The Happy Farmer: Self-Employment and Subjective Well-Being in Rural Vietnam

Markussen, Thomas; Fibæk, Maria; Tarp, Finn; Tuan, Nguyen Do Anh

doi:10.1007/s10902-017-9858-x

Cited by 73 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In summary, the "soybean trap" as we define it, is a broad set of situations that challenge the autonomy of soybean producers (i.e., the freedom to act in accordance with their own will; Markussen et al, 2018). Primarily, if a soybean producer fails to produce sufficient quantities, profit margins are compromised making the producer yet more dependent on other actors that tie them yet more tightly to the treadmill (e.g., private and public moneylenders, input supply companies).…”

Section: Treadmills In Agriculture and The Soybean Trapmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Soybean Trap: Challenges and Risks for Brazilian Producers

Silva

Batistella

Moran

et al. 2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Since the 1970s, Brazilian soybean production has grown rapidly, driven by increasing national and international demand and rising prices. Consequently, soybean production has come to be perceived as an attractive opportunity, with the number of farms producing soybean across the country reaching around 240,000 in 2017. However, producers can become trapped by dependencies on moneylenders, traders and input supply companies, facing so-called' agricultural treadmills'. In this study we undertook interviews with individual soybean producers and representatives of trader companies, producers' associations, the processing industry, government and civil society, and used these data to analyze rural production operations related to the soybean supply chain and to interpret how agricultural treadmills persist in this sector. Based on literature review and fieldwork interviews, we found that producers have been able to add value to their products, but some strategies they use to cope with production costs lead them into high-risk situations. Our findings show that, sectoral (e.g., producers' associations) and collective actions (e.g., farmers' buying groups) are a useful strategy for producers to gain influence and bargaining power against transnational companies and input suppliers compared to acting as an individual within the soybean supply chain. Producers were emphatic that the current soybean business is now much more than just farming activities, and that education and training are highly valuable and important strategies to keep producers in the soybean business and out of traps. These findings are important given the neoliberal context in which individual producers find themselves and which presents challenges that alone they can do little to change. Policies that enable individual producers to make environmentally-and financially-sound agricultural decisions are vital to ensure a sustainable soybean system that does not trap producers in endless cycles of debt and investment.

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Section: Treadmills In Agriculture and The Soybean Trapmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Soybean Trap: Challenges and Risks for Brazilian Producers

Silva

Batistella

Moran

et al. 2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…We focus on a binary indicator for being 'rather' or 'very' pleased with life (cf. Markussen et al 2017). This question was only included in the 2012 and 2014 rounds of the survey, and only one respondent in each household, typically the household head, answered the question.…”

Section: Key Variables and Descriptive Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and non-economic returns to communist party membership in Vietnam

Markussen

Ngo

2019

World Development

Self Cite

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“…Other approaches build on Sen's (2001) capabilities approach and conceptualize human well-being as the ability to take part in society in a meaningful way. Here subjective well-being results from personal freedoms, human agency, self-efficacy, dignity, and relatedness to others (e.g., Nussbaum 2001, Hojman and Miranda 2018, Markussen et al 2018. Finally, psychological perspectives focus on individual differences in experiences of subjective well-being based on personality traits, inherited predisposition, and previous experiences (e.g., Diener et al 2003).…”

Section: Subjective Well-being In Low Income Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If main income earners are unable to secure alternative livelihoods during the agricultural low season, low satisfaction could result. The corollary of this, is that being actively involved in agricultural activities could engender feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, associated with subjective well-being (Markussen et al 2018). Finally, if harvests were not as successful as on other farms in the area, or not as successful or as lucrative as in previous years, then the relative differences may drive low life satisfaction (e.g., Asadullah and Chaudhury 2012).…”

Section: Subjective Well-being In Low Income Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal dimensions of reported life satisfaction in a low-income, agricultural environment

Adams¹,

Tamal²

2019

E&S

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Improving quality of life of farmers in rapidly changing rural economies remains a challenge. In low income settings, agricultural lean seasons lead to a fall in consumption and nutrition that affect longer term well-being trajectories. However, human well-being goes beyond material wealth, and increasingly subjective well-being is measured to reflect whether personal objectives are being met across a range of life domains. However, resource constraints mean surveys are usually carried out once a year, or at most, once a season. Here, we investigate whether life satisfaction reported annually is representative of assessments throughout the year, with a focus on the influence of the agricultural cycle on scores. We do so using data from a novel, mobile phone-based survey that collected 10,032 observations of life satisfaction reported weekly for one calendar year in land-owning farmers in Bangladesh. The data show that most individuals report stable and midrange life satisfaction. Smaller groups show consistently low, consistently high, or fluctuating levels of satisfaction. Using a cluster analysis, we define natural groups based on levels and stability of satisfaction. Social-demographics as well as material wealth predict membership of these groups showing the relative and culturally embedded nature of subjective well-being. Agricultural activities throughout the year are significantly associated with reported life satisfaction, but not always consistent with low seasons: land preparation and harvest are associated with increased life satisfaction; weeding and irrigation are associated with lower satisfaction. Furthermore, we show that the periods of activity during the agricultural cycle most likely to be associated with satisfaction vary depending on whether the individual reports high, low, or variable life satisfaction. Thus, we suggest, to improve well-being in low-income rural areas, analysis should include people's propensity to be satisfied, as this alters sensitivity to changes in other life domains.

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The Happy Farmer: Self-Employment and Subjective Well-Being in Rural Vietnam

Cited by 73 publications

References 43 publications

The Soybean Trap: Challenges and Risks for Brazilian Producers

The Soybean Trap: Challenges and Risks for Brazilian Producers

Economic and non-economic returns to communist party membership in Vietnam

Temporal dimensions of reported life satisfaction in a low-income, agricultural environment

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