Networks are defined as “nodes of individuals, groups, organizations, and related systems that tie in one or more types of interdependencies” . Interdependencies might include shared values, ideas, and information exchanges that are critical to the success of individual actors as well as the network as a whole. Within a social network exists a knowledge network with, “heterogeneously distributed repositories of knowledge and agents that search for, transmit, and create knowledge” . In the context of Malawi’s extension system, a difference in worldviews, lack of coordination, and diversity of messages have remained challenges in providing effective information to farmers . The disconnect of stakeholders cited by Masangano, Kambewa, Bosscher, and Fatch promotes misconceptions and misinformation to farmers by extension providers and affects the quality of extension services throughout the extension system. Therefore, it was necessary to evaluate the structure of organizations providing extension services, engagement amongst stakeholders operating within the network, and transfer of knowledge within the extension system. In fact, an understanding of contemporary agricultural knowledge networks, “highlights the importance of networks of actors who cooperatively work together to deliver relevant knowledge to the right people at the right time and place” . The ability of extension providers in Malawi to communicate consistent messages to farmers was not only dependent on their access to resources, but also the strength of social ties within the network itself. Using social network analysis allowed these networks, social ties,flower bucket and information transfer to be analyzed. Relationships or ties within the network were be evaluated by understanding the direction of ties and measures of centrality which represent the importance of actors relative to one another.
Several types of centrality measures have been identified by Wasserman and Faust and are essential in evaluating the importance of different actors within the network. The first type of centrality measure is degree centrality and concerns the number of ties directly related to an actor or organization of interest. This measure is also differentiated by the number of ties coming to an actor and the number of ties leaving an actor . The second type of centrality measure is betweenness centrality and refers to the number of times an actor is situated between two other actors. This measure captures which actors hold the network together, where key paths of communication exist, and where network breaks could occur. The third type of centrality measure is closeness centrality and relates to the shortest distance between actors relative to a certain starting point. An actor with low closeness centrality must pass through many intermediaries to reach other actors within the network. Bodin and Prell also describe the importance of evaluating the cohesion of the whole network through a measure of network density. Network density is the proportion of ties that exit throughout the whole network and reveals the level of connectedness or cohesion present in the network. Cohesion within the network describes the extent to which the network is interlinked and united. Thus, this information was important in understanding the stakeholder connections within Malawi’s extension system.The private sector organizations are involved in activities to develop structured markets for farmer’s products, provide inputs for crop production processes such as fertilizers and pesticides, and facilitate farmer trainings focused on specific value chains and commodities. The main clientele for private sector participants includes smallholder farmers and public sector actors whose employers pay private companies to learn about specific topics. One private sector participant explained, “we focus on closing the finance gap affecting most small-scale farmers who are forced to sell their produce at harvest because they need money to re-pay the cost of inputs and prepare for the next season.”
The annual number of farmers reached by private sector actors ranges from 350 for a small farmer training company to 5,000 for a large private input supplier. The organizational structure of the larger company is fairly hierarchical with field staff, subject matter experts, and company heads. The organizational structure of the two smaller companies is similar to a cooperative where each employee holds multiple positions and is also a farmer themselves. Although not directly asked during interviews, five participants mentioned having advanced degrees and the majority of participants hold high-level positions within their organizations as Directors, Managers, Subject Matter Experts, Specialists or Team Leaders.Participants from international NGOs are involved in a wide range of activities focused around improving food security, providing emergency response during disasters, supporting national health and nutrition outcomes, and building capacity of local communities to sustainably grow food and improve rural livelihoods. A common word used by international NGO participants to describe their organization’s activities was “resilience.” One participant noted, “we’re trying to build resilience with these farmers. We identify farmers, and then come up with interventions that will build their resilience.” The main clients for international NGO participants are smallholder farmers who participate in agricultural interventions, public sector actors who receive funding for extension activities, and research institutions who receive support for technological innovations. According to interview participants, the annual number of clients served by international NGOs ranged from 5,0000 – 148,000 depending on the number of projects implemented in Malawi. The organizational structure of all participating international NGOs is fairly similar and includes Extension Staff with specific expertise, Project Managers in Malawi, Program Managers located internationally, and international Program Directors overseeing programs in multiple countries. Participants from farmer organizations are involved in activities including agribusiness and marketing, agricultural development and crop production, and the improvement of farmer livelihoods. As one participant noted, “we try to assist these farmers and make their farming a business.”
Participants also explained how they advocate for farmers on a local and national level through proposed policy changes in the National Assembly . Organizations that support farmers serve between 7,000 – 1,000,000 farmers each year. The largest of the farmer organizations operates with a clearly defined organizational structure that begins with individual farmers. Around 10-15 farmers come together to form a Club, several Clubs form Group Action Committees, Group Action Committees come together to form Farmer Associations, and select farmers from the Associations for the Executive Committees of the Association. A Board of Directors manages each Association and the National Farmer Organization headquarters provides support and management of each of the 54 associations in Malawi . Malawi NGOs engage in activities geared towards customizing and disseminating agricultural messages from the public sector or international NGOs to farmers throughout the country. One participant described their organization as “knowledge brokers,” noting that they did not develop content, but customized and tailored messages to fit the needs of specific farmers. The NGOs explained their ability to reach large numbers of farming households through ICTs such as radio and served between 8,000 – 2,000,000 farmers annually. Participants from the local NGOs noted the multitude of positions they and their colleagues hold within their organizations. One participant commented, “I’m the manager of the organization, but I’m also doubling as the Field Officer,square flower bucket which means I have a big job to do. Sometimes it becomes a big challenge for me to fulfill all my duties at once.”Finally, government representatives engage in a wide variety of activities including supporting extension services in livestock, crop production, environmental affairs, fisheries, and irrigation, disseminating agricultural messages to farmers, and supporting rural livelihoods through capacity-building efforts. Two common phrases mentioned by government participants in their explanation of program activities were “climate advisory services” and “nutrition sensitive agriculture.” These participants noted how their organizations strive to incorporate both cross-cutting themes into the interventions they implement with farmers. The number of farmers served by the governmental organizations ranged from 24,000 in a single section to 4,200,000 at DAES. The country is divided into what we call agriculture development divisions . We have eight ADDs and those areas are divided based on the agro-ecological zone. One ADD covers multiple districts with similar agricultural practices that are done there. Below the ADDs we have twenty-eight districts, but we have actually 31 District Agricultural Development Offices because some districts are large and split in two or three offices. Below the DADOs, we have what we called Extension Planning Areas and we have 204 EPA’s. Below the Extension Planning Areas, we have sections. This is the smallest unit. The sections are where we have the agricultural extension officers on the front lines who interface with farmers. Messages are developed by the MoAIWD and then disseminated to the DAES through the extension system described above. One of the most important research questions posed in this study was, “how is information generated in Malawi’s extension system to address climate change?”
In order to answer this question, I sought to understand which organizations develop content and what is the process for generating and improving messages that are disseminated throughout the extension system to address climate change. A total of 85 organizations from international NGOs, Malawi NGOs, private industries, farmer groups, government agencies, and research institutions were referenced by participants. The number and types of organizations that were referenced by participants during interviews is shown in Table 3. One direction relationships were described by participants with the size of the node indicating the level of betweenness with other organizations in the network and are shown in Figure 6. The hierarchical development of content from a few organizations operating within Malawi’s extension network is also illustrated in Figure 6. Seven out of the top ten content developers referenced by participants are government organizations, one is from the U.S. government, one is an international research institution, and one is a Malawi NGO. It is also evident that the majority of Malawi’s extension providers were not referenced by participants as content developers and therefore do not have any directional arrows present. Measures of centrality for the top ten organizations developing content to address climate change in Malawi’s extension system are seen in Table 4. The two organizations with the highest in-degree scores are DAES and DMCCS . Participants noted that they rely on these organization to develop messages that are then customized before the information is disseminated to farmers. Participants explained that DAES provides technical agricultural messages to extension providers, while DMCCS develops and shares information regarding national and local weather conditions. Several participants noted that agricultural content originates from partnerships and information sharing between DAES and other organization such as DARS, CGIARs, and other MoAIWD departments. A representative from DAES explained, “the technologies that come to us normally come from the research institutions like the CGIARS with leadership from the Department of Agricultural Research in Malawi. Our function is then to take the different technologies generated by research and improve them.” Although DAES has the highest in-degree score, DAES staff noted that the technologies they share throughout the extension system originate from research organizations outside Malawi and research departments within the country. Instead of developing the technologies, the role of DAES is to customize and tailor messages about agricultural technologies to meet the needs of specific audiences and communities. Additionally, although MoAIWD has a high in-degree score of 5, several participants noted that technical messages are typically developed through MoAWID’s technical departments before being presented to top officials within the ministry. Additionally, it should be noted that several participants indicated that they did not know which departments within MoAIWD develop climate adaptation messages for farmers. DMCCS has the second highest in-degree score and was commonly referenced as a content developer by participants. One participant shared the type of information provided by DMCCS commenting: Climate information is provided to farmers at the beginning of each growing season. Participants explained that DMCCS staff analyze seasonal, monthly, weekly, and daily weather forecasts and share that information with farmers and extension providers. Information about weather conditions is either disseminated directly to farmers through mass media like ICTs or by extension providers who deliver messages to a specific locality and offer support to farmers to prepare for the growing conditions of a particular season. Although not as commonly referenced, several participants also mentioned weather content being developed and disseminated by DoDMA. The U.S government funded project, SANE also has a high in-degree score of 4.