An agent-based simulation model of human–environment interactions in agricultural systems

Abstract

This paper describes an agent-based software package, called Mathematical Programming-based Multi Agent Systems (MP-MAS), which builds on a tradition of using constrained optimization to simulate farm decision-making in agricultural systems. The purpose of MP-MAS is to understand how agricultural technology, market dynamics, environmental change, and policy intervention affect a heterogeneous population of farm households and the agro-ecological resources these households command. The software is presented using the Overview, Design concepts, and Details (ODD) protocol. Modeling features are demonstrated with empirical applications to study sites in Chile, Germany, Ghana, Thailand, Uganda, and Vietnam. We compare MP-MAS with eight other simulators of human–environment interactions (ABSTRACT, CATCHSCAPE, ECECMOD, IMT, LUDAS, PALM, SAM, and SIM). The comparison shows that the uniqueness of MP-MAS lies in its combination of a microeconomic modeling approach and a choice of alternative biophysical modules that are either coded as part of the software or coupled with it using the Typed Data Transfer (TDT) library.