Farmer's decision making process: lessons from rural farming communities in Ethiopia & Kenya

农业是埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚两国的主要生计来源，因为它主导着两国的景观，从而极大地影响了该地区的环境和生态系统。农民在田间和田间所做的决定和实践不仅对环境，而且对他们的家庭、社区、国家和全球都有广泛的影响和后果。众所周知，许多内在和外在因素有助于形成农民的决定。影响农民的社会经济因素与田间的农业生态成果之间的联系以及反之亦然，人们也不了解；农业生态因素如何影响农民的社会经济决策和行为。这个研究项目试图通过研究埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚的小农来填补这一知识空白。该项目由ESRC奖学金资助，并与英国农药行动网络（PAN UK）合作。PAN UK是一个国家慈善机构，与全球其他农药行动网络合作。自2013年以来，PAN UK一直与PAN埃塞俄比亚合作，通过实施虫害综合治理战略，消除棉花和蔬菜生产中农药的使用。此外，PAN UK和PAN埃塞俄比亚能够帮助200名农民成为该国首批获得有机认证的棉农，为他们的作物和更健康的田地提供价格溢价。这些农民之间的相似之处和差异，以及其他以其他身份与PAN UK和PAN埃塞俄比亚合作过或没有合作过的农民之间的相似之处和差异，使我们能够调查类似地区的某些农民如何做出个人决策和创新。本项目的框架和方法也将在肯尼亚西北部通过农民观察和实地访谈进行研究。我假设这三组农民（有机认证，IPM认证，但不是有机认证和传统认证）之间的异同将揭示这些农民如何做出有关其生计的决定，以及如何在农场内外产生和实施创新。通过下面列出的分类研究问题，本研究可以更容易地概念化。此外，这项研究的性质依赖于开放式问题，这些问题没有预设的答案，并允许在整个研究过程中改变和产生问题。然而，在这个过程的这个阶段，基于文献和这个项目的目标的关键问题包括：关键问题#1：农民如何对农业实践和方法做出决定？子问题：在农民的决策过程中，哪些因素和因素对他们来说是重要的？如何识别和描述这些因素和因素？如何对因素和动因进行分类？这些因素和动因是如何相互影响的？关键问题2：农民如何在农场进行创新，以适应环境和环境的变化？子问题：这一创新的来源和/或灵感是什么？农民如何判断创新/改变是好的还是成功的？关键问题#3：来自这个项目的研究方法和框架对于回答不同地点的类似问题有用吗？子问题：从数据收集过程中获得的见解是具体的还是普遍的？

Agriculture a major source of livelihoods in both Ethiopia and Kenya as it dominates the landscapes of each thus greatly impacting the environments and ecosystems of the region. The decisions that farmers make and the practices they engage in in and out of the fields have broad reaching impacts and consequences not only on the environment, but also in their households, communities, nationally and globally. It is well understood that a multitude of intrinsic and extrinsic factors help shape a farmer's decision. What is not understood as well are the connections between those socio economic factors that influence farmers and the agroecological outcomes in the field and vice versa; how agroecological factors influence a farmer's socio economic decisions and behaviours. This research project seeks to fill in that knowledge gap by studying smallholder farmers in Ethiopia and Kenya. This project is funded by an ESRC Studentship Grant and is in partnership with the Pesticide Action Network UK (PAN UK). PAN UK is a national charity that is in collaboration with other Pesticide Action Networks around the globe. PAN UK has been working with PAN Ethiopia since 2013 to eliminate the use of pesticides in cotton and vegetable production through the implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. Additionally, PAN UK and PAN Ethiopia were able to help 200 farmers become the first Organically Certified cotton farmers in the country providing the farmers with price premiums for their crop and healthier fields. The similarities and differences among these farmers along with others who have and have not worked with PAN UK and PAN Ethiopia in other capacities allow for an investigation into how certain farmers in a similar area make individual decisions and innovate. The framework and methodology that will come from this project will also be studied in north western Kenya through farmer observations and field interviews. I hypothesise that the similarities and differences between these three groups of farmers (certified Organic, IPM but not certified Organic and conventional) will shed light on how these farmers make decisions regarding their livelihoods and generate and implement innovations on and off of their farms. Key questionsThis research can be more easily conceptualised through disaggregated research questions outlined below. Furthermore, the nature of this research relies on open ended questions that don't presuppose answers and allow for the alteration and generation of questions throughout the research process. At this stage in the process, however, the key questions based on the literature and aims of this project include the following: Key Question #1: How do farmers make decisions regarding farming practices and methods?Sub questions: What factors and agents are important to the farmer in their decision making process? How can the factors and agents be identified and described? How can the factors and agents be categorised? How are the factors and agents influenced by and influence each other? Key Question #2: How do farmers innovate on the farm to adapt to changes in their environment and circumstances?Sub questions: What are the sources and/or inspiration for this innovation? How do farmers judge whether or not the innovation/change was good or successful? Key Question #3: Are the research methodology and framework that come from this project useful for answering similar questions in different locations?Sub question: Are the insights from the data collection process site specific or generalisable?