Exploring farmer perceptions of agroforestry via multi-objective optimisation: a test application in Eastern Panama

Abstract

Understanding farmers’ perceptions of and preferences towards agroforestry is essential to identify systems with the greatest likelihood of adoption to inform successful rural development projects. In this study we offer a novel approach for evaluating agroforestry systems from the farmer perspective. The approach couples rapid rural appraisal and normative optimisation techniques to determine favourable land-use compositions for meeting various socio-economic and ecological goals, based on farmers’ empirical knowledge and preferences. We test our approach among smallholder farmers in Eastern Panama, obtaining data from household interviews and using hierarchical cluster analysis to identify farm groups with similar land-use and income characteristics. We found that moderate differences in farmers’ perceptions between these groups altered the type and share of agroforestry included in the optimised land-use portfolios that balance the achievement of 10 pre-selected socio-economic and ecological objectives. Such differences provide valuable information about potential acceptability of agroforestry within each group. For example, we found that farmers who derive most of their farm income from crops may be more willing to adopt silvopasture, whereas farmers who are more economically dependent on cattle may benefit from diversifying their land-use with alley cropping. We discuss the potential of this modelling approach for participatory land-use planning, especially when dealing with small sample sizes and uncertainty in datasets.

Economic outcomes of rubber-based agroforestry systems: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

“…Example of appropriate density which did not adversely affect rubber yield can be found in Charernjiratragul et al (2014) with standard rubber density combined with 112 ironwood and eaglewood trees per ha. The optimal density of different species in a rubber agroforestry system needs to consider individual farming households' multiple goals (Gosling et al 2020) and the wider socio-economic-ecological environment. • Market value of rubber and secondary species -In general, it is advisable to combine rubber with high value timber and fruit trees which have better market stability to hedge the price fluctuation of rubber.…”

“…Penot et al 2019) and concerns about pest and diseases associated with the intercrop (Somboonsuke 2001;Langenberger et al 2017). Early and frequent returns from secondary species to better satisfy smallholder farmers cash flow and household consumption needs have been suggested by Gosling et al (2020) as key requirements to increase agroforestry adoption. Some of the findings of this review provide promising outlook as the positive systems largely align with those requirements.…”

Economics of agroforestry: links between nature and society

“…Three articles focus on the importance of farmers' perceptions, practices and strategies towards agroforestry but also on participative methodologies aiming at engaging farmers and researchers in the seek for alternatives and socio-technical solutions. Gosling et al (2020) designed a method that couples rapid rural appraisal and normative optimisation techniques to determine favourable land-use compositions for meeting various socio-economic and ecological goals, based on farmers' empirical knowledge and preferences, involving smallholder farmers in Eastern Panama. She found differences in farmers' perceptions and provides valuable information about potential acceptability of agroforestry among them.…”

Clusterization of Agroforestry Farmers using K-Means Cluster Algorithm and Elbow Method

“…The clustering of agroforestry farmers based on their characteristics and uniqueness can be used to quickly determine appropriate and qualified policies (Gosling et al 2020;Heredia-R et al 2020;Piñeiro et al 2020;Santoso and Saftarina 2020) for developing Tahura WAR in the present and future. The K-means clustering algorithm and the Elbow method can be used as a quick and precise solution to find out the ideal number of clusters or agroforestry farmer groups around Tahura WAR.…”