Background Access to information pertaining to agricultural knowledge is essential to develop farmers' abilities in maintaining and increasing farm productivity. Farmers who lack the means to acquire agricultural information from formal sources often rely on information within their informal social network (Boahene et al. 1999; Lyon 2000) and transfer agricultural knowledge through social interactions (Conley and Udry 2010). Social network approaches posit that an individual's behavior is influenced by relations, technical ties, and networks more than by the norms and attributes that an individual possesses (Yang and Tang 2003). Interpersonal interaction plays a significant role in facilitating learning processes as learners actively build knowledge by formulating ideas into words, which are built upon the reactions and responses of others. Despite the importance of networks as a means for information facilitation, Newman and Dale (2005) and Bodin et al. (2006) argue that "not all social networks are created equal. " They highlight the importance of distinguishing between "bonding" (interactions between family members, friends, and neighbors) and "bridging" (extend outside the community and provide access to different information and resources) ties. Balancing connections to both ties equally may improve people's economic and social well-being (Wu and Pretty 2004;

Although agroforestry is recognized as a means to stabilize farm income, little attention has been given to differentiating among farmers with different income levels, varying capacities to diversify their crops, and the economic outcomes of adoption. This paper examines agricultural training effects in promoting agroforestry by distinguishing between the poor and non-poor farmers to evaluate the relevance of agroforestry systems to the poor, the extent of adoption, and the economic consequences. We found that although training has generally increased participants' knowledge, it has positive effects in increasing crop diversity only for the poor participants. We also detected the presence of spillovers from the participants to non-participants, which may increase crop diversity among non-participants and consequently reduce program impacts. When income heterogeneity is considered, we found that the poor training participants benefited more from increasing incomes and expanding their social network relative to the non-poor. Agroforestry adoption is also found to help reduce income volatility.

Limited access to agricultural information constrains the well-being of farmers in developing countries and leads to environmental deterioration. Although new information-communication technologies (ICTs) are expected to alleviate this problem, the importance of physical mobility is rarely considered. This study explores the roles of motorized transport and mobile phones in the diffusion of agricultural information within and between Indonesian farming communities. In 2012, we surveyed 315 household heads from 16 coffee and cocoa farming groups in Sumatra. The respondents identified 1575 sources from which they obtained agricultural information, the exact location of the sources, and the mode of contact. In 2013, we followed up with in-depth interviews of 20 farmers to obtain a qualitative description of their agricultural information-seeking behavior. Although 75 % of respondents had a mobile phone, the main mode of information sharing was face-to-face meetings for 97 % of the elicited relationships. Mobile phones were used to communicate with people living at the edge of the regular physical mobility radius enabled by motorbikes (approximately 10 km). A hierarchical logit model was applied to examine the implications of the respondents' tendency to use motorized transport vis-à-vis walking for information gathering. Respondents with a higher general preference for faster transport tended to have more extensive access to information from other communities. However, we also find weak evidence that individual motorized transport might decrease internal social contact and information exchange inside these communities. The policy implication for rural development in less-industrialized countries is that providing ICTs without increasing the inhabitants' mobility through appropriate means may not significantly improve the inhabitants' access to important information and the diffusion of successful agricultural practices.

Informal network helps disseminate agricultural knowledge in the rural area where formal extension is lacking. However, how the interplay between formal training and informal network promotes technology adoption is still under-studied. This paper aims to examine the effects of training locations upon knowledge and adoption of agricultural techniques via strengthened informal and formal social networks. We administer agricultural training of identical contents in farmers' hometown and in more remote but advanced locations and arrange farmers to travel to the respective locations. Then, we examine locational heterogeneity effects upon conservation and plant-rehabilitation techniques, and social network variables with formal extension services, informal network, and between participants and non-participants. Only farmers trained in the most remote location increase the size and depth of social network with their peers, extension expert, and non-participants upon returning from training. These changes in social networks may encourage them to adopt the technology. While formal training is important for knowledge diffusion, informal network is the key for successful adoption, and these networks are strengthened via training held in the most remote location.

No abstract