Las capacitaciones de las A.V.T Mayoristas

In the adoption analysis, we investigated the meaning of organic farming as a part of a livelihood strategy. We further looked into the obstacles to adopting the strategy 'organic farming' and into reasons for dropping out after initial adoption.

Taking reference to the RL-Framework, we hereafter outline the main aspects relevant for adoption in the three spheres indicated in the scheme to the right: 1) the rural livelihood system as the anchorage point of decision-making, 2) the relation to the context and 3) the development, implementation and outcomes of livelihood strategies. The methods to collect data on these qualitative aspects are described in sections 3.3.2–3.3.8.

1) Aspects of the rural livelihood system relevant for adoption

Whereas the system comparison analysed the impact of organic farming in a quantitative way, in the adoption analysis we investigate the impact that the household members perceive and experience. In addition, we look into the ‘inner reality’ and the orientations involved. In the qualitative research we focused on the aspects given in Figure 8.

Individual Orientation

• Visions, aspirations

• Motivations for conversion

• Role models

• Personal ethics, moral

Family Orientation

• Influence of caste / community affiliation

• Family attitude to OF

• Aspirations for the future of the children • Preferences in utilizing the income Collective Orientation • Relation to the government • Village attitude to OF

• Social status of farmers

• Relation to traditions / modernity

• Spiritual dimensions Inner Human Space

• Personal attitude to OF

• Personal integrity, identity

• Awareness

• Openness for new things

• Hopes and fears

Family Space • Standard of living • Quality of life • Health situation • Gender relations • Harmony / tensions Socio-economic Space • Relation to buyers • Access to markets • Access to credit • Dependency on loans

• Cooperation with other farmers

Emotional Base

• Pride / shame

• Satisfaction

• Feeling of security

• Relation to farming / land

• Memories, attachments

Knowledge & Activity Base

• Role of (cotton) farming

• Technology, methods

• Learning processes

• Explicit / tacit knowledge

• Work load

• Relevance of extension

Physical Base

• Changes in soil fertility

• Changes in water household

• Development of yields

• Changes in costs and income

• Economic condition

Figure 8: Aspects of rural livelihood systems covered in the adoption analysis.

2) Relation to the context

As we have discussed in section 2.4.1, the livelihood system and the process of strategy development are influenced by the dynamic context, in the RL-Framework depicted as the

Risk & Opportunity Context (to the left) and the context of Policies, Institutions, Organisations, Processes (to the right). The aspects that gained our particular attention in

the adoption analysis are listed in Table 10.

Table 10: Context-related aspects to be covered in the adoption analysis.

Risk & Opportunity Context Policies, Institutions, Organisations, Processes

• Susceptibility to erratic rainfall • Ability to deal with decreasing ground

water resources • Probability of yield loss

• Ability to cope with market price fluctuations

• Risk of getting indebted

• Ability to utilize opportunities (innovations, markets, etc.)

• Effect of changes in government policies • Relation to agricultural extension service • Interaction with value systems and social

norms

• Relation to private sector agents (input suppliers, traders, NGOs, etc.)

• Response to projects and programmes

3) Strategy development, implementation and outcomes

The strategy development process and the actual implementation of livelihood strategies are informed by the aspects identified above in the different livelihood dimensions and in the context. Similarly, the perception of the outcomes depends not only on the actual outcomes, but also on their interpretation by the actor. This involves learning processes that are part of the outcome of adopting a new strategy, and also influence the basis of new decision-making. In the analysis of how organic farming forms part of a livelihood strategy we focused on the aspects listed in Table 11.

Table 11:Strategy-related aspects covered in the adoption analysis. Strategy Development

• Profiles of adopters • Motivations

• Minimizing risks, ensuring livelihoods • Maximizing utility, utilizing opportunities Strategy Implementation

• Challenges in the conversion process • Variations in implementing the strategy ‘organic farming’

Livelihood Outcomes

• Perception and interpretation of outcomes • Learning processes

• Obstacles to conversion

• Reasons for defaulting and for opting out of organic farming

Direct and indirect methods of investigation

How can we gather information on the aspects that we identified as relevant in the livelihood system, the context and the strategy development process? We can address ‘outer realities’ such as perceived changes in soil fertility, costs and incomes, market access or work load through interview questions – farmers readily provide their assessment in these points, provided the interviewers manage to build up a trust relationship with them. Most people, however, would find it difficult to talk about their 'inner realities', orientations and decision-making processes in a direct way. One reason is that these aspects of livelihoods are of intimate nature and people do not like to disclose them to outsiders. Another reason is that people may not be fully conscious of these matters. Preliminary field work indicated that these aspects are more likely to emerge when talking about people and situations outside the private sphere. Therefore, we developed a set of

indirect methods that we applied in combination with direct interview approaches. The sample size in most of these qualitative studies was small, as the objective was not to empirically validate the results but to understand the underlying processes of decision- making. In the indirect methods, the research project benefited from a master thesis in social anthropology conducted by Christa Schwaller (2004) on the decision-making processes of the farmers and the women's role in such processes. The direct and indirect methods are described in the following sections.