Tangible to Non-Tangible Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Life Satisfaction of Farmers in Kerala, India

Saju Madavanakadu Devassy (), Shilpa V. Yohannan, Lorane Scaria and Sunirose Ishnassery Pathrose
Additional contact information
Saju Madavanakadu Devassy: Department of Social Work, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (Autonomous), Rajagiri P.O., Kalamassery, Kochi 683 104, India
Shilpa V. Yohannan: Department of Social Work, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (Autonomous), Rajagiri P.O., Kalamassery, Kochi 683 104, India
Lorane Scaria: Department of Social Work, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (Autonomous), Rajagiri P.O., Kalamassery, Kochi 683 104, India
Sunirose Ishnassery Pathrose: Department of Social Work, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (Autonomous), Rajagiri P.O., Kalamassery, Kochi 683 104, India

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: While Kerala’s transition from an agrarian to a service-oriented economy is widely acknowledged, discussions are most often confined to material domains, overlooking overall life satisfaction, which is critical to pursue any profession. This state-wide community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted to gather data from farmers residing in three geographical zones of Kerala, India, North, South and Central, to understand their life satisfaction and how it correlates to their access to resources and social support. From each zone, we randomly chose two districts, and from each district, two panchayats. From each panchayat, we chose one ward to identify a total of 580 eligible farmers. Structured interviews were conducted using door-knock surveys to elicit information from the respondents using a set of standardized questionnaires. The results suggest that the respondents had a mean age of 54.5, with 19.8% being over 65, indicating demographic ageing in the farming sector. Only 46% chose farming as their full-time occupation. Farmers with higher levels of education who owned large plots of land experienced life satisfaction. Interpersonal relationships and social support were significant determinants of life satisfaction, as these factors were pivotal in their access to formal and informal services. With social support being pivotal in life satisfaction, it is imperative to change the social mindset towards farming. Additionally, the government should promote advanced technologies and high-yielding agricultural practises to transform the economic landscape of Kerala in favour of agriculture, which is imperative for the food security of the state.

Keywords: farmers; life satisfaction; social determinants; Kerala (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/10/1671/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/10/1671/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:10:p:1671-:d:1484910

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().