Using Ethnographic Decision Tree Modelling to Explore Farmers’ Decision-making Processes: a Case Study

Hein Roth and Neels Botha

No 97157, 2009 Conference, August 27-28, 2009, Nelson, New Zealand from New Zealand Agricultural and Resource Economics Society

Abstract: Agriculture is the foundation of the Manawatu/Wanganui region’s economy, which consists of 300,000 ha of highly erodible land. Past land management practices caused a major threat to the long-term sustainability of the region. Horizons Regional Council introduced Whole Farm Plans (WFP) as part of a variety of tools to protect and conserve the land. This paper discusses the progressive findings of a study about farmers’ WFP adoption decisions. Following Gladwin’s (1989) ethnographic decision tree modeling (EDTM) approach, qualitative interviews were held with a sample of 15 WFP adopters and 14 non-adopters across the Region to develop the adoption decision tree. Key findings were that hill country farmers’ decision to develop, or not develop, a WFP was based on six fundamental criteria: (1) their awareness and concern of the issues of soil erosion and water quality and/or siltation of rivers and streams in the region and/or their farm; (2) the degree to which retiring land on their farm by fencing and tree planting would help solve the issue; (3) the degree to which the current status and level of development of the farm still allowed for further fencing and/or tree planting; (4) perceived benefit of the plan; (5) consideration of the enabling/disabling factors, which included the willingness to invest time, effort, and capital in the development and implementation of the plan.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Farm Management; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Land Economics/Use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18
Date: 2009-08
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/97157/files/20 ... _RothH%20etal_1_.pdf (application/pdf)

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:ags:nzar09:97157

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.97157

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in 2009 Conference, August 27-28, 2009, Nelson, New Zealand from New Zealand Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().