Decision-making Process Of Farmers Research Articles

Payment for ecosystem services, sustained behavioural change, and adaptive management: peasant perspectives in the Colombian Andes

SUMMARYPayment for ecosystem services (PES) has been widely promoted as an effective and efficient model for conservation; however, few studies have empirically examined how the market-based approach interacts with farmer's decision-making processes and their abilities to sustain new conservation practices. This paper examines the sustainability of a PES silvopastoral programme in Colombia from peasant farmers’ perspectives. Programme participants were asked questions regarding their perceived ability to continue with the silvopastoral practices, the influence of the economic benefits and contracts on behavioural change, and the programme's impacts on self-determination, innovation and social learning; factors considered critical for sustained resource management. While the participants expressed a need for the PES programme practices, less than half stated that they would continue with the silvopastoral measures and only 13% understood that part of their contractual commitment was to conserve forests. Ten per cent of the participants considered themselves the principal decision-maker in the farm-level changes and only one participant had altered the prescribed practices, despite a common perception that some techniques were not suitable for the region. The results suggest a need to re-examine the degree to which the PES model in fact encourages adaptive management practices and sustained land-use behaviours in peasant communities.

Conflicting farmers' objectives and environmental policies: the case of a Mediterranean farm

In dry land areas of the Mediterranean region, farmers' decisions are particularly difficult due to irregular rainfall. Yield risk, soil erosion and desertification are important problems. Decision-making behaviour of farmers is supposed to incorporate a particular concern in the adoption of strategies to decrease income variability, to conserve soil and to guarantee a comfortable level of income. Using a multi-criteria methodology, this article analyses the importance of various objectives in the decision-making process of farmers in the Mediterranean region. Simultaneously, the effect of the agri-environmental policy measures is evaluated when farmers maximise utility and when they maximise profit. These effects on soil erosion are also evaluated. The end of the agri-environmental measures changes the dry land crop activities to natural pastures, increasing livestock and the level of erosion. The agri-environmental measures are effective in maintaining the traditional agricultural systems, and in promoting the adoption of soil conservation tillage techniques.

Beyond Participation – Building Farmer Confidence

Despite large investments in research to modernize African agriculture, enabling it to fulfil its potential, traditional agriculture still predominates. To many, the lack of adoption of knowledge generated through agricultural research is due either to the inexplicable functioning of the farmer's decision-making process or to a set of issues so complex that it is not clear how they could ever be overcome. This paper reviews a project in Sub-Saharan Africa in which bean pest management became a tool through which communities were empowered to address a wide range of development issues. This paper suggests that what needs to be altered substantially is the way scientists view and interact with the poor.

Adopting Technological and Structural Changes to Horticultural Production in Spanish Mediterranean Regions

The decision-making process of farmers in the Spanish Mediterranean regions was analysed using the function of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT). The economic, agronomic and social repercussions resulting from adopting a series of technological and structural improvements were evaluated on farms with citricultural and outdoor horticultural production. The introduction of such measures is necessary to improve competitiveness and favour the sustainability of these farms. The outstanding consequences of these innovations were a more efficient use of irrigation water and an increase in the area of vegetable cultivation when mechanized, which counteracted the overwhelming trend in the area towards citriculture.

Trade-off analysis in the Northern Andes to study the dynamics in agricultural land use

In this paper we hypothesize that land use change can be induced by non-linearities and thresholds in production systems that impact farmers' decision making. Tradeoffs between environmental and economic indicators is a useful way to represent dynamic properties of agricultural systems. The Tradeoff Analysis (TOA) System is software designed to implement the integrated analysis of tradeoffs in agricultural systems. The TOA methodology is based on spatially explicit econometric simulation models linked to spatially referenced bio-physical simulation models to simulate land use and input decisions. The methodology has been applied for the potato-pasture production system in the Ecuadorian Andes. The land use change literature often describes non-linearity in land use change as a result of sudden changes in the political (e.g. new agricultural policies) or environmental setting (e.g. earthquakes). However, less attention has been paid to the non-linearities in production systems and their consequences for land use change. In this paper, we use the TOA system to study agricultural land use dynamics and to find the underlying processes for non-linearities. Results show that the sources of non-linearities are in the properties of bio-physical processes and in the decision making-process of farmers.

Possibilities of Farm Management Decision Support

Computer science has a major role in the decision-making process of farmers. In this process IT can be applied to virtually all phase: from infromation gathering to information processing. I am examining the position of informatics in the decision-making process. IT can be used in every single phases of the decision-making process. In my essay the useage of Internet and the possibilities it can provide play a significant role.After a brief description of the IT position of Hungarian agriculture I am introducing some programs, which can be used in the management’s decision-supporting system. Besides the Hungarian experiences the West European surveys also comfirm the application of Information Technology.

Dairy advisory teams

Dairy Advisory Teams (DATs) improve farm management success when producers and advisors have the skills and attitude to make them work effectively. Basic team concepts are taught during team training workshops and in follow-up communications. Teams learn to recognize individual farm values, objectives and constraints before identifying areas in which improvements could be made. Teams are selected from people with skills and abilities that complement farm goals. An advisor who is not part of the owner/management group organizes and runs the team meetings in consultation with the owner. Advisors with team facilitation skills and experience make the best coordinators. Teams formulate action plans that are critical to success. Regular team meetings (monthly or bi-monthly with experience) increase the ability of farm advisors to monitor and make midcourse adjustment to farm plans. Farm owners make all decisions while benefiting from timely diverse advice from multiple professionals. Our study confirms that veterinarians are one of three critical team advisors and provide essential advice for teams when health information is integrated into the farm decision-making processes. Further, this study suggests that certain elements are key to success of a dairy advisory team. Teams most likely to continue after the first year tended to advise larger, better-managed herds. They had producers dedicated to the team process, experienced coordinators or new coordinators that adhered to the team process. Successful advisory teams functioned for multiple years, had larger teams and had goals that were more strategic (long term) than tactical (immediate). Smaller herds with DATs made faster progress on several indicators than larger herds, primarily because they were further behind initially Therefore, DATs can target smaller herds and make significant progress. Four to five team members appears to be the practical size for herds up to 150 cows, and six to seven team members for herds milking over 200. Team size is not as critical to success as the dedication of the producer and the leadership ability of the coordinator. Although herds with production challenges made greater progress, producer attitudes and coordinator effectiveness contributed most to sustainability. The financial and professional rewards for consultants may be greater when working with larger farms and dedicated producers.

Evaluating and adapting new technologies in a high-risk agricultural system—Niger

This study modeled the introduction of new early cultivars of millet and cowpea, higher cowpea densities, and various fertilization strategies. Model results were then compared with farmer behavior before and after the availability of these new technologies. The model correctly identified the two new technologies being adopted by farmers. Then further runs of the adaptive model identified several research-extension strategies to increase the adoption of fertilization. Some recommendations to researchers and extension agents were made. The intraseasonal adaptive decision-making process of farmers was modeled with a one-year, discrete stochastic sequential programming whole-farm model.

Livestock Ownership Patterns in a Nepali Village

Recent reports (Wyatt-Smith, 1981; Fox, 1983) indicate that the livestock population of Nepal exceeds available feed resources and that overgrazing causes severe land degradation. Knowledge of livestock ownership patterns and factors that influence livestock ownership is thus important to land management programmes. Currently, these patterns are poorly understood and theories to explain livestock ownership are controversial. Attention has been focused on the relative importance of the Hindu religion and economic incentives to cattle and buffalo ownership patterns among Indian farmers (Harris, 1966, 1974, 1978; Heston, 1971; Freed and Freed, 1972, 1981; Harris et al., 1982). While Freed and Freed and Heston propose that religious considerations influence livestock ownership patterns, Harris asserts that technological and environmental concerns are the primary factors. Freed and Freed (1981:483) claim that . . there are too many cattle, especially zebu cows, in terms of their techno-environmental functions, that uneconomic animals compete with humans for food, that this situation is due at least in part to the religious veneration of the cow, and that a smaller cattle population with different demographic characteristics could adequately perform all of the functions of the present population. Harris et al. (1982:365), on the other hand, maintain that the effects of religion not significantly influence the major regional variations in bovine age, sex, and species ratios. For land managers attempting to control overgrazing, it is important to know whether Hindu religious beliefs need to be considered when trying to convince farmers to reduce the number of their livestock. Harris et al. (1982: 365) clearly believe they do not: Proposals to change the existing deployment of bovine resources . . . cannot set forth from the proposition that the Hindu proscriptions take precedence over economic costs and benefits in the Indian farmer's decision-making process. At the village level Hindu cultural practices are often manifested by caste. The four major divisions of the caste system are Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors), Vaishyas (agriculturalists and traders), and Sudras (service or untouchable groups). In Nepal, both Brahmins and Kshatriyas (Chhetris) are considered to be twice born and wear the sacred thread (janai). Vaishyas include the Newars and other indigenous tribal hill groups. Sudras include the blacksmiths (kami), leatherworkers (sarkai), and tailors (damai). It is dangerous to generalize about caste in Nepal but Brahmins, being of the highest caste and class and therefore having the most to lose, generally follow the proscriptions of the Hindu religion the most closely. If Freed and Freed's assertion that religious veneration of the cow affects livestock ownership patterns is true,

Helping farm groups problem-solve: A workshop macrodesign for extension workers

Agricultural extension services in low-income countries generally are top-down information systems with extension workers delivering recommendations and technologies that may or may not help farmers resolve their problems. Radical critics of this system promote farmer centered approaches which tend to assign extension workers muted background roles with little chance to provide substantive input into the farmer decision-making process. What is proposed here is a five-step problem-solving workshop design which allows both extension workers and farmers to play active roles in assessing agricultural development problems and in determining solution steps for attempting to solve these problems.

Information sources for farmers from outside their farms

The purpose of this paper is to investigate off-farm sources of information for farmers and how farmers can best utilise this information. Extensive quantities and types of information are available and distributed to farmers. Their problem is to sort out that which is relevant and credible and to use it effectively in their farm decision-making processes. There is high variability in farmers' perception of the credibility of various information sources. There is also a highly differential adoption process in the perceived use of information. This is due to many different personal, social and physical factors. The high variability in perceived credibility and use of information precludes clear-cut recommendations on how farmers can most effectively use this information. However, the application of some general principles can assist in integrating the information process with the decision-making process to better achieve desired goals.