Risks, resources and reason: understanding smallholder decisions around farming system interventions in Eastern Indonesia

Adoption of new cattle management practices by Indonesian smallholders occurs less as a ‘technology transfer’ in the classical sense but rather as a series of conscious decisions by farming households weighing risks and resources as well as matching innovations to livelihood strategies. This paper uncovers the context of decisions and communication of innovations by way of social networks. The research looks at two geographically distinct cases where new cattle management practices have been introduced. We apply the lens of a common sense framework initially introduced by Clifford Geertz. Smallholder decisions are analysed within a socio-cultural context and a particular set of resources, risks and livelihood objectives. We show that the respective value placed on land, cattle and food security is central to adoption of new cattle management techniques. Far from accepting everything novel, smallholders are selective and willing to make changes to their farming system if they do not conflict with livelihood strategies. Innovations are communicated through a range of existing social networks and are either matched to existing livelihood strategies or perceived as stepping-stones out of agriculture

Urban-Rural Links for Sustainable Food Consumption in Bangkok

Current food systems fail to directly link urban consumers with rural producers. City-regional strategies need to reconnect consumers with producers through sustainable local food systems. This research developed and distributed a survey questionnaire to 400 consumers in Bangkok. Findings prove that there is a statistically significant association between urban-rural relation and sustainable urban consumer behavior (Pearson’s Chi-square test for independence resulting in a significance level of p < 0.05). Sustainable consumer behavior is influenced by environmental, sociocultural, economic and health drivers, while lack of food traceability, lack of rural experience, lack of access to rural communities and negative social perception disrupt consumer-producer links. Community-based gastrotourism emerges as one of the best practices to link urban consumers with rural producers and plan sustainable food systems in mega-cities like Bangkok

Image_1_Systemizing a rural livelihood diversification framework for sustainable community-based agritourism: A participatory approach to ensure resilience.pdf

IntroductionSituated approaches of rural livelihood diversification, such as community-based agritourism, can localize sustainable food systems at the regional level. This research advances an integrated framework of indicators to assess the interdisciplinary benefits of rural livelihood diversification practices for sustainable local food systems and community resilience.MethodsWe built a framework on four dimensions deducted from secondary data: (1) environmental, (2) sociocultural, (3) economic, and (4) health. These were validated with an inductive analysis of primary data, which we collected from a panel of experts with a content validity index and tested in three rural case studies with shadow observation and qualitative interviews. We conducted both in-depth interviews with community leaders (n = 10) and semi-structured interviews with multi-sectoral stakeholders (n = 40).ResultsFindings (1) identify a comprehensive list of indicators to assess environmental, sociocultural, economic, and health dimensions of rural livelihood diversification practices and (2) advance a participatory approach to prioritize indicators according to their regional relevance (co-developed with stakeholders involved in Bangkok's local food systems). Food tourism connects the four dimensions by (1) preserving local agrobiodiversity (2) preserving rural communities' traditions (3) creating new capacity building opportunities for community-driven socio-economic development and (4) recognizing the health benefits of indigenous foods.DiscussionThis study contributes to a value-added conceptualization of community-based agritourism as a rural livelihood diversification practice. Such research effort highlights the importance of co-producing and ground-truthing indicators for rural livelihood diversification practices localizing sustainable development goals.</p

Table_5_Systemizing a rural livelihood diversification framework for sustainable community-based agritourism: A participatory approach to ensure resilience.docx

IntroductionSituated approaches of rural livelihood diversification, such as community-based agritourism, can localize sustainable food systems at the regional level. This research advances an integrated framework of indicators to assess the interdisciplinary benefits of rural livelihood diversification practices for sustainable local food systems and community resilience.MethodsWe built a framework on four dimensions deducted from secondary data: (1) environmental, (2) sociocultural, (3) economic, and (4) health. These were validated with an inductive analysis of primary data, which we collected from a panel of experts with a content validity index and tested in three rural case studies with shadow observation and qualitative interviews. We conducted both in-depth interviews with community leaders (n = 10) and semi-structured interviews with multi-sectoral stakeholders (n = 40).ResultsFindings (1) identify a comprehensive list of indicators to assess environmental, sociocultural, economic, and health dimensions of rural livelihood diversification practices and (2) advance a participatory approach to prioritize indicators according to their regional relevance (co-developed with stakeholders involved in Bangkok's local food systems). Food tourism connects the four dimensions by (1) preserving local agrobiodiversity (2) preserving rural communities' traditions (3) creating new capacity building opportunities for community-driven socio-economic development and (4) recognizing the health benefits of indigenous foods.DiscussionThis study contributes to a value-added conceptualization of community-based agritourism as a rural livelihood diversification practice. Such research effort highlights the importance of co-producing and ground-truthing indicators for rural livelihood diversification practices localizing sustainable development goals.</p

Table_3_Systemizing a rural livelihood diversification framework for sustainable community-based agritourism: A participatory approach to ensure resilience.docx

IntroductionSituated approaches of rural livelihood diversification, such as community-based agritourism, can localize sustainable food systems at the regional level. This research advances an integrated framework of indicators to assess the interdisciplinary benefits of rural livelihood diversification practices for sustainable local food systems and community resilience.MethodsWe built a framework on four dimensions deducted from secondary data: (1) environmental, (2) sociocultural, (3) economic, and (4) health. These were validated with an inductive analysis of primary data, which we collected from a panel of experts with a content validity index and tested in three rural case studies with shadow observation and qualitative interviews. We conducted both in-depth interviews with community leaders (n = 10) and semi-structured interviews with multi-sectoral stakeholders (n = 40).ResultsFindings (1) identify a comprehensive list of indicators to assess environmental, sociocultural, economic, and health dimensions of rural livelihood diversification practices and (2) advance a participatory approach to prioritize indicators according to their regional relevance (co-developed with stakeholders involved in Bangkok's local food systems). Food tourism connects the four dimensions by (1) preserving local agrobiodiversity (2) preserving rural communities' traditions (3) creating new capacity building opportunities for community-driven socio-economic development and (4) recognizing the health benefits of indigenous foods.DiscussionThis study contributes to a value-added conceptualization of community-based agritourism as a rural livelihood diversification practice. Such research effort highlights the importance of co-producing and ground-truthing indicators for rural livelihood diversification practices localizing sustainable development goals.</p

Table_4_Systemizing a rural livelihood diversification framework for sustainable community-based agritourism: A participatory approach to ensure resilience.docx

IntroductionSituated approaches of rural livelihood diversification, such as community-based agritourism, can localize sustainable food systems at the regional level. This research advances an integrated framework of indicators to assess the interdisciplinary benefits of rural livelihood diversification practices for sustainable local food systems and community resilience.MethodsWe built a framework on four dimensions deducted from secondary data: (1) environmental, (2) sociocultural, (3) economic, and (4) health. These were validated with an inductive analysis of primary data, which we collected from a panel of experts with a content validity index and tested in three rural case studies with shadow observation and qualitative interviews. We conducted both in-depth interviews with community leaders (n = 10) and semi-structured interviews with multi-sectoral stakeholders (n = 40).ResultsFindings (1) identify a comprehensive list of indicators to assess environmental, sociocultural, economic, and health dimensions of rural livelihood diversification practices and (2) advance a participatory approach to prioritize indicators according to their regional relevance (co-developed with stakeholders involved in Bangkok's local food systems). Food tourism connects the four dimensions by (1) preserving local agrobiodiversity (2) preserving rural communities' traditions (3) creating new capacity building opportunities for community-driven socio-economic development and (4) recognizing the health benefits of indigenous foods.DiscussionThis study contributes to a value-added conceptualization of community-based agritourism as a rural livelihood diversification practice. Such research effort highlights the importance of co-producing and ground-truthing indicators for rural livelihood diversification practices localizing sustainable development goals.</p

Table_1_Systemizing a rural livelihood diversification framework for sustainable community-based agritourism: A participatory approach to ensure resilience.docx

IntroductionSituated approaches of rural livelihood diversification, such as community-based agritourism, can localize sustainable food systems at the regional level. This research advances an integrated framework of indicators to assess the interdisciplinary benefits of rural livelihood diversification practices for sustainable local food systems and community resilience.MethodsWe built a framework on four dimensions deducted from secondary data: (1) environmental, (2) sociocultural, (3) economic, and (4) health. These were validated with an inductive analysis of primary data, which we collected from a panel of experts with a content validity index and tested in three rural case studies with shadow observation and qualitative interviews. We conducted both in-depth interviews with community leaders (n = 10) and semi-structured interviews with multi-sectoral stakeholders (n = 40).ResultsFindings (1) identify a comprehensive list of indicators to assess environmental, sociocultural, economic, and health dimensions of rural livelihood diversification practices and (2) advance a participatory approach to prioritize indicators according to their regional relevance (co-developed with stakeholders involved in Bangkok's local food systems). Food tourism connects the four dimensions by (1) preserving local agrobiodiversity (2) preserving rural communities' traditions (3) creating new capacity building opportunities for community-driven socio-economic development and (4) recognizing the health benefits of indigenous foods.DiscussionThis study contributes to a value-added conceptualization of community-based agritourism as a rural livelihood diversification practice. Such research effort highlights the importance of co-producing and ground-truthing indicators for rural livelihood diversification practices localizing sustainable development goals.</p

Table_2_Systemizing a rural livelihood diversification framework for sustainable community-based agritourism: A participatory approach to ensure resilience.docx

IntroductionSituated approaches of rural livelihood diversification, such as community-based agritourism, can localize sustainable food systems at the regional level. This research advances an integrated framework of indicators to assess the interdisciplinary benefits of rural livelihood diversification practices for sustainable local food systems and community resilience.MethodsWe built a framework on four dimensions deducted from secondary data: (1) environmental, (2) sociocultural, (3) economic, and (4) health. These were validated with an inductive analysis of primary data, which we collected from a panel of experts with a content validity index and tested in three rural case studies with shadow observation and qualitative interviews. We conducted both in-depth interviews with community leaders (n = 10) and semi-structured interviews with multi-sectoral stakeholders (n = 40).ResultsFindings (1) identify a comprehensive list of indicators to assess environmental, sociocultural, economic, and health dimensions of rural livelihood diversification practices and (2) advance a participatory approach to prioritize indicators according to their regional relevance (co-developed with stakeholders involved in Bangkok's local food systems). Food tourism connects the four dimensions by (1) preserving local agrobiodiversity (2) preserving rural communities' traditions (3) creating new capacity building opportunities for community-driven socio-economic development and (4) recognizing the health benefits of indigenous foods.DiscussionThis study contributes to a value-added conceptualization of community-based agritourism as a rural livelihood diversification practice. Such research effort highlights the importance of co-producing and ground-truthing indicators for rural livelihood diversification practices localizing sustainable development goals.</p

Adoption as adaptation: Household decision making and changing rural livelihoods in Lombok, Indonesia

In agricultural research for development adoption of new technology tends to be cast in categories: adoption, partial adoption, dis-adoption or non-adoption. While these may serve for pragmatic classification and measures for project success or impact they fail to properly acknowledge the ongoing and independent efforts of farmers (and others) in experimentation and integration of knowledge across a range of sources. This paper explores responses to practices for cattle management introduced during a research project, at project close, and five years after the project has finished. We consider the perceptions and application of new knowledge by farmers, extension staff, and policy makers. By taking a longer-term view, we demonstrate how farming households adapt and integrate knowledge from different sources into their daily practice, influenced by local institutions and changing cultural expectations, as well as external researchers. We also consider the influence of changing government priorities and incentives in steering farm-management decisions. Results suggest that a focus on measures to build capacity and empower farmers with information to adapt and respond to change, regardless of project activities, is a much more important goal and indicator of impact than measuring adoption