Effects of farmers’ social networks on knowledge acquisition: lessons from agricultural training in rural Indonesia

1 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; Abstract