Dissertation Research: Understanding How Farmers Make Decisions in the Lao PDR

在里诺内华达大学Robert Winzeler博士的指导下，博士生Michelle Roberts将对影响发展中国家农民决策的因素进行研究。在许多国家，政府正在鼓励农民从以维持生存为重点的轮作种植转向永久性经济作物。因此，一些农民决定采用新的农业方法，而另一些则没有。为了理解为什么只有一些农民在采用新的做法，我们将研究农民的决策过程。该研究将在老挝北部（老挝人民民主共和国）的农村进行。研究区域由三个民族组成；老挝语，克穆语和苗族语。为了阐明农民的观点并获得对决策环境的整体理解，本研究将考虑1)按财富、地位、年龄和性别分层的群体内的社会因素；2)不同群体对作物和技术认知的异同；3)不同种族和利益相关者群体对作物偏好、价值和认知的异同。研究方法将包括参与者观察、调查、半结构化访谈、滑动分类、排名、社会地图和照片语音。这项研究很重要，因为它将阐明农业偏好、价值观和观念的文化维度，因为它们影响农业决策。通过了解当地农民的农业观点，变革的推动者可以调整创新的参数，以促进更高的采用率，提高农业生产力，并使目标人群受益。这项研究还将有助于认知决策理论的发展，并更广泛地为东南亚研究最少的地区之一的民族志知识做出贡献。该奖项还支持社会科学家的教育。

Doctoral student Michelle Roberts, with the guidance of Dr. Robert Winzeler (University of Nevada, Reno, will undertake research on factors that affect farmer decision-making in developing countries. In many countries, governments are encouraging farmers to change from subsistence-focused shifting cultivation to permanent cash crops. As a result, some farmers are deciding to adopt new agricultural practices while others are not. To understand why only some farmers are adopting new practices, farmers' decision-making processes will be studied. The research will be carried out in farming villages in northern Laos (Lao PDR). The research area is composed of three ethnic groups; Lao Loum, Khmu, and Hmong. To elucidate farmer perspectives and gain a holistic understanding of decision-making environments, the study will consider 1) social factors within groups stratified by wealth, status, age, and gender; 2) differences and similarities between groups in perceptions of crops and technologies; and 3) similarities and differences of crop preference, value, and perceptions among various ethnic and stakeholder groups. Research methods will include participant observation, surveys, semi-structured interviews, slip-sorting, ranking, social-mapping, and photo-voice. This research is important because it will illuminate the cultural dimensions of agricultural preferences, values, and perceptions as they influence agricultural decision-making. By understanding local farmers' agricultural perspectives, agents of change can adjust the parameters of innovations to foster a higher adoption rate, increase agricultural productivity, and otherwise benefit target populations. The research also will contribute to cognitive decision-making theories and more broadly to ethnographic knowledge about one of the least studied regions in Southeast Asia. This award also supports the education of a social scientist.