Social Networks in Ghana

Beginning in the 1990s, the Eastern Region of Ghana has transitioned from production of local foodstuffs to commercial production of pineapple for export to Europe. The economic changes caused by this shift are influenced by a number of factors. These include the social networks concerned with capital, information, and influence. Interviews, agricultural activity questionnaires, modules, soil fertility analyses, GIS mapping of fields, and plot history and rights questionnaires were administered to sixty couples or triples in four different villages and used to uncover the connections within the villages. The authors acknowledge the limits of the questionnaires for this task and suggest the use of an equilibrium model of multi-dimensional network formation in future research.