Effect of social networks on household dietary diversity: Evidence from smallholder farmers in Kisii and Nyamira counties, Kenya

Mbugua, M.; Nzuma, Jonathan M.

doi:10.53936/afjare.2020.15(3).15

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Empowerment in the leadership domain is also an important driver of per capita farm income. Groups are a key component of social networks and have been shown to contribute significantly to other spheres of agriculture, such as improving household food security (Kelemu et al 2017;Mbugua & Nzuma 2020). Group members have access to information about existing and new technologies, and further can receive new technologies from fellow group members, thereby enhancing adoption and thus income (Matuschke & Qaim 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farmer empowerment in agriculture and its association with smallholder farm incomes in Kenya

Mwololo¹,

Nzuma²,

Ritho³

2021

AfJARE

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Poverty in its various forms is widespread among smallholder farmers, including income poverty, rendering interventions that improve household income relevant. We employ a linear model on crosssectional data collected from October to December 2015, with the preceding 12 months as the reference period. The data was from 835 smallholder farmers in Kenya to assess the effect of farmer empowerment in agriculture on farm income. This is a departure from numerous previous studies, which considered the intra-household empowerment of women relative to men on the assumption that men are empowered, which may not always be the case – as we show in this study. The results show that farmer empowerment in agriculture increases per capita farm incomes. Unlike male farmers, who benefit from the overall empowerment in agriculture, female farmers do not, possibly due to constraints in complementary drivers of farm income such as access to productive resources. Interestingly, improving the income domain for female farmers increases their farm incomes more than for their male counterparts. We conclude that farmer empowerment in agriculture is a necessary driver of farm incomes, with the production, leadership and income domains being the viable impact pathways. Thus, development interventions should target specific empowerment domains while controlling for sex differences among the target farmers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farmer empowerment in agriculture and its association with smallholder farm incomes in Kenya

Mwololo¹,

Nzuma²,

Ritho³

2021

AfJARE

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“…Therefore, the density of social networks formed in the category is low. According to Mbugua and Nzuma (2020), social networks play a role in information exchange activities. Social network density relates to the interactions between actors in the network.…”

Section: Figure 1 Sociogram Of Information Exchange On Yard Utilizati...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Popularity of Extension Workers in the Exchange of Information on Yard Utilization

Raya,

Kriska,

Fatonah

et al. 2024

JKM

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The communication process in extension activities occurs not only between extension workers and farmers but also among extension workers. Communication among extension workers forms a social network. This study aims to analyze the popularity of extension workers within social networks in exchanging information on yard land use. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach and the whole network analysis method using Pajek 5.18 software. The research informants were extension workers in the Yogyakarta Special Region, spread across Sleman Regency, Bantul Regency, Kulon Progo Regency, Gunungkidul Regency, and Yogyakarta City. The results showed that the popular extension workers in each district/city were those from their respective districts/cities. Extension workers are popular because they have the most communication activities (in degree) or receive the most information about yard land use in social networks. Popular extension workers play an important role in social networks, such as having high closeness centrality to accelerate the flow of information and acting as intermediaries for other extension workers to control the flow of information.

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“…While food security in developing countries often depends on a household's ability to produce its own food combined with its capacity to purchase foods, the strength of a household's social capital-its bonds with the rest of the community (e.g., family, relatives, and friends)-significantly helps it minimize the severity of food insecurity, especially in times of shock (Mbugua and Nzuma, 2020). However, considering the nature of the indiscriminate shocks imposed by COVID-19, which are likely to affect every household in a community, the potential of social capital to serve as a buffer for other households may be undermined.…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Have households’ livelihoods and food security rebounded from COVID-19 shocks in Nigeria? Results from a follow-up phone survey

Balana¹,

Oyeyemi²,

Ogunniyi³

et al. 2021

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The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on households' income, jobs, and food security have continued despite perceptible reductions in transmission and lifting of restrictive policy measures in several countries.To assess these effects on Nigerian households, we collected household data for the initial three months after the outbreak of the pandemic in Nigeria. To track the changes since the first survey, we conducted a follow-up phone survey with the same households a year later. We undertook a comparative analysis between the two surveys focusing on income loss, job loss, food security, and dietary diversity. The study also investigated how changes in income, wealth endowments, social capital, safety net programs, and recurrent conflicts affected the severity of food insecurity amid the pandemic. We found that both income and jobs have rebounded by 50 percentage points compared to the baseline results. In terms of food insecurity, households in a "severely food insecure" situation dropped to 65 percent in the follow up survey compared to 73 percent in the first survey and dietary diversity of households improved by 5-percenatge points in the follow-up survey. However, over 70 percent increase in conflicts were re[ported which affected farm investment decisions in 44 percent of smallholder farmers surveyed. While income loss significantly worsened households' food insecurity; livestock ownership and social capital cushioned many households from falling into a more severe food insecurity. However, safety net programs did not significantly protect households from falling into severe food insecurity amid the pandemic. We suggest four policy propositions: prioritize investment in job creation to curb income loss; enable households to build their wealth base (e.g., land tenure security or livestock) to enhance resilience to shocks; revisit the effectiveness of safety net programs; and finally, devise and implement conflict resolutions to induce investment and enhance productivity.

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Effect of social networks on household dietary diversity: Evidence from smallholder farmers in Kisii and Nyamira counties, Kenya

Cited by 5 publications

References 37 publications

Farmer empowerment in agriculture and its association with smallholder farm incomes in Kenya

Farmer empowerment in agriculture and its association with smallholder farm incomes in Kenya

The Popularity of Extension Workers in the Exchange of Information on Yard Utilization

Have households’ livelihoods and food security rebounded from COVID-19 shocks in Nigeria? Results from a follow-up phone survey

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