Doctoral student Michelle Roberts, with the guidance of Dr. Robert Winzeler (University of Nevada, Reno, will undertake research on factors that affect farmer decision-making in developing countries. In many countries, governments are encouraging farmers to change from subsistence-focused shifting cultivation to permanent cash crops. As a result, some farmers are deciding to adopt new agricultural practices while others are not. To understand why only some farmers are adopting new practices, farmers' decision-making processes will be studied.
The research will be carried out in farming villages in northern Laos (Lao PDR). The research area is composed of three ethnic groups; Lao Loum, Khmu, and Hmong. To elucidate farmer perspectives and gain a holistic understanding of decision-making environments, the study will consider 1) social factors within groups stratified by wealth, status, age, and gender; 2) differences and similarities between groups in perceptions of crops and technologies; and 3) similarities and differences of crop preference, value, and perceptions among various ethnic and stakeholder groups. Research methods will include participant observation, surveys, semi-structured interviews, slip-sorting, ranking, social-mapping, and photo-voice.
This research is important because it will illuminate the cultural dimensions of agricultural preferences, values, and perceptions as they influence agricultural decision-making. By understanding local farmers' agricultural perspectives, agents of change can adjust the parameters of innovations to foster a higher adoption rate, increase agricultural productivity, and otherwise benefit target populations. The research also will contribute to cognitive decision-making theories and more broadly to ethnographic knowledge about one of the least studied regions in Southeast Asia. This award also supports the education of a social scientist.
