Determining success factors for improving rural livelihood strategies: how can participatory social network mapping help?

ABSTRACT

The integration of upgrading strategies (UPS) as part of the livelihood strategies of small farmers is vital for enhancing their food systems. The success of the UPS implementation largely relies on the interactions among key actors. Understanding the complex social realities of farmers is essential for adapting strategies to the local context. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the impact of UPS on the livelihood of participants in two case study areas in Tanzania. We used a mixed-method approach to understand the relations between, roles, and motivations of relevant actors in the participatory implementation of their UPS using the Net-Map tool for social network analysis and focus group discussions. Our results reveal why the implementation of UPS improved people´s livelihoods and allowed us to derive some success factors. Motivations for participating in a UPS group differed to some extent among all UPS groups and all types of actors. Based on our results, we found that UPS allow participants to enhance their social networks within their communities and develop skills that improve their livelihood strategies, resulting in more diverse livelihood outcomes. This research provides a knowledge base for UPS considerations and other participatory actions with local subsistence stakeholders.

KEYWORDS:

• Rural innovations
• food security
• social network analysis
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• net-map
• sustainable livelihoods

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all involved local stakeholders in the case studies for participating in the Net-Map interviews and workshops. They also thank the anonymous reviewers for their careful reading of the manuscript and their insightful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This publication is a product of the Trans-SEC (www.trans-sec.org) project. This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) [031A249A] and co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) [031A249A]. Barbara Schröter was financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through a grant for PlanSmart research group [01UU1601B] as part of the funding priority ”Social-Ecological Research” within the Research for Sustainability Program (FONA³). The views expressed are purely those of the authors and should under no circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the BMBF and BMZ.

Notes on contributors

Estephania Delgadillo

Estephania Delgadillo is a PhD Candidate at the University of Technology Troyes where she researches the integration of local resources in sustainable product-service systems design. She holds a MSc. degree in Sustainable Resource Management at the Technical University of Munich, Germany with focus on agricultural systems management, and water and soil management. Her areas of interests are: transitions of socio-technical systems, community empowerment, design for sustainability, social network analysis and governance of natural resources.

Frieder Graef

Dr. Frieder Graef is working at the Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) in Müncheberg, based in Germany. He holds a PhD in tropical agriculture from the University of Hohenheim, Germany, being specialised in soil science, GIS and land evaluation. He was scientific coordinator of the German-Tanzanian research project Trans-SEC. This stakeholder-driven research aimed at improving food security for the vulnerable rural poor population in Tanzania applying upgrading strategies along local and regional food value chains.

Barbara Schröter

Dr. Barbara Schröter is a political scientist with a M.A. degree on Latin America and development politics from Eberhard-Karls-University of Tübingen, Germany, and a PhD from the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg, Germany. After her dissertation she worked in political consulting and in opinion research in Mexico City, doing qualitative and quantitative research on different political and social topics. In 2011 she started working at ZALF. Her main research focus here is on institutional analysis and governance, social network analysis, civil society engagement, participation and the management of ecosystem services.

Mefor E. Halle

Ernestine Mefor Halle is a researcher working in the area of sustainable agriculture. She holds a MSc. in Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics and Subtropics from the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany. Her prime areas of interests are: sustainable development, agricultural development policy, women empowerment, livelihoods and poverty alleviation, governance and institutions.