Book on Famers' Decision Making Processes

To date little information is available for describing the actual process of farmers’ reasoning processes in creating simple rules in their decision making. It is critical as farmers often use the rules as a means to deal with complex situations, particularly when subsistence is an issue. Farmers’ reasoning processes are also unlikely to be straightforward thus requiring approaches capable of capturing the intricacies of farmers’ thought patterns and paths. This book, therefore, offers an analysis using the Theory of Planned Behavior, Personal Construct Theory and Ethnographic Decision Tree Modeling to trace the origins of subsistence farmers' beliefs, and extract the critical elements and paths in their decision making systems. The analysis should help explain how farmers’ cognition and simple decision rules give rise to a particular decision or behavior, and provide a more realistic description of the farmers' decision-making process. The results should be particularly useful to academia, agricultural researchers, extension services and policy makers who seek better ways to assist farmers, particularly with respect to developing countries.

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Article on Decision Making Processes in Semi-subsistence Farmers

A Behavioural Approach to Understanding Semi-subsistence Farmers' Technology Adoption Decisions: The Case of Improved Paddy-Prawn System in Indonesia

Authors: Leonardo A. A. T. Sambodo^a; Peter L. Nuthall^b

Published in: The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, Volume 16, Issue 2 June 2010 , pages 111 - 129

Subjects: Agricultural Studies; Development Studies; Educational Research; Rural Development;

Formats available: HTML (English) : PDF (English)

Previously published as: European Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension (1381-2335) until 1998

Abstract

Purpose. This study traced the origins of subsistence Farmers' technology adoption attitudes and extracted the critical elements in their decision making systems.

Design/Methodology/Approach. The analysis was structured using a model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The role of a 'bargaining process' was particularly explored to partially represent the socio-cultural influences, as it became clear social influences were important to decision-making in subsistence situations. The adoption of an improved paddy-prawn system in Indonesia was used as a case study.

Findings. The results highlighted the Farmers' use of rational strategies and the socio-cultural interactions in decision-making. Before they would fully adopt the farmers needed to confirm that a new technology was significantly superior to the existing system and could provide a secure income. The role of, largely, a family bargaining process was found to be important.

Practical Implications. The model parameters offer a realistic description of the subsistence farmers' decision-making process and consequently provide food for thought when developing extension programmes.

Originality/Value. The use of the bargaining process has not been considered in previous studies using a TPB model. This bargaining process seemed to integrate different sets of decision criteria the farmers had learned and in which they believed. Such a process indicated the importance of considering the adoption decision and the relevant changes resulting from the farmers' cognition and interaction.

Keywords: Adoption; Bargaining process; Decision; Indonesia; Planned behaviour; Subsistence farmers

© 'Copyright Holder', 2010.
This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of 'Copyright Holder' for personal use, not for redistribution.
The definitive version was published in The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, Volume 16 Issue 2, June 2010.
doi:10.1080/13892241003651373 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13892241003651373)