Commercialising smallholder agricultural production in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Alexander, Kim; Case, Peter; Jones, Michael; Connell, John

doi:10.1080/09614524.2017.1353064

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Currently, rural populations remain relatively poor, living on less than two dollars purchasing power parity (PPP) a day, with few basic services available (Belloni 2014;Australian Government 2017). Rural livelihoods have traditionally been largely underpinned by low-yield subsistence-oriented or semi-commercial rice production combined with small-scale livestock production (Alexander , Case et al 2017;).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Bayesian network model to explore practice change by smallholder rice farmers in Lao PDR

Moglia

Alexander

Thephavanh³

et al. 2018

Agricultural Systems

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Highlights  A Bayesian Network was built to explore the chances of practice change amongst farmers.  The focus of the study is smallholder farmers in southern Lao PDR.  The model emphasizes systemic barriers and enablers relating to practices and context.  Coordinated multi-stakeholder action can improve the likelihood of practice change.  The model supports examination of data gaps, perspectives and knowledge management.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Bayesian network model to explore practice change by smallholder rice farmers in Lao PDR

Moglia

Alexander

Thephavanh³

et al. 2018

Agricultural Systems

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“…Smallholder family farming, understood as a household which combines family, farm and commercial activity, still represents the backbone of the world's agriculture [7]. Traditionally, subsistence farming was predominant in Laos, with smallholders dependent on cultivatable land for rice and livestock husbandry, whilst other nontimber forest and river products are used as supplementary food sources and marketable goods [8][9][10]. Some 72% of the total cultivated land area is dedicated to rice production with the traditional glutinous ("sticky") rice varieties, preferred for local consumption and providing almost 70% of calorie and protein intake [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Game-Based Approach to Exploring Gender Differences in Smallholder Decisions to Change Farming Practices: White Rice Production in Laos

et al. 2020

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What influences farmers’ decisions to adopt agricultural technologies is an important question for international agricultural research projects. There are often interpersonal differences between women and men that influence the adoption of decisions and behaviours, but few studies in the literature focus on these factors. We describe a game-based approach to explore decision-making processes underpinning the adoption of new farming technologies and practices in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Sowing a different rice variety is the tailored technology. The game explored adoption behaviours influencing decisions on transitioning from growing glutinous rice, a traditional variety preferred for consumption, to “white” rice for commercial export to international markets. We conducted separate game-workshops with 36 women and 36 men in 4 villages of southern Laos that were transitioning from subsistence to commercial smallholder production. The gaming exposed various possible behaviours and decisions that women and men considered. Access to resources, both assets and information, was equal for all players, yet women were found to adopt new rice varieties more readily than men and to engage in cooperative behaviours in the game situation. The study highlighted the need for further gender-sensitive research into cooperation among women in the agricultural context—an understanding beneficial for countries and regions undergoing agricultural transition.

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“…Using the qualitative method, studies in rural development have mainly focused on explaining interactions between different actors, for example, agricultural extension services' functions as innovation brokers in engaging farmers in the innovation network (Qiu 2015); the role of farmers' cooperatives as innovation intermediaries in bridging smallholder farmers to technologies and highervalue agri-food markets (Yang et al 2014); and the interactions between agricultural extension services, organisations and subsistence farmers in achieving commercialisation of subsistence farming in the innovation system perspective (Alexander et al 2017). The qualitative method has also been used to explore farmers' perceptions about extension services.…”

Section: Qualitative Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) model is increasingly used to analyse the emergence of innovation in agricultural and rural development, and explain how to generate linkages and interactions among a heterogeneous set of actors out of complex technological and institutional change processes (Spielman 2005;Hall et al 2006;Klerkx 2013;Alexander et al 2017). The AIS perspective particularly emphasises network building for interactions among actors including researchers, extension officers, farmers, industries, processors, traders, governmental officers and social organisations; and that the innovation outcomes are not only technological changes, but also institutional, requiring the mechanism of organising including markets, labours and distribution of benefits (Leeuwis 2004).…”

Section: Agricultural Innovation Systems (Ais) Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies used AIS framework to analyse interactions among different actors in emerging agricultural innovations. Alexander et al (2017) pointed out interactions among actors, organisations and institutions and the patterns used to transition subsistence farming to systemic commercialised production. Friederichsen et al (2013) identified agricultural extension officers' role and their diverse discourses in fostering interaction between outsiders, i.e.…”

Section: Agricultural Innovation Systems (Ais) Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of agricultural extension services and farmers' practices in meeting smallholder farmers' needs in China

Liao¹

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In China in 2016, 89% of farmers were cultivating less than two hectares of land. Of those, 78% were farming less than two-thirds of a hectare. Meeting smallholder farmers' farming needs is considered critical for the government to alleviate rural poverty and improve food security. The agricultural extension system is considered a major approach. Existing studies have shown that the top-down administrative mechanism of the extension system and its linear technology transfer model have led to mismatches between extension services and smallholder farmers' needs in China; however, limited studies have examined the alignment of extension services with smallholder farmers' needs. This study was designed to examine how well extension services align with smallholder farmers' farming needs in China, and how farmers meet their farming needs. This study employed the constructivism paradigm and the qualitative method as the research design. The snowball sampling technique was employed to guide the data collection process from provincial level to village level. To understand how the extension services operate, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with agricultural and extension-related departments, organisations and stations at provincial, county and township levels. To understand farmers' perceptions of extension services and farming needs, semi-structured focus group discussions were conducted with smallholder rice farmers in 10 selected villages. Thematic analysis using both deductive and inductive logic and multiple staged coding were employed to guide the data analysis process. Findings showed that extension services sometimes met smallholder farmers' needs, and sometimes did not. From the extension services' perspective, non-tillage technology and direct seeding technology were rejected by most farmers because of its incompatibility with local conditions and existing practices. The pest and disease management service and soil testing technology had met many farmers' needs; however, farmers reported their limited accessibility. Findings also showed that extension officers at the local level had encountered challenges in providing satisfactory extension services to farmers; for example, non-extension works had occupied time that should have been spent on extension activities. Farmers' cooperatives had also failed to provide services to smallholder farmers because they were aimed at large-scale farming. From farmers' perspectives, to improve farming and solve farming problems, they employed sets of local knowledge and farming practices; for example, neutralising soil with limestone, removing rice leaffolder with brooms, and preventing apple snail with tea seed cake. The farmers identified their farming problems, outlined solutions and were in favour of informal small-scale trials. They saw agricultural input stores as reliable sources of extension advisory services because they were operated mainly by former extension officers.

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Commercialising smallholder agricultural production in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Cited by 20 publications

References 16 publications

A Bayesian network model to explore practice change by smallholder rice farmers in Lao PDR

A Bayesian network model to explore practice change by smallholder rice farmers in Lao PDR

A Game-Based Approach to Exploring Gender Differences in Smallholder Decisions to Change Farming Practices: White Rice Production in Laos

The role of agricultural extension services and farmers' practices in meeting smallholder farmers' needs in China

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