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    Start Over Subject Term farmer attitudes Subject Term farmer needs Subject Term small farmers

    2. Multi-Dimensional Motivations and Experiences of Small-Scale Farmers

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    Collection:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
    Contributers:
    Iles, Keri (author), Ma, Zhao (author), and Nixon, Rebecca (author)
    Format:
    Journal article
    Publication Date:
    2019-09-19
    Published:
    United States: Taylor & Francis
    Location:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12512
    Journal Title:
    Society & Natural Resources
    Journal Title Details:
    34 (3)
    Notes:
    Preconceived notions exist about small-scale farmers in the U.S. Beyond research on new and beginning farmers, few empirical studies have learned directly from small-scale farmers in the U.S. about their perspectives and experiences. By analyzing semi-structured interviews of small-scale farmers in Indiana, this study develops an in-depth understanding of the multi-dimensional motivations and experiences of small-scale farmers and the interconnected, multi-scalar challenges they face. The lack of social infrastructure to support small-scale farmers becomes paramount as they contend with dilemmas of engaging in pluriactivity, securing reliable labor, and navigating relationship building with consumers and peers for both short-term profits and long-term social capital. This study contributes to understanding how small-scale farmers’ motivations, experiences, challenges, and strategies interact to shape their relationship to the land, their farming enterprise, and their perception of and position in the larger agro-ecological-social-economic system, and highlights the need to improve social infrastructure to support small-scale farmers.

    4. The role of self-control, hope and information in technology adoption by smallholder farmers – A moderation model

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    Collection:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
    Contributers:
    Bukchin, Shira (author), Kerret, Dorit (author), and Tel-Aviv University, Israel
    Format:
    Online journal article
    Publication Date:
    2020-01-18
    Published:
    Israel: Elsevier
    Location:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 124 Document Number: D11219
    Journal Title:
    Journal of Rural Studies
    Journal Title Details:
    73(2020) : 1-9
    Notes:
    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 &lt; 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.