange on stress-tolerant rice varieties among rice farming households/individuals and also through a gender perspective is scant. By gaining awareness of existing information on exchange routes, information providers can act on information opportunities and make changes to information routes to improve the delivery of information services . It is now increasingly recognized that information on agricultural innovations diffuses through social networks rather than being freely available in the village. We adhere to this view in studying the role that social capital may play in facilitating information exchange among rural households. Moreover, the roles of other end users of technologies, especially poor women farmers and their potential roles as key agents of change, can be tapped to accelerate the dissemination of rice and rice-related technologies. In 2009, the International Rice Research Institute in collaboration with national agricultural research and extension semination of submergence-tolerant varieties” in six Southeast Asian countries frequently affected by typhoons and severely affected by floods, namely, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Lao PDR. Within this project, a case study on “Seed and information exchange through social networks among men and women rice farmers” was conducted. This case study explored and compared the structure of information exchange among men and women farmers who were involved in PVS on submergence-tolerant varieties in pilot communities in Lao PDR and Indonesia.
The study also investigated social networks by gender in order to gain greater insights into how gender differences influence the effectiveness of social capital in facilitating information exchange. In particular, dutch buckets this study examined the factors that affect the intensity of acquired social networks at the household level, while accounting for gender differentiation. Social concepts such as social networks and social capital have received a lot of interest when exploring the potential contribution of personal relationships in technology uptake. Social capital is deemed as important as other forms of capital such as financial, human, or natural. Networks facilitate communication, coordination, and the provision of information on the trustworthiness of individuals. Social networks can serve as a form of social capital—an important intangible component of individuals’ and households’ asset portfolios. Gender analysis in Asian rice farming reveals that women in Southeast Asia contribute significantly in rice production and post harvest operations. Although labor participation in rice production varies by country, production systems, and other factors, women contribute about 46% and 60% in Indonesia and Laos, respectively . In Laos, women took over the traditional roles of men in rice farming, in which more than half of the rice farming activities such as transplanting, weeding, harvesting, and post harvest are dominated by women . Similarly in Indonesia, women do most of the transplanting, weeding, and harvesting work . Thus, women are seen to have a crucial role in shaping the rice economy of Laos and Indonesia. Moreover, women do not just contribute to the physical assets of production but more importantly they seek new information and technology. Due to gender differences in roles and needs, men and women have differences in their selection criteria for rice varieties in the specific submergence prone areas . Although returns to men’s and women’s social capital may be identical, the responsiveness of household welfare to women’s social capital is higher . Rural women usually have less access than men to information and new technologies . They suffer from limited access to resources, markets, training, and decision-making opportunities. As a result, women seek formal and informal networks to cope with the shocks and to make sure that their views are represented, particularly if formal rules limit their participation . Their lack of access to information and formal networks deprives them of their potential capacity to make informed decisions in effectively managing their farms and selling their farm products. Identifying the role of social networks and the factors affecting them has been investigated in the literature under various methods. This type of research is placed under the umbrella of social network analysis . The recent literature on social network analysis supports evidence that social networks play a crucial role in information and innovation dissemination. Hence, knowing more about networks and their role will be beneficial for policy formulation.
When an individual decides to join a network, he/she has an expected utility that depends on some of his/her socioeconomic characteristics. This expected utility is assumed to be positive, which motivates individuals to join a network. Each individual has the choice of being connected to one, two, three, and more relatives or friends who constitute his/her “acquired social network.” The intensity of the acquired network is therefore represented by a series of discrete household choices that could follow a Poisson or negative binomial distribution. Following Katungi et al. in a similar study, we consider that the intensity of acquired social networks can be modeled as a series of discrete household decisions that sum across an aggregation of choices to a Poisson or negative binomial distribution. While the Poisson distribution assumes equality between the conditional mean and variance, the negative binomial is more suited to data exhibiting over-dispersion. Identifying the role of social networks and the factors affecting them has been investigated in the literature under various methods. The recent literature on social network analysis supports evidence that social networks play a crucial role in information and innovation dissemination. Hence, knowing more about networks and their role will be beneficial for policy formulation. When an individual decides to join a network, he/she has an expected utility that depends on some of his/her socioeconomic characteristics. This expected utility is assumed to be positive, which motivates individuals to join a network. Each individual has the choice of being connected to one, two, three, and more relatives or friends who constitute his/her “acquired social network.” The intensity of the acquired network is therefore represented by a series of discrete household choices that could follow a Poisson or negative binomial distribution. Following Katungi et al. in a similar study, we consider that the intensity of acquired social networks can be modeled as a series of discrete household decisions that sum across an aggregation of choices to a Poisson or negative binomial distribution. While the Poisson distribution assumes equality between the conditional mean and variance, the negative binomial is more suited to data exhibiting over-dispersion. This SNA study uses cross-sectional data gathered through focused household surveys of rice farming households involved in the PVS trials under the project “Dissemination of submergence-tolerant rice varieties in Southeast Asia” implemented by IRRI in 2009. Data were collected by social scientists from farmer-cooperators in Indonesia and Lao PDR who were also cooperators of PVS at key sites. These key sites are located in the province of West Java, Indonesia, and in the provinces of Khammouane and Champassak in Laos. In this particular study, accumulation of social capital through social networks received much attention as most of the seed and information exchange in studied areas are produced in an informal mode.
To measure the intensity of participation in social networks of the farmers, the dependent variable is defined as the number of trusted friends to whom the household can talk closely or approach for any problem. This definition of a social network excludes relatives because they constitute a “given social capital whose formation may be beyond the influence of the decision maker” . Instead, the number of relatives of a farmer in the village was included as an independent variable to serve as a proxy for social capital endowment. Household characteristics such as age, gender, education, and household size are factors that might affect farmers’ social networking behavior. The size of social networks and frequency of engaging in different kinds of information exchange and village activities largely influence the social capital of an individual. Social capital among men and women varies for the two countries as the accumulation of social capital is also dictated by gender roles and culture for each country. As shown in Table 4, grow bucket social networking and information exchange in Indonesia and Lao PDR are done mostly with friends within the village, where male farmers for both countries have a larger social network than female farmers. Lao men and women also rely heavily on their relatives within the villages. The number of relatives and friends of the farmers outside the village are generally higher in Indonesia than in Lao PDR, especially among women. These results reveal that male farmers are more mobile than female farmers in Indonesia. Because of customs, Indonesian women farmers do mostly reproductive activities, which limit them in having contact with other people outside their village. In contrast, in Lao PDR, there seem to be no differences between males and females in terms of mobility. Seed information exchange. During the survey interviews, male and female farmers were also asked about their seed information exchange. In Indonesia, both men and women farmers rely on their friends and neighbors within the village for seed information. Male farmers also mentioned co-farmers within the village, extension agents, and formal groups as their other main sources of information. None of the male Indonesian farmers received any information from their wives. Eleven percent of the female farmers mentioned their spouses as additional sources of information . Membership in formal organizations. Most of the farmers in Indonesia and Lao PDR belong to a formal group. Women are surprisingly actively involved in organizations, which are mainly farmers’ organizations, credit groups, and women’s groups. This means that women are now recognized as part of the workforce in the community. However, trends in civic engagement still show that few women are privileged to have access to different sources of information such as newspapers, printed publications, agricultural programs on radio and television, attendance at training events or seminars, and communication with extension agents. In some civic activities such as the use of modern technology such as the Internet and cellular phones, women in Lao PDR more frequently use them than men. However, it is important to note that these women are few in number and are mainly female household heads and wives of village leaders who have somewhat the same access as men farmers.
Involvement in social activities. Involvement in social activities of men and women farmers is still based on gender roles. Indonesian male farmers are expected to be in their mosque more frequently than women. In Lao PDR, where women are expected to give alms to the monks and offer prayers, women are seen in their temples more frequently than men. Moreover, since market places are where the households sell and buy food and other items, more women are seen in these places than men. Women’s role within the households consumes most of their time; thus, they do not have much time compared with men to go to hang around places to chat and drink with their friends and neighbors after work. Also, more men attend village meetings as they are traditionally the decision-makers in their households and in their communities, particularly in Indonesia; whereas, in Lao PDR, both men and women farmers have the privilege to attend village meetings . Flow of information. Aside from sources of information, farmers were also asked whether they were passing along the information they received about new varieties. Male and female farmers from both countries usually pass along the information they receive to their friends and neighbors within the village with whom they can regularly talk because of their proximity to one another. In Indonesia, where women are more constrained to their houses to do more reproductive activities, the information they receive is passed along only to the members of their households, friends, and neighbors within the village.