Actor network analysis to leverage improvements in conservation and development outcomes in Cambodia

Abstract

Network analysis has emerged as a useful practice for characterizing governance relationships and providing insights to the power relations that affect landscapes. We applied actor network analysis in two rural Cambodian landscapes to examine decisionmaking structures that affect conservation and development systems. Using questionnaire data, we analyze structural features of networks of cooperation and exchange to identify patterns of action and processes of change. We supplement our analysis with qualitative information gathered on power and social-ecological components of landscapes to enrich our understanding of natural resource systems. We find that power in Cambodia is concentrated in a central hierarchy, and external actors aiming to influence decision making would benefit from operating at multiple scales; there is no single leverage point for interventions. Cooperation between conservation and development actors is lacking; we observe that actors tend to cluster within similar groups. Cross-sectoral collaboration may be enhanced by knowledge brokers, but current actors lack resources to fulfil this role and require external support. Our study highlights the importance of nongovernment actors as conveners and facilitators to shape natural resource governance in the context of weak institutions. We advocate more institutionalized use of diagnostics, such as actor network analysis, for enhanced natural resource governance.

Upscaling agroforestry in the tropics through actor-networks: a comparative case study of cacao farming systems in two regions of Colombia

“…In addition, homophily patterns were observed in nodes corresponding to Research and Education institutions, thus suggesting that universities and research centers have a tendency to collaborate among themselves and that there is a lack of dialogue between scientific knowledge and local and technical knowledge. Although homophily patterns can create trust between actors, they can hinder information exchange across diverse knowledge systems and cooperation between actors with different roles (Riggs et al 2020), which, in turn, hinders the management of sustainable alternatives like AFS (Newman and Dale 2007).…”

“…This is particularly important for a highly biodiverse country like Colombia, where institutional fragmentation also undermines the coordination of actors to successfully upscale sustainable agricultural solutions like AFS across different farming systems (FAO 2013). Existing studies use a network approach to analyze the performance of rural innovation systems (Spielman et al 2011;Saint Ville et al 2016), to explore the role of actor interactions in AFS adoption and knowledge dissemination (Isaac 2012;Isaac et al 2021;Lin et al 2021), and to analyze the governance and decision-making structures that affect sustainable landscape transitions (Hauck et al 2016;Berthet and Hickey 2018;Riggs et al 2020;Zinngrebe et al 2020). However, a network lens has not been used to explore the role of actor relationships in upscaling AFS practices.…”

Non-governmental organizations improve the social-ecological fit of institutions conserving the Andean bear in Colombia

“…Although SNA can reveal many important insights about socialecological fit, the analysis is more meaningful when qualitative data is considered as well (e.g., Riggs et al 2020). Bodin (2017) describes the important insights possible through a deeper understanding of the actors in the network such as their motivations, objectives, and even personal characteristics.…”

Collaborative water management through revitalizing social power relationships: a social network analysis of Qanat stakeholders in Iran

“…How do social networks and social processes influence each other and in turn influence social outcomes (Groce et al 2019)? In recent studies, the following question is raised: How can institutional arrangements be leveraged to contribute to better management (Riggs et al 2020)?…”