Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?

This article presents research about the influences of social and cultural norms on the adoption of agroforestry in the northwest mountainous region of Viet Nam. The farming systems practiced by various ethnic groups in the northwest mainly occur on sloping land, which extends over 70% of the land a...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Nguyen, M.P., Pagella, Tim, Catacutan, D.C., Nguyen, T.Q., Sinclair, Fergus L.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115439
_version_ 1855529742598406144
author Nguyen, M.P.
Pagella, Tim
Catacutan, D.C.
Nguyen, T.Q.
Sinclair, Fergus L.
author_browse Catacutan, D.C.
Nguyen, M.P.
Nguyen, T.Q.
Pagella, Tim
Sinclair, Fergus L.
author_facet Nguyen, M.P.
Pagella, Tim
Catacutan, D.C.
Nguyen, T.Q.
Sinclair, Fergus L.
author_sort Nguyen, M.P.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This article presents research about the influences of social and cultural norms on the adoption of agroforestry in the northwest mountainous region of Viet Nam. The farming systems practiced by various ethnic groups in the northwest mainly occur on sloping land, which extends over 70% of the land area in the region. Decades of intensive monoculture of annual crops has resulted in severe soil erosion, contributing to soil degradation and decline in crop yields. Integrating agroforestry practices on sloping land has the potential to halt and reverse soil degradation and improve local livelihoods, but its adoption is conditioned by the diverse social and cultural norms of different ethnic groups. This research applies knowledge-based system methods in order to understand local opportunities, preferences, and constraints influencing the adoption of agroforestry practices, using a purposive, gender-balanced sample of sixty farmers from six villages across three provinces in the northwest region comprising people from Kinh, Thai and H’mong ethnic groups. Our results show that although farmers from all groups are aware of the economic and ecological benefits of trees for soil conservation in general, they have different perceptions about the benefits of particular agroforestry practices. Behavioural norms controlling agroforestry adoption vary amongst ethnic groups, and farmers’ individual social and cultural preferences influence their aspirations and adoption decisions. We conclude that developing appropriate agricultural interventions in a culturally rich environment such as northwest Viet Nam requires understanding of the context-specific needs and interests of socially and culturally disaggregated populations. Policies supporting agroforestry are more likely to contribute to more sustainable livelihoods and ecological benefits where they are tailored to the requirements of different ethnic groups.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace115439
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher MDPI
publisherStr MDPI
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1154392025-02-19T13:42:29Z Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play? Nguyen, M.P. Pagella, Tim Catacutan, D.C. Nguyen, T.Q. Sinclair, Fergus L. agroforestry indigenous people climate change adaptation This article presents research about the influences of social and cultural norms on the adoption of agroforestry in the northwest mountainous region of Viet Nam. The farming systems practiced by various ethnic groups in the northwest mainly occur on sloping land, which extends over 70% of the land area in the region. Decades of intensive monoculture of annual crops has resulted in severe soil erosion, contributing to soil degradation and decline in crop yields. Integrating agroforestry practices on sloping land has the potential to halt and reverse soil degradation and improve local livelihoods, but its adoption is conditioned by the diverse social and cultural norms of different ethnic groups. This research applies knowledge-based system methods in order to understand local opportunities, preferences, and constraints influencing the adoption of agroforestry practices, using a purposive, gender-balanced sample of sixty farmers from six villages across three provinces in the northwest region comprising people from Kinh, Thai and H’mong ethnic groups. Our results show that although farmers from all groups are aware of the economic and ecological benefits of trees for soil conservation in general, they have different perceptions about the benefits of particular agroforestry practices. Behavioural norms controlling agroforestry adoption vary amongst ethnic groups, and farmers’ individual social and cultural preferences influence their aspirations and adoption decisions. We conclude that developing appropriate agricultural interventions in a culturally rich environment such as northwest Viet Nam requires understanding of the context-specific needs and interests of socially and culturally disaggregated populations. Policies supporting agroforestry are more likely to contribute to more sustainable livelihoods and ecological benefits where they are tailored to the requirements of different ethnic groups. 2021-04-16 2021-10-15T04:39:55Z 2021-10-15T04:39:55Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115439 en Open Access MDPI Nguyen, M.P., Pagella, T., Catacutan, D.C., Nguyen, T.Q., Sinclair, F. 2021. Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play.? Forests, 12(4): 493. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12040493
spellingShingle agroforestry
indigenous people
climate change
adaptation
Nguyen, M.P.
Pagella, Tim
Catacutan, D.C.
Nguyen, T.Q.
Sinclair, Fergus L.
Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?
title Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?
title_full Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?
title_fullStr Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?
title_full_unstemmed Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?
title_short Adoption of Agroforestry in Northwest Viet Nam: What Roles Do Social and Cultural Norms Play?
title_sort adoption of agroforestry in northwest viet nam what roles do social and cultural norms play
topic agroforestry
indigenous people
climate change
adaptation
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115439
work_keys_str_mv AT nguyenmp adoptionofagroforestryinnorthwestvietnamwhatrolesdosocialandculturalnormsplay
AT pagellatim adoptionofagroforestryinnorthwestvietnamwhatrolesdosocialandculturalnormsplay
AT catacutandc adoptionofagroforestryinnorthwestvietnamwhatrolesdosocialandculturalnormsplay
AT nguyentq adoptionofagroforestryinnorthwestvietnamwhatrolesdosocialandculturalnormsplay
AT sinclairfergusl adoptionofagroforestryinnorthwestvietnamwhatrolesdosocialandculturalnormsplay