Shifting market and climate influences on social networks, labor allocations and wellbeing among rural farmers

全球化和日益增加的环境变异性对生活在世界各地小型农业社区的人们产生了变革性影响。由于这些力量既带来了机遇，也带来了挑战，谋生的道路往往是不确定的。放弃农业，搬到城市，成为一名雇佣劳动者，离开家庭，断绝与出生社区的联系，是不是更好？这些决定如何影响家庭的福祉？本项目研究小规模农民如何驾驭这些决策。具体而言，研究人员收集新的数据，以评估家庭与正式机构对社会支持的依赖是否受到家庭经济决策的影响，以及当面临日益增加的环境变化和全球化的双重挑战时，这对农村家庭的福祉有什么影响。该项目为本科生和研究生提供科学和STEM领域的研究经验，为博士后研究人员提供专业培训，并为非政府组织和政策制定者提供有价值的信息。这项研究提供了一种新的经济，社会学，和文化人类学理论，以解决与市场转型相关的机会在多大程度上与环境变化相互作用影响农民的生计。使用纵向设计，人种学和尖端的社会网络方法，研究人员旨在描述（1）社会关系和经济活动如何随着时间的推移受到市场转型的影响;以及（2）对关系的依赖与劳动力市场参与如何与健康和福祉相关。研究人员进一步调查了气候变量影响人们社会关系、经济活动和日常生活的程度，在社会科学和气候科学之间建立了急需的联系。最后，研究提供了有效性测试和其他工具，以满足参与经济发展的决策者和非政府组织所要求的脆弱性评估的需求。研究结果将为气候和市场变量共同影响人类行为的规模以及农民如何管理其社会、经济和生态环境的变化提供相关见解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Globalization and increasing environmental variability have transformative effects on people living in small agricultural communities worldwide. Because these forces present both opportunities and challenges, the path forward in how to make a living is often uncertain. Is it better to give up farming, move to an urban area, become a wage-laborer, leave family behind, and sever ties with one’s birth community? How do these decisions affect the wellbeing of families? This project examines how small-scale farmers navigate these decisions. Specifically, the researchers collect new data to assess whether the reliance on family versus formal institutions for social support is influenced by household economic decisions, and what impact this has on the wellbeing of rural families when faced with the dual challenge of increasing environmental variability and globalization. The project provides scientific and STEM-field research experience to undergraduate and graduate students and professional training to postdoctoral researchers, as well as valuable information for non-governmental organizations and policy makers.This research provides a novel test of economic, sociological, and cultural anthropological theories to address the extent to which opportunities associated with market transition trade off as they interact with environmental variability to affect farmers’ livelihoods. Using a longitudinal design, ethnographic, and cutting-edge social network methods, the researchers aim to characterize (1) how social relationships and economic activities are affected by market transition over time; and (2) how reliance on relationships versus labor market participation are associated with health and well-being. The researchers investigate further the extent to which climate variables affect people's social relationships, economic activities, and daily lives, creating much-needed links between social and climate science. Finally, the research provides validity tests and other tools to meet the stated needs of Vulnerability Assessments required by policy makers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in economic development. Together, findings from the research will provide pertinent insight into the scale at which climate and market variables together affect human behavior and how farmers manage changes in their social, economic, and ecological environments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.