Exploring the role of social capital in influencing knowledge flows and innovation in smallholder farming communities in the Caribbean

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an exploratory study into how different forms of social capital embedded within community-based social networks may affect innovation in smallholder farming systems to better support food security in the Caribbean. Focusing on two rural communities in the small island developing nation of Saint Lucia, our results indicate the strong presence of interpersonal agricultural knowledge networks operating to: 1) facilitate farmer-tofarmer knowledge exchange; 2) increase farmer access to information; and 3) connect farmers to sources of support. In both communities, 'peer farmers' were reported as being the primary source of new agricultural knowledge for farmers, with government 'extension officers' the secondary source. Comparative social network analysis reveals how different forms of social capital within the two agricultural knowledge networks can affect self-reported farmer innovation in different contexts. Based on these findings we identify a number of opportunities for policy initiatives to better support, coordinate and enhance innovation opportunities among smallholder farmers in the Caribbean with a view to building their adaptive capacity in the face of environmental change. The findings provide important evidence and insights relevant to the governance of domestic agricultural systems and regional food security programming in the Caribbean.

Platform, Participation, and Power: How Dominant and Minority Stakeholders Shape Agricultural Innovation

“…Reciprocal feedback mechanisms for communicating knowledge across the smallholder agricultural innovation system were identified as generally lacking, despite the increase in farmer participation. This finding supports the need to organize around common goals from the beginning to enable interactions and networks that can build social capital and trust [93], which are important factors in effectively communicating knowledge [94], social learning, and innovation [19,95,96].…”

“…Agricultural innovation platforms have been defined as stakeholder linkages that are purposively created and maintained to address specific agricultural innovation challenges or opportunities [11,[14][15][16][17] within their institutional context [18]. Using innovation platforms to strengthen the social networks that link famers to diverse stakeholders in the agri-food system has the potential to facilitate the identification of collective interests and needs [11], promote greater trust and co-operation [7], and expose individuals to resources and adaptation strategies beyond the realm of their own experience [19,20]. Within smallholder and subsistence farming systems, innovation platforms are generally created through agricultural development initiatives, utilizing participatory and inclusive approaches in order to develop locally appropriate technologies [21] and ensure the equitable participation of all relevant stakeholder groups [22,23].Community-based interventions inherently entail trade-offs between stakeholder groups with varying degrees of power and interest [24], an issue often not well addressed in practice [1,9,[24][25][26].…”

Challenges and opportunities for more integrated regional food security policy in the Caribbean Community

“…However, evidence of social learning among policy actors appears to remain low. We have shown in previous research that challenges with community participation, mobilization of local social capital, and stakeholder disengagement and mistrust often serve to stymie collective action to advance collective progress in CARICOM agricultural development and food security (Lowitt, Hickey, Ganpat, & Phillip, 2015c;Saint Ville, Hickey, Locher, & Phillip, 2016;Saint Ville, Hickey, & Phillip, 2015). Low levels of social learning may also help explain ongoing issues of mistrust and division among island states within the larger regional integration movement (Bishop et al, 2011;Jules, 1994;O'Brien, 2011).…”

“…From a social learning perspective, the implementation of food security policy objectives through a top-down process would need to be replaced by a cooperative approach in which all actors assume responsibilities for reaching shared policy goals (Fiorino, 2011). Achieving an integrated food security policy will likely require a new role for CARICOM national governments and regional institutions in which they can use their different authorities in ways that support participation and interaction among diverse stakeholders at different levels of the food-related policy system (Fiorino, 2001;Lowitt, Saint Ville, Lewis, & Hickey, 2015b;Lowitt et al, 2015c;Saint Ville et al, 2016).…”

Environmental heterogeneity and commodity sharing in smallholder agroecosystems

“…Recognizing that a household's motivations for engaging in reciprocal sharing are complex-ranging from cultural norms [26,32] to intentional resilience-building strategies [68][69][70]-collection of detailed information documenting with and from whom each commodity was shared, and reasons behind sharing, represents an important next step in furthering our understanding of commodity sharing in this socio-environmental context. We would also be interested in comparing sharing behaviors during a high-precipitation year, like that which we observed (Fig 3), with sharing during a lower-precipitation year, when households-particularly downstream households-might be even more likely to face food shortages.…”