Palmira, Colombia, July 21, 2026. A recent study published in Agricultural Systems provides new evidence on the role of social relationships in knowledge sharing among farmers and proposes a new way of understanding how the responsible scaling of climate-smart agricultural innovations begins.
As the climate becomes increasingly variable and extreme events more frequent, accelerating the use of innovations that can strengthen agricultural resilience has become a priority for agrifood systems. Science has made progress in developing solutions with the potential to help farmers address these challenges. However, ensuring that knowledge about these innovations reaches more farmers and is understood, adapted, and scaled remains one of the major challenges in research for development.
Addressing this challenge requires understanding not only which innovations work, but also how knowledge about them begins to circulate among farmers. The study Trust, support, and knowledge sharing: The role of social capital in responsible scaling of climate-smart agriculture, published in Agricultural Systems, provides new evidence that this process depends not only on the technical characteristics of an innovation, but also on relationships of trust, mutual support, and knowledge sharing among farmers.
To examine this question, researchers from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, the University of Copenhagen, and the Gates Foundation analyzed data from 514 smallholder farmers participating in Climate-Smart Villages—known in Spanish as Territorios Sostenibles Adaptados al Clima (TeSAC)—in Guatemala and Honduras. The aim was to understand how different dimensions of social capital influence knowledge sharing about climate-smart agriculture and what this process means for the responsible scaling of innovations.
Beyond sharing information, one of the study's main contributions is a new way of examining how agricultural innovations begin to spread. The findings suggest that innovations do not begin to diffuse solely because of their technical characteristics. They also depend on social relationships that enable knowledge to circulate among farmers, allowing new practices to be understood, discussed, and adapted to different contexts.
The success of an innovation is traditionally assessed once it has already been adopted by large numbers of people. This study, by contrast, focuses attention on a much earlier stage: when farmers begin to share experiences, discuss new practices, address questions, and learn from one another.
The study proposes that knowledge sharing can be understood as an observable sign of the early stages of responsible scaling. Examining how knowledge circulates among farmers can provide a better understanding of how the processes that may later support broader adoption and expansion of innovations begin to take shape.
From this perspective, knowledge sharing is not limited to the transmission of technical information. It is a social process through which experiences are shared, discussed, and adapted to different production realities. Understanding these dynamics makes it possible to analyze how knowledge about innovations begins to circulate before adoption becomes visible at scale.
"Our study shows that the success of scaling does not depend solely on the technical characteristics of an innovation. It also requires understanding the social dynamics that enable knowledge to circulate among farmers. Trust, close relationships between people, and mutual support create conditions that foster knowledge sharing, a process that can be observed as a signal of the early stages of responsible scaling." Dr. Deissy Martínez-Barón, Researcher in Scaling for Impact and Climate Action, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.
What does the research reveal?
Trust among farmers plays a fundamental role in enabling knowledge sharing about climate-smart agricultural practices. When farmers trust other members of their community, they are more likely to share experiences, discuss new practices, and learn from one another.
Close relationships among farmers strengthen learning networks, making it easier for knowledge and experience to circulate within communities. These connections create an enabling environment in which knowledge about innovations can be shared, discussed, and adapted to different contexts.
One of the study's most important findings concerns the role of mutual support. The researchers found that it becomes particularly important in communities where levels of trust remain low. Under these circumstances, guidance, collaboration, and the exchange of experiences help sustain the flow of knowledge among farmers.
By contrast, the study found that trust in organizations had less influence than trust built among farmers themselves, highlighting the importance of relationships developed within communities in promoting knowledge sharing.
Finally, the researchers identified a positive association between the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and knowledge sharing, reinforcing the close relationship between the two processes.
What does this mean for farmers and decision-makers?
In practice, these findings help explain how knowledge begins to circulate among farmers. For example, a farmer may observe a neighbor implementing a new practice to cope with drought, discuss the results, adapt the practice to the conditions on their own farm, and later share that experience with other community members. Although the study does not examine individual cases such as this one, it provides evidence that knowledge about innovations begins to circulate among farmers and is an important component of the processes that may support their subsequent expansion.
For governments, development organizations, and innovation programs, these findings provide evidence of the need to place social dynamics at the center of innovation-scaling processes, as this supports local ownership and, in turn, sustained results and impact over time. The findings also support the responsible scaling approach by showing that understanding how knowledge circulates among farmers can contribute to the design of innovation strategies that are more inclusive, context-sensitive, and better able to anticipate and manage potential unintended consequences that may arise as innovations are scaled up.
In a context where agrifood systems need to accelerate the adoption of solutions to climate change, this research highlights that the impact of an innovation depends not only on its technical quality, but also on people's ability to share knowledge, learn from one another, and build relationships of trust that enable knowledge to circulate.
Understanding these processes creates new opportunities to design more effective and inclusive innovation and scaling strategies that are adapted to local realities.
Link to the study: Trust, support, and knowledge sharing: The role of social capital in responsible scaling of climate-smart agriculture - ScienceDirect
Agricultural Systems
Trust, support, and knowledge sharing: The role of social capital in responsible scaling of climate-smart agriculture
13-Jul-2026