The objective of this study is to apply Social Network Analysis (SNA) approach to improve the understanding of how to shape effective information diffusion policies among small-scale dairy farmers in rural communities of Brazil, for whom milk production is an important source of income. We interviewed 24 dairy farmers representing all participants of a dairy farmer association in a small-scale production community in the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Two sociograms were built by means of an adjacency matrix representing the two internal networks, friendship (F) and advising (A). The beta-centrality and betweenness centrality measures were calculated to identify central farmers and correlate with efficiency indicators in each network (F and A) using a quadratic assignment procedure (QAP). The two internal networks structures and individual thresholds of adoption were represented in an agent-based model (ABM) to simulate the spread of the information among farmers. Our simulations indicate that the assortativity degree of social networks affects the information diffusion among farmers, highlighting the importance of opinion leaders versus convincing a critical mass to implement innovation strategies. Our analysis suggests that vertical policies focused on local opinion leaders will be more effective for enhancing the adoption of techniques that involve investments in private goods such as the adoption of artificial insemination, whereas horizontal policies, such as broadcasting information, will be more effective in encouraging investments in public and semi-public goods, such as the purchase of community cooling tanks and techniques for enhancing milk quality.

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This paper examine the efficiency of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union). Using DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis), we calculate the technical efficiency scores in a sample of 80 savings and credit cooperatives in 2014. We find higher levels for social efficacy than for financial efficiency. The comparative analysis of effectiveness according to the country of origin of the microfinance institution shows that no country has a monopoly on good performance. One of the important conclusions is that inefficiency is better explained by pure technical ineffectiveness rather than by scale. Therefore, improving the effi-ciency of MFIs involves improving technical capa-bility by promoting training, better equipment and quality of management.

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