Understanding coffee farmers: using games to explore future coffee agroforestry landscapes in the Western Ghats (India).

Abstract

Deforestation and biodiversity loss in agroecosystems are generally the result of rational choices, not of a lack of awareness or knowledge. Despite both scientific evidence and traditional knowledge that supports the value of diverse production systems for ecosystem services and resilience, a trend of agroecosystem intensification is apparent across tropical regions. These transitions happen in spite of policies that prohibit such transformations. We present a participatory modelling study run (1) to understand the drivers of landscape transition and (2) to explore the livelihood and environmental impacts of tenure changes in the coffee agroforestry systems of Kodagu (India). The components of the system, key actors and resources, and their interactions were defined with stakeholders, following the companion modelling (ComMod) approach. The underlying ecological processes driving the system were validated through expert knowledge and scientific literature. The conceptual model was transformed into a Role Playing Game and validated by 8 workshops with 57 participants. Two scenarios were explored, a No Policy Change as baseline, and a Restitution of Rights where rights to cut the native trees are handed over to farmers. Our results suggest the landscape transition is likely to continue unabated unless there is a change to the current policy framework. However, the Restitution of tree Rights risks speeding up the process rather than reversing it, as slow variables such the differential growth rate between exotic and native tree species kick in.

Combining participatory games and backcasting to support collective scenario evaluation: an action research approach for sustainable agroforestry landscape management

“…Farmers in our research used the game as support for learning, sharing knowledge and practices towards opportunities and against the obstacles. The support of serious games as forecasting scenario evaluation tool for agricultural land use planning has been presented in numerous research studies with similar results to ours: educational purpose, knowledge and management practices sharing, conflict mediation and leadership assessment (Garcia et al 2018;Speelman et al 2019).…”

“…Rethinking and developing management strategies agroecosystems towards more sustainable agroforested landscapes have been addressed through serious games (García- Barrios et al 2008;Garcia et al, 2018) and action research based on local knowledge and beliefs (Bergez et al 2014;Kishita et al 2016). Action research allows to study and rethink the farming system as a biophysical, economic and social subject shaping scientific and local knowledge and practices (Warner 2007;Hoolohan et al 2018).…”

A manifesto for predictive conservation

“…For example, the development of a theory of change for how different interventions can be used to address illegal wildlife trade allows practitioners to identify which types of interventions are most likely to be appropriate in a given context (Biggs et al 2016). In another example, in the Western Ghats of India, interventions involving the restitution of tree rights to local coffee growers, which were proposed to promote the intercropping of native tree species with coffee plantations, were empirically tested using a role-playing game modelling approach (Garcia 2013). The findings revealed that, contrary to their original aim, the proposed interventions risked speeding up the transition to a landscape dominated by the exotic silver oak Grevillea robusta rather than promoting native species.…”

Exploring Livelihood Strategies of Shifting Cultivation Farmers in Assam through Games

“…The foundation of companion modelling is the willingness to incorporate on equal footing the multiple and often conflicting viewpoints of the stakeholders into a single model, validated by all stakeholders involved in the process [33][34][35]. Through workshops facilitated by the research team, stakeholders collectively decide and organise the knowledge they consider relevant for the problem at stake (e.g., [36][37]).…”