Journal of African Economies, Volume 12, Number 4, 533-563
Journal of African Economies 12(4), © Centre for the Study of African Economies 2003; all rights reserved
Love Thy Neighbour? Evidence from Ethnic Discrimination in Information Sharing within Villages in Côte d'Ivoire
CSAE, University of Oxford
There is increasing evidence to suggest that a fundamental source of information for farmers on how to access and use new agricultural technologies comes from interacting with their neighbours. Economic research on adoption of innovations in a rural context has only partially addressed the issue of how the social structure of a village can affect adoption and the final impact on productivity of farmers. This paper investigates the role of proximity interpreted not only in geographical terms but also along the line of ethnic similarities among neighbours (what we define as ‘social proximity’). We use a panel dataset collected in Côte d'Ivoire to define the probability of accessing the knowledge network. The main results indicate that farmers from ethnic minorities are less likely to access, and benefit less from, extension services. However, they seem to try to re-equalise their condition by putting more effort than dominant ethnic group neighbours in sharing information among themselves.
1 I am much indebted to the World Bank office in Abidjan for logistical assistance and to Dr Mimuchamam Kone of ANANDER for access to data and resources. I am also indebted to Marcel Fafchamps, Gershon Feder, Chris Udry and CSAE members for very useful comments on previous drafts. A trust fund from the Italian government to the World Bank made this research possible.