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Social Seed Networks and Climate Change Adaptation: Exchanges of Seed and Information among Farmers in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania
Type of Session
Individual Paper Presentation
Abstract
East Africa’s economies are heavily dependent on agriculture, with at least two thirds of all food production in the region coming from smallholder farmers. Temperature change and precipitation pattern changes have already led to changes in the growing season in East Africa and are expected to continue to do so, making climate change adaptation among smallholders an essential component of ensuring food security and realizing broader economic development goals. Many farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda depend on crop genetic resources which are predominantly shared through informal seed-exchange networks – such networks may be playing an under-appreciated role in helping rural smallholders adapt to climate change.
This research uses household survey data and network analysis to investigate the institutional and demographic conditions under which farmers are most likely to increase on-farm agro-biodiversity in response to climate change. We examine to what extent farmer demographics and the connectivity of farmers to seed networks, extension services, agricultural organizations and other sources of genetic material and information affects the likelihood of farmers adapting to climate change by sustaining or enhancing local crop genetic diversity. The household survey data, collected by Bioversity International in 2016-2017, consists of 1,001 respondents from four sites in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. We analyze the influence of farmer information and connectivity within these data with a series of network analyses using UCINET software and OLS regressions in R Studio.
Findings suggest that farmers that consult more experts and groups are more likely to adapt to climate change by conserving seed biodiversity. Conversely, farmers with more connections and influence within seed networks are less likely to adapt. Ultimately, results suggest that information may be a key factor in the climate change adaption and conservation behaviors of farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.