11 pages, via online journal article, This study of Japan's electoral geography focuses on the outcomes of the 2014 General Election for the House of Representatives. It reflects on the political power of segmented policy communities involved in international free trade and domestic agricultural policy reform and the way they interact with each other. The capability of these policy communities to negotiate behind-the-scenes trade-offs, in order to facilitate reform without disrupting the status quo, is identified as a major determinant of the power structure in contemporary Japan. Also, as low-information and low-participation elections tend to result in a high rate of re-election of incumbents, the depoliticisation of the citizenry is in the interest of these policy communities. Therefore, specific policies and the differentiation among political parties played only a minor role during the 2014 electoral campaign. The paper demonstrates that the strong force of the agricultural policy community to resist transformational change is still deeply rooted in the proportional overrepresentation of agricultural interests built into the electoral system. It concludes that within the context of an increasing deficit of legitimacy and an aggravating depoliticisation trend, commitments to fundamental polity reform are integral to voters' perceptions of the fairness of Japan's democratic institutions. Significant structural reforms that embody federalist and direct democracy principles are discussed as an alternative to the unitary state model in order to seriously tackle issues of proportional misrepresentation and adequately accommodate rural interests.
10 pages, via online journal, Model farmers are a common feature of many developing world agricultural extension networks within which they demonstrate new cultivation techniques and technologies to local communities. The diverse political-economic and socio-cultural roles that such farmers assume, however, are rarely afforded critical scrutiny. To do so, we emphasise the ways in which model farmers facilitate not only the production and transfer of knowledge but also of materials and legitimacy. These transfers occur both horizontally to community members and vertically through linkages with extension agents, research institutions and private sector interests. We establish how these transfers have important impacts upon both efficiency and equity. To illustrate, we use examples of model farmers drawn from research on hybrid rice dissemination in Mandya district, Karnataka. Despite having the same official functions within the extension network, the model farmers we surveyed assumed strongly different roles with notable implications for the effectiveness of knowledge transfer alongside equity considerations.
Stoudmann, Natasha (author), Waeber, Patrick O. (author), Randriamalala, Ihoby H. (author), Garcia, Claude (author), and Forest Management and Development, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland
Madagascar Wildlife Conservation, Ambatondrazaka, Madagascar
Forêts et Sociétés, CIRAD, Montpellier, France
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2017-11
Published:
Madagascar: Science Direct
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 108 Document Number: D10938
10 pages., Via online journal., Consumption of local food is a fast-growing trend supported by local food advocates and governments. This trend has also captured the interest of researchers. The present study draws from the foundational principles of the theoretical perspective of helping behaviour with a view to enhancing the understanding of why people buy local food. This article tests a conceptual framework with proposed relationships between helping behaviour constructs and local food-buying behaviour within a Norwegian context. Local food consumers in Troms County are surveyed, and the results indicate that empathic concern and social concern influence their attitude towards, and preference for, local food. Local patriotism influences the preference for local food even if such consumers evaluate it as being of lower quality and less desirable than other food products. This study is among the first to examine local food-buying behaviour through the lens of prosocial helping behaviour theory. The recommendations for local food producers and local food advocates regarding appealing to consumers’ prosocial helping behaviour propose communication strategies emphasizing the difficulties that local food producers face, portraying local food producers as people deserving of help against national competition and imports, and depicting them as being as loyal to the local community as the local food consumers are.
7 pages., via online journal article, The complexities of Melanesian customary land tenure greatly influence the adoption of community-based reforestation (CBR) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). CBR has recently become a focus for the PNG government due to declining yield from native forests which has renewed attention on developing timber plantations to augment villagers' livelihoods. In this paper, we investigate the factors which affect adoption of timber tree-growing by farmers and communities. We assess the efficacy of a policy frequently employed by non-government organisations (NGOs) in which single or multi-clan based seedling nurseries are used to encourage tree growing. A key finding is that people's need for technical assistance is subordinate to social and cultural factors, principally the need for community harmony. Farmers' motivation to plant trees is adversely influenced by uncertainties inherent in PNG's system of customary land tenure. Interventions – in this case extension assistance to grow trees – may create or exacerbate intra- and inter-clan conflict by bringing long term uncertainties into short term focus. For villagers in PNG, as in other cultures, we conclude that key enabling conditions for collective action revolve around strengthening villagers' bridging social capital in a manner which is sensitive to their longstanding social traditions. Targeted, do-it-yourself, family assistance may be as effective as attempts to encourage collective action. The implications of our findings for Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) which envisages a participatory approach to community engagement, are that cross-community initiatives may not be feasible without extensive investment in building social capital. Initiatives targeted at families or family-groups may be most successful.
10 pages., via online journal., This paper investigates the impact of broadband access on agribusiness in rural Wales and the resulting implications on entrepreneurial activity. Despite attempts by Government and telecommunications providers to develop widespread broadband coverage in Wales, concerns remain in relation to an increasing digital divide between urban and rural locations. Broadband is a key enabling technology therefore connectivity is significant, not only in communication, but also in the ability for businesses to innovate and grow. Wales is a predominantly rural country with 84% of the total land area in Wales being used for agriculture (Welsh Government, 2013). The food and farming sector represents a significant part of the Welsh economy, and is dominated by small businesses. Connectivity and increased use of technology are vital for these businesses to overcome location constraints and various industrial challenges, notably Brexit. The research uses survey data from 738 farmers and 107 food SMEs in Wales, with 19 follow-up semi-structured interviews. The survey results highlight issues of technology adoption, with 19% of farmers in the survey having no access to broadband internet, with others reporting the speed of connection being a limiting factor. The consequences of poor connectivity point to limited computer skills and low levels of soft technology adoption, a lack of engagement with social media, limited scope for innovation and restricted business growth, with 55.1% of food respondents identifying poor broadband access as a barrier to internationalisation. This has led to agrifood businesses adopting a passive approach to growth opportunities. The findings suggest that rural areas remain at a disadvantage due to poor connectivity, an issue that must be tackled by the Welsh Government to readdress the balance in the economy and limit a brain drain of skilled people moving to urban areas, often outside Wales. Support for such businesses is vital, particularly given the pressures and uncertainty in the industry, as broadband access represents an important enabler for future innovation and entrepreneurial activity
Marques, Andreia (author), Kamali, Farahnaz Pashaei (author), Asveld, Lotte (author), Osseweijer, Patricia (author), Silveira, Jose Maria F. J. de (author), and Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Unicamp Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-11-05
Published:
Netherlands: Elsevier
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 124 Document Number: D11216
16 pages, via online journal, Sugarcane expansion in Brazil during the 2000s was partly restricted by several discussions about the sustainability aspects of its cultivation. These discussions were mainly based on surveys that sometimes use highly aggregated data not including local perspectives and particularities, and sometimes used case studies with small samples which, while listening to local perspectives, cannot be considered representative of the whole sector. This work aims at filling this gap by considering both the perceptions of the local community, which add primary data on impact, and a large sample, to increase the research representativeness. To do so, we present the results of 353 interviews, covering 33 municipalities in five states of the Center-South region of Brazil (the largest cultivation area in the country). The results show that the expansion of biofuels has generated conflict mostly related to environmental and social issues, although there is good acceptance of the sugarcane mills in general. Our conclusions point to the importance of including local voices for a deeper understanding of the advantages and limitations of the expansion of biofuels.
9 pages, via online journal, The overall willingness of smallholder farmers to adopt new green technologies remains low, in spite of the great progress made in understanding the factors that affect their decision. The present study introduces an interdisciplinary approach combining positive psychology and sustainable development studies to show that two personal resources – self-control (a learned repertoire of goal-directed skills that enable people to act upon their aims) and cognitive goal-oriented hope (the ability to follow different routes to pursue one's goal), prompt the adoption of technologies by smallholder farmers. Both personal resources facilitate achieving future goals and changing existing circumstances. A theoretical moderation model on the adoption of agricultural technologies aimed to protect soil degradation in Nepal is proposed and empirically tested. Data were collected from 268 households in the Jhapa district by a face-to-face questionnaire. A multiple regression analysis tested and confirmed the hypothesized moderation model. Following the discovery of a significant interaction, the nature of the interaction was farther explored by calculating simple slopes. Analysis results show a significant positive connection between self-control (p-value = 0.002), hope (p-value = 0.005), information (p-value < 0.001), and technology adoption. Self-control was also found to have a significant moderating effect in enhancing a positive association between receiving information and technology adoption (p-value = 0.017). In addition to its theoretical innovation and empirical contribution, the importance of this study lies in its practical implications, given that policy, education, and communication may influence hope and self-control levels.
10 pages., via online journal, Research into farmers’ attitudes and motivations in the past has tended to be subjective and theoretically rather imprecise. This paper presents findings from research based on the structured social-psychology model, the Theory of Planned Behaviour, into farmers’ conservation-related behaviour. Responses from a survey of 100 Bedfordshire farmers were analysed to identify the underlying determinants of behaviour and to comprehend farmers’ attitudes. Farmers with greater environmental awareness, members of the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, are more influenced by conservation-related concerns and less by farm management concerns than other farmers. They appear also to be more influenced by farming and conservation referent groups, grants and conservation advice.
