Information and innovations in the social network of ecological coffee producers – Ceará

ABSTRACT

This study constructs and analyzes the structure of the social network of shaded/ecological coffee production in the region of Maciço de Baturité, in the state of Ceará. For this purpose, field research and case studies were conducted with 36 producers of ecological coffee from the municipalities of Mulungu, Baturité, and Guaramiranga, applying the conceptual framework of Social Network Analysis (SNA). The main results show that the density of the network in the region was only 6.7%. This reinforces the argument that information circulates at a slower pace and that there is little interaction among actors in the network for the exchange of ideas, experiences, individual and collective successes and mistakes, which is a limiting factor for the knowledge of innovations implemented by other local producers. The involvement of universities, producer associations, government, and support institutions is important for the exchange of information about the production and commercialization of ecological coffee and to encourage innovations to be explored.

KEYWORDS
Network; Coffee; Learning; Tacit knowledge