Abstract
In rapidly developing economies such as Thailand, farmers face multiple challenges preventing them from improving their livelihoods, and are therefore reverting to collective action as a means to overcome those obstacles. Community enterprises (CEs) have recently emerged as a new form of such collective action, yet there is limited evidence regarding farmers’ perception of rice production CEs (RPCEs) and the specific factors influencing their decision to join. In order to fill this gap, primary data were collected through questionnaires administered to 406 farmers in six districts in Uthai Thani province in the central region of Thailand. A weighted average index (WAI) was employed to assess the farmers’ perception of RPCEs’ role, and a binary logit regression model was used to investigate the determinants of perception and membership in RPCEs. The results revealed that both members and non-members perceived RPCEs as a saving source but not a credit provider. Compared to non-members, members put more emphasis on the product competition with rivals. Decision to join was associated with small landholdings, diversity of rice varieties cultivated, participation in networks, membership of economic groups, access to extension services, access to credit, and proximity to the market. The results suggest that production-oriented and marketing-oriented policies should be promoted in order to encourage farmers to cultivate organic rice and rice for the niche market to supply to RPCEs in order to generate greater group income.
Highlights
Improving agricultural productivity and commercialization of agricultural products among smallholder farmers is widely perceived as a key approach for rural development, poverty alleviation, and food security
Factors’ Influencing Farmers’ Membership in rice production CEs (RPCEs) In Model 2 (Table 4), the results show that the probability of being a member of an RPCE significantly increases with rice farming experience and rice farm size
The findings suggest that age, education, small size of family, diversity of rice variety cultivated, and trust—in particular moderate and high trust—in RPCEs are significant factors that influence paddy farmers to have a more positive perception of RPCEs
Summary
Improving agricultural productivity and commercialization of agricultural products among smallholder farmers is widely perceived as a key approach for rural development, poverty alleviation, and food security. Collective action is defined as a group of people who collaborate in order to pursue members’ shared interests [6]. It is the coordinated behavior of a group toward a common interest or purpose [7]. Collective action groups can be of many types such as labor-sharing groups or self-help groups, and perform a wide range of activities including agricultural production, management of natural resources, and technology dissemination. Collective action can involve more complex farmer associations, as well as cooperative societies engaged in marketing activities, input supply, and provision of specialized services
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