Abstract
Aquaculture has a critical role in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals of increasing benefits that low-income and least-developed countries derive from marine resources. Its capacity to deliver these outcomes is challenging, particularly for marginalized groups. This is especially true if the introduction of novel technologies is applied with incomplete understanding of socio-economic and bio-physical contexts. We examined what socio-economic factors affect people’s perceptions of adoption of lobster aquaculture in rural households in Indonesia. We used multiple linear regression with model averaging to test the influence of five capital assets (human, social, natural, physical, and financial), including agency, equity, and household sensitivity, on people’s perceived ability to adopt lobster aquaculture. Agency and sensitivity had the greatest influence on the dependent variable. We then used correlation analysis to develop a heuristic model of potential indirect causal mechanisms affecting people’s perceptions of adoption. Our results point to the existence of a ‘sensitivity trap’, where more sensitive or marginalized households are less likely to engage in new economic opportunities. We emphasize the value of multifaceted programs for improving livelihoods, particularly for poorer, more vulnerable households as one way to support the UN’s commitment to using aquaculture as a pathway to achieving sustainable development.
Highlights
The global community has committed to increasing the economic benefit that Small Island Developing States and less developed countries derive from marine resources by 2030 [1]
For small-scale aquaculture programs that aim to benefit the rural poor, socio-economic dynamics shape the potential of aquaculture to deliver on its promised development outcomes [5]
Socio-economic dynamics influence, for example, what aquaculture technologies are available in which communities and to whom [3], how pond products are used or consumed [6,7], and how the decision-making processes related to adoption unfold within communities and households [8]
Summary
The global community has committed to increasing the economic benefit that Small Island Developing States and less developed countries derive from marine resources by 2030 [1]. For small-scale aquaculture programs that aim to benefit the rural poor, socio-economic dynamics shape the potential of aquaculture to deliver on its promised development outcomes [5]. Engagement with the sustainable livelihoods framework has focused largely on the five core assets (human, social, natural, physical, and financial) and less on transforming structures and processes as determinants of livelihood outcomes. Understanding adoption behaviour is relevant, since projects that engage new entrants, as opposed to interventions designed to improve existing practices, have the potential to address the exclusion of lower-income and marginalized groups with limited assets [3]. In addition to the five core assets (human, social, natural, physical, and financial), including agency, equity, and sensitivity adds to our understanding people’s perceived ability to adopt smallholder aquaculture. Its novelty lies in the inclusion of three additional predictor variables within the standard capital-centric sustainable livelihoods model; agency, equity, and sensitivity
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