Using social network analysis to evaluate the impacts of the research: On the transition to organic farming in the Camargue

Abstract

This paper evaluates the relevance of undertaking a Social Network Analysis (SNA) to better understand the role played by the network of actors during innovation processes as well as validate stakeholders' views on actors' relationships in a case study on the transition to organic farming in the Camargue territory (South of France). The SNA method is part of a set of methods that forms an approach that was developed to evaluate ex-post the impacts of agronomic research in the framework of the European research project IMPRESA. The analysis particularly confirms, through the indicator of Betweenness, the growing role played by INRA (French National Institute of Agronomic Research) in the network and its contribution to the transition to organic agriculture. This is due in particular to closer relationships between farmers and INRA. The results also indicate a growing role played by CIRAD (Agricultural Research Center for International Development) through the lens of increased relationships with farmers. Additionally, the analysis confirms the great influence of the creation of the firm Biosud in 2003 on the transition to organic farming. SNA proved to be an excellent research tool for confirming stakeholders' statements about impact pathway, the events described in it, and the intensity of links between events. The reconstruction of the actor network over 5 different periods allows a significant deepening of the analysis. This method could be more largely used in evaluating impacts of research.