Improving Representation of Decision Rules in LUCC-ABM: An Example with an Elicitation of Farmers’ Decision Making for Landscape Restoration in Central Malawi

Ida Nadia S. Djenontin, Leo C. Zulu and Arika Ligmann-Zielinska
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Ida Nadia S. Djenontin: Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Leo C. Zulu: Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Arika Ligmann-Zielinska: Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-35

Abstract: Restoring interlocking forest-agricultural landscapes— forest-agricscapes —to sustainably supply ecosystem services for socio-ecological well-being is one of Malawi’s priorities. Engaging local farmers is crucial in implementing restoration schemes. While farmers’ land-use decisions shape land-use/cover and changes (LUCC) and ecological conditions, why and how they decide to embrace restoration activities is poorly understood and neglected in forest-agricscape restoration. We analyze the nature of farmers’ restoration decisions, both individually and collectively, in Central Malawi using a mixed-method analysis. We characterize, qualitatively and quantitatively, the underlying contextual rationales, motives, benefits, and incentives. Identified decision-making rules reflect diverse and nuanced goal frames of relative importance that are featured in various combinations. We categorize the decision-making rules as: problem-solving oriented, resource/material-constrained, benefits-oriented, incentive-based, peers/leaders-influenced, knowledge/skill-dependent, altruistic-oriented, rules/norms-constrained, economic capacity-dependent, awareness-dependent, and risk averse-oriented. We link them with the corresponding vegetation- and non-vegetation-based restoration practices to depict the overall decision-making processes. Findings advance the representation of farmers’ decision rules and behavioral responses in computational agent-based modeling (ABM), through the decomposition of empirical data. The approach used can inform other modeling works attempting to better capture social actors’ decision rules. Such LUCC-ABMs are valuable for exploring spatially explicit outcomes of restoration investments by modeling such decision-making processes and policy scenarios.

Keywords: goal frames; restoration decision-making rules; restoration decision-making processes; mixed qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis; farmer stakeholders; Central Malawi (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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