It’s become common practice for NGOs and environmental development agencies to use ‘influencers’ for the roll out of environmentally sustainable farming practices, but this isn’t always the most effective method, say social network analysts from the University of Sydney.
Published in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, their research examined the role of social network brokers—well-connected individuals within a community—in the adoption of innovative farming practices in Battambang Province in North-Western Cambodia. The authors, Dr. Petr Matous, Junjian Zhang and Associate Professor Daniel Tan found that less popular farmers were better influencers, compared to their more popular peers.
“Similar to marketers on social media, the international development industry and environment conservation organisations have become enamoured with the idea of leveraging local ‘influencers’ to deliver programs ranging from behavioural interventions, to the promotion of new technologies,” said Faculty of Engineering academic and environmental and humanitarian engineer, Dr. Petr Matous.
In full: https://phys.org/news/2020-06-popular-doesnt-influential-cambodian-farmers.html
