Deforestation and land degradation have been occurring across the globe, particularly in developing countries. Over the past 30 years, Indonesia’s lowlands have experienced rapid degradation, deforestation and fires. Interventions aimed to achieve sustainable lowlands have been made through the introduction and adoption of commodities that provide sufficient livelihoods and reduce fires. However, these interventions have not guaranteed success as the contribution of the governance and political economy towards sustainability is poorly understood. This study aims to determine how governance and political-economic factors affect sustainability of lowland agriculture. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to understand the effect of political economy factors (structure, institution and actor) on sustainability and community livelihoods in Indonesian lowlands. Data were collected through interviews with selected respondents. We found Structure, Institution, and Actor explain 31% (0.31) of the variation in the Sustainability and Livelihoods model. The remaining effects were explained by non-political economic factors. Using actor-centered power (ACP) and social network analysis (SNA) approaches, we also identified and assessed different actors’ power and their networks. The central government and private companies are the most powerful actors, while farmers are the least powerful actors. The findings demonstrate that considering governance and political-economic factors in designing and implementing commodity interventions for policy makers is a must. Devolving power to farmers is crucial in achieving power balance among various actors, which leads to better political economy condition that affects sustainability of lowlands.
Tag: equation
Assessing smallholder farmers’ motivation to adopt agroforestry using a multi-group structural equation modeling approach
This study applied the multi-group structural equation modeling technique to identify differences in farmer motivations to adopting agroforestry practices in the Mt. Elgon region of Uganda. Data were collected from interviews with 400 smallholder coffee farmers belonging to four categories which included: (1) those actively participating in an Australian-funded trees for food security (T4FS) project from phase 1 (2014); (2) farmers neighbouring those actively participating in the T4FS project; (3) farmers actively participating in the T4FS project from phase 2 (2017) and; (4) farmers living distant and unaware of the T4FS project. We used the theory of planned behaviour framework to assess the adoption behaviour of these farmer categories resulting from project interventions. About 40% of the variation in farmer motivation to integrate trees in their coffee plantations was explained by the significant variables of ‘attitude’ and ‘perceived behavioural control’ among farmers actively participating in the T4FS project from phase 1. However, the neighbors of participating farmers and farmers who had never interacted with the project were only motivated by ‘attitude’ and ‘social norms’ respectively. Farmer motivation resulting from social pressure was strongest among farmers who had never interacted with the project, and in the absence of project interventions, rely on existing social structures to drive change in their community. Farmers’ perceived behavioural control to overcome tree planting barriers and their attitude to the economic benefits of shaded coffee were significantly different among the four farmer categories (p < 0.05). The findings indicate that psychological factors are key drivers to the farmers’ internal decision-making process in agroforestry technology adoption and can be context-specific. The adoption behaviour of smallholder farmers is mainly shaped by existing community social norms and beliefs that tend to promote knowledge exchange, as opposed to the conventional knowledge transfer extension approaches. Norms are therefore an inherent part of social systems and can create distinct farming practices, habits and standards within a social group. Researchers and extension agents can act upon these identified positive attitudes, norms and perceived behavioural controls to guarantee adoption and sustainability of agricultural technologies.
Psychological Factors Influencing Farmers’ Intention to Adopt Agroforestry: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach
The biophysical characteristics of the farm and farmers’ socioeconomic factors have been used to explain adoption of technologies in Africa. However, agricultural technology adoption requires that we also understand the psychological factors that can encourage or discourage farmer adoption of technologies. The aim of this article is to assess the psychological drivers of farmers’ intentions to adopt agroforestry technologies on their farms. We obtained data from 400 smallholder farmers in the Mt. Elgon region of Uganda. The Theory of Planned Behavior was used as the main framework. Quantitative data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to assess the impact of a set of psychological factors on farmers’ intention to integrate trees in coffee. The intention of farmers to integrate trees in coffee plantations was mainly driven by their evaluation of the benefits of shaded coffee (attitude) followed by beliefs about their own capability (perceived behavioral control). However, social pressure (subjective norm) was insignificant, implying that smallholder farmers tend to deny the influence of other people’s behavior on their actions. Therefore, farmers’ positive evaluation of shading coffee and the perceived capability to overcome tree planting barriers reinforced their intention to integrate trees in coffee. This renders attitude and perceived behavioral control as reliable predictors of farmer tree planting behavior, especially in the context of developing countries.