Roles of social learning for the adoption of climate-smart agriculture innovations: Case study from My Loi Climate-Smart Village, Vietnam

Withthe rapid pace of climate change and its impact on food security andlivelihoods, climate-smart agriculture is one strategy aiming to help farmersadopt more sustainable farming practices. This study looked at farmers’adoption of agricultural innovations and the role of social networks in theprocess. Through interviews and observations, we (1) identified determinantsand barriers affecting farmers’ adoption of agricultural innovations in My LoiClimate-Smart Village in northcentral Vietnam, and (2) explored how sociallearning and social networks contribute to farmers’ knowledge generation duringinnovation adoption. Results show that determinants and constraints for theadoption of agricultural innovation exist at multiple levels. The studypresents evidence of the value of social networks for the adoption ofinnovation, identifies what constitutes promising social networks, and givesexamples of institutional structures that influenced the adoption process.Recommendations for social learning networks and scaling of climate-smartagriculture innovations are provided.