A new approach for comparing and categorizing farmers’ systems of practice based on cognitive mapping and graph theory indicators

Vanwindekens, Frédéric; Baret, Philippe; Stilmant, Didier

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2013.11.026

Cited by 26 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…These maps are structural versions of mental models that indicate direct and indirect causality between the components of dynamic systems, and are able to represent group beliefs [38]. Such studies [32,[39][40][41]] enable a better understanding of the behaviour of complex systems and provide pairwise associations between elements that can be easily quantified with the cumulative strength of the connection. Using FCM for group thinking allows these collective beliefs to be presented and supports the development of social learning [42].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Complex Pathway towards Farm-Level Sustainable Intensification: An Exploratory Network Analysis of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Perception

et al. 2020

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Farm-level sustainable intensification of agriculture (SIA) has become an important concept to ensuring food security while minimising negative externalities. However, progress towards its achievement is often constrained by the different perceptions and goals of various stakeholders that affect farm management decisions. This study examines farm-level SIA as a dynamic system with interactive components that are determined by the interests of the stakeholders involved. A systems thinking approach was used to identify and describe the pathways towards farm-level SIA across the three main pillars of sustainability. An explanatory network analysis of fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) that were collectively created by representative groups of farmers, farm advisors and policy makers was performed. The study shows that SIA is a complex dynamic system, affected by cognitive beliefs and particular knowledge within stakeholder groups. The study concludes that, although farm-level SIA is a complex process, common goals can be identified in collective decision making.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Complex Pathway towards Farm-Level Sustainable Intensification: An Exploratory Network Analysis of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Perception

et al. 2020

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“…These maps are structural versions of mental models that indicate direct and indirect causality between the components of dynamic systems, and are able to represent group beliefs (Fairweather, 2010). Such studies (Kontogianni et al, 2012;Levy et al, 2018;van Winsen et al, 2013;Vanwindekens et al, 2014) enable a better understanding of the behaviour of complex systems and provide pairwise associations between elements that can be easily quantified with the cumulative strength of the connection. Using FCM for group thinking allows the collective beliefs to be presented and supports the development of social learning (Henly-Shepard et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the pathways towards farm-level sustainable intensification of agriculture: an exploratory network 3 analysis of stakeholders’ views

Micha¹,

Fenton²,

Daly³

et al. 2019

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Sustainable intensification of agriculture (SIA) has become an important concept to ensuring food security in the context of increasing agricultural production while minimising negative externalities in contemporary agronomic systems. In supporting this, there is a need to establish a decision-making and management system that involves the views and opinions of different stakeholders and unifies the goals of SIA amongst them. The objective of this work is to identify and describe pathways toward farm-level SIA. An explanatory network approach and fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) support the analysis of stakeholder views across the three pillars of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. Different stakeholder groups were asked to collectively map the pathways towards farm level SIA in a workshop exercise. The respective groups considered a common set of pre-selected factors as potential descriptors of sustainability and created unique maps by adding their own components and descriptors and identifying causal links between them. While the relative weighting of factors by each group differed, according to their perspectives and interpretation, yield, knowledge transfer, water quality, weather extremes and technology/infrastructure were scored as priority descriptors of farm-level sustainability by all groups in an aggregate analysis. Exploratory analysis of FCMs was found to provide an efficient mechanism to investigate stakeholder views on pathways towards farm-level SIA, by identifying causal relationships and interactions between factors and actors that affect its achievement. The study shows that sustainable intensification is a complex dynamic system that includes institutional structures, personal goals, stakeholder interests and socio-economic factors, and is affected by cognitive beliefs and particular knowledge within stakeholder groups. Our results show how experience, knowledge and beliefs affect the perception of farm-level SIA by various stakeholder groups, and how this knowledge is often fragmented and miscommunicated. The exercise confirmed the hypothesis that farm-level SIA has to be seen as a dynamic process in which farm performance is affected by various factors, with the complexity of the process increasing when different stakeholder interests and beliefs combine for farm management.

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“…The novelty of our research is that maps were drawn directly on the farm with the farmers, the main actors. This approach was useful to model diverse drivers and farmer motivations (Vanwindekens et al, 2014) and to compare farmers from different districts and livelihood objectives. Furthermore, through graphic theory (matrix algebra tools) it was possible to analyze the structure of the system which represents its overall behaviour in contrast to the solely sum of units (Özesmi and Özesmi, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…FCM is a semi-quantitative knowledge-driven modelling technique (Fairweather, 2010;Vanwindekens et al, 2014;Ditzler et al, 2018) composed of a number of concepts (represented by boxes) with positive or negative interrelations that are denoted by arrows with weights (Kok, 2009). The FCM is based on key concepts that are defined by one or more constructors and that represent important processes, agents and events within the system that is analysed.…”

Section: Fuzzy Cognitive Mappingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the aim of analyzing similarities and patterns among districts and farm types we developed aggregated cognitive maps using an approach modified from the Cognitive Mapping Approach for Analyzing Actor's Systems of Practices (CMASOP) (Vanwindekens et al, 2014), which involves building aggregate cognitive maps by combining FCMs that have been constructed by individuals. The FCMs of individual farmers were grouped per district and per resource endowment level.…”

Section: Aggregate Cognitive Mapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Farmer perspectives on sustainable crop-livestock integration in cereal based farm systems of Nepal

Alomia‐Hinojosa¹

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Chapter 5 Trajectories of change and resource trade-offs in cereal-based farming system in the mid-hills of Nepal 117 Chapter 6 General Discussion Characteristic Lowlands Mid-hills Farm main orientation Both market oriented and selfsubsistence Most farms are self-subsistence, production on small fields Main cereals Paddy rice, wheat, maize, fodder crops Maize, millet, wheat, upland rice Cash crops Lentils, chickpeas, sugarcane, vegetables Potato, Mustard and soybean (oil), vegetables Livestock Buffalo, cattle, goats, poultry, fish Buffalo, cattle, goats, poultry Farm management practices Artificial fertilisers and pesticides, mechanization widely spread Terraces, farm yard manure, no or limited artificial fertilizers and pesticides, oxen as animal traction and labour exchanges Water availability Irrigation Rain-fed Labour Hired labour readily available Exchange of labour Market access Good. More entrepreneurial farms Good when close to roads, low when more remote * Kitchen garden and mixed vegetables are counted as one but can have a diverse composition. Counts the number of cultivations of crops, the same crop can be cultivated on multiple fields and in different seasons or intercropped, the instances are counted separately.

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A new approach for comparing and categorizing farmers’ systems of practice based on cognitive mapping and graph theory indicators

Cited by 26 publications

References 22 publications

The Complex Pathway towards Farm-Level Sustainable Intensification: An Exploratory Network Analysis of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Perception

The Complex Pathway towards Farm-Level Sustainable Intensification: An Exploratory Network Analysis of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Perception

Mapping the pathways towards farm-level sustainable intensification of agriculture: an exploratory network 3 analysis of stakeholders’ views

Farmer perspectives on sustainable crop-livestock integration in cereal based farm systems of Nepal

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