Do socio-psychological factors matter in agroforestry planning? Lessons from smallholder traditional agroforestry systems |
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Authors: | Kamal Kishor Sood C Paul Mitchell |
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Affiliation: | (1) Faculty of Forestry, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, 791 109 Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh, Pin, India;(2) School of Geosciences, Kings College, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, U.K. |
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Abstract: | Most of the well planned rural development forestry programs of the 1970s, and agroforestry in particular, were either not
adopted by the intended beneficiaries or failed to meet the needs and aspirations of the rural people, particularly in the
developing countries. The reasons for non-adoption in some cases appear to be technical, bio-physical, social and economic
(termed as rational reasons by the planners), but in other situations the reasons are not so easily recognisable and comprehended
(termed irrational reasons). These irrational reasons are the perceptions and attitude of the farmer towards farm practices,
and their role in agroforestry planning has remained almost completely neglected. The present study is based on a household
survey of the farmers in traditional agroforestry systems of Western Himalaya and investigates the importance of perceptional
and attitudinal aspects of the farmers with regard to agroforestry adoption and extension. In the present study, farmers’
perceptions of restrictions on felling of trees from their own land and attitudes towards agroforestry were the most important
sociopsychological factors which influenced tree growing. This study implies a need to take into account the socio-psychological
factors of the farmers for planning socially acceptable agroforestry programs. The importance of study of various de jure rules and regulations controlling the use of on-farm tree resources and related exemptions and their association with farmers’
perceptions and tree growing is highlighted to develop policies to encourage tree growing in agroforestry. |
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Keywords: | agroforestry perceptions attitudes forestry adoption tree growing |
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