A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book

Local information networks and coffee-agroforestry practices : evidence from a randomized controlled-trial from Indonesia




AuthorsPratiwi, Ayu; Matous, Petr

EditorsBarnes, Michele L.; Bodin, Örjan

Publication year2025

Book title Handbook of Social Networks and the Environment

Series titleResearch Handbooks on Social Networks series

First page 130

Last page153

ISBN978-1-03531-874-2

eISBN978-1-03531-875-9

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.4337/9781035318759.00019

Web address https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035318759.00019


Abstract

Deforestation contributes approximately 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and agroforestry is promoted as a strategy to preserve endemic tree species while supporting commercially significant crops. However, farmers in remote regions face substantial barriers to adopting agroforestry practices, possibly due to a lack of awareness of their benefits. While farmers often learn from their peers regarding new agricultural practices, rigorously unpacking the underlying causal mechanisms between farmer networks and their consequences is challenging. This chapter discusses the application of randomized control trials (RCTs) in communities of different levels of experience of adaptation to environmental degradation. We assigned randomly selected farmers to training programs conducted in various locations and examined whether the training programs affected their social networks and the uptake of agroforestry practices. The findings suggest that the trained farmers became pivotal information sources in their villages, encouraging the adoption of economically viable practices by non-participants. However, some challenges prevail when interpreting the results of RCTs in networked socio-environmental systems, and we discuss these in the conclusion of this chapter.



Last updated on 2025-02-09 at 11:26