Aspirations of rural households
and development efforts

• The timeline - introduction

This timeline outlines the evolution of our investigation to understand better the aspirations of  rural households in an effort to determine implications for agricultural research. It will highlight the major steps taken and progress made. We will also add the unique perspectives of the research teams involved and the new insights gained from this newly established collaboration between the World Agroforestry, ICRISAT, the Cynefin Centre and Bangor University. 

• Aspirations, ambitions and the adoption of diverse fruit trees - a case study of the livelihood effects in Kenya

Abstract/Summary

Current food production systems all over the world face numerous challenges. Particularly smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa is in substantial need of sustainable solutions. Yet, the adoption of already existing sustainable agricultural practices such as agroforestry often remains low. This paper aims to deepen the understanding of smallholders’ decision-making processes for agroforestry adoption. Using the example of a CIFOR-ICRAF agroforestry project (Fruit Tree Portfolios), we examine the associated influences of ambition and livelihood aspirations on adoption and assess the impact of agroforestry on household well-being. We conduct several statistical analyses, including a logistic regression on the influence of ambitions and aspirations on adoption, and a linear regression with endogenous treatment effects and propensity score matching to assess the impact of adoption on well-being. The analyses are based on a primary data set collected from rural Kenyan households that participated in the project in 2021.

We confirm the inverted U-shaped relationship between ambition and the willingness to take proactive steps, in this case the adoption of agroforestry, and emphasize its relevance for decision-making processes. In addition, livelihood aspirations towards off- or on-farm activities promoted the likelihood of adoption. Due to the versatility of integrating fruit trees into farms, they can serve both market- and food security-oriented purposes and thus supporting livelihoods in multiple ways. This is confirmed by the positive results of adoption on household well-being in terms of food security and household income. In summary, the inclusion of cognitive factors such as ambition and livelihood aspirations can help explain the adoption decisions of smallholder households and support inclusive and customized project designs. In the long term, these findings could have the potential to ensure that development interventions are adopted more successfully.

Authors

• Aspirations, ambitions and the adoption of diverse fruit trees – a case study of the livelihood effects in Kenya

Abstract/Summary

Current food production systems all over the world face numerous challenges. Particularly smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa is in substantial need of sustainable solutions. Yet, the adoption of already existing sustainable agricultural practices such as agroforestry often remains low. This paper aims to deepen the understanding of smallholders’ decision-making processes for agroforestry adoption. Using the example of a CIFOR-ICRAF agroforestry project (Fruit Tree Portfolios), we examine the associated influences of ambition and livelihood aspirations on adoption and assess the impact of agroforestry on household well-being. We conduct several statistical analyses, including a logistic regression on the influence of ambitions and aspirations on adoption, and a linear regression with endogenous treatment effects and propensity score matching to assess the impact of adoption on well-being. The analyses are based on a primary data set collected from rural Kenyan households that participated in the project in 2021.

We confirm the inverted U-shaped relationship between ambition and the willingness to take proactive steps, in this case the adoption of agroforestry, and emphasize its relevance for decision-making processes. In addition, livelihood aspirations towards off- or on-farm activities promoted the likelihood of adoption. Due to the versatility of integrating fruit trees into farms, they can serve both market- and food security-oriented purposes and thus supporting livelihoods in multiple ways. This is confirmed by the positive results of adoption on household well-being in terms of food security and household income. In summary, the inclusion of cognitive factors such as ambition and livelihood aspirations can help explain the adoption decisions of smallholder households and support inclusive and customized project designs. In the long term, these findings could have the potential to ensure that development interventions are adopted more successfully.

Authors

• A complex web of interactions: Personality traits and aspirations in the context of smallholder agriculture

Abstract/Summary

Some recent research began to shift the focus of development efforts away from income and yield to more diverse concepts that consider people’s intrinsic drivers and values, such as aspirations and personality traits. We aim to contribute to the literature by exploring the connections between intrinsic drivers. Hence, we analyze if and how the formation of aspirations relates to personality traits against the background of different socio-economic household characteristics. This research will help us provide practical insights for the successful design of development projects specifically tailored to the unique needs and aspirations of individuals and households. Our analyses are based on a primary data set of 272 smallholder farming households in rural and peri-urban Kenya. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) results show a significant positive correlation of personality traits with aspirations (openness; extraversion; conscientiousness), indicating that personality structures indeed correlate with the formation of aspirations in a rural, agricultural context. Furthermore, we show that household and respondent characteristics are associated with differences in education, income, and social aspirations. Considering intrinsic factors for the prediction of human behavior has the potential to increase the efficiency of agricultural development projects and policies. We conclude that a contextualized understanding of aspirations can provide useful insights for development practice aiming to support smallholder farmers’ livelihoods.

Authors

• Luzia presented at Tropentag

Description

Tropentag 2022 – International conference on „Can agroecological farming feed the world? Farmers' and academia's views“

The annual conference on research in tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management and rural development (14.09.-16.09.2022) this year took place at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague.

The conference is jointly organized by several universities and institutions and took place as a hybrid conference in Prague. Main objectives of the conference included resource management, environment, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food, nutrition and related sciences in the context of rural development, sustainable resource use and poverty alleviation. Luzia Deißler from the IUW presented her current research results on “The role of aspirations and personality traits for smallholder farmers’ decision to adopt agroforestry - Evidence from Kenya”.

• Roundtable discussion - recording

For those that didn't manage to join the Roundtable discussion, here the link to the recording

• EVENT: RURAL ASPIRATIONS

Building on the results and the breadth of the contributions within the Special Issue speakers will highlight research directions and gaps, then proceed to start a discussion on what development stakeholders can learn for their daily activities and project design.

Speakers will outline the difference that emerges within common approaches to looking at aspirations which we would argue are different concepts – i.e., aspirations and ambitions. The theoretical differentiation will be followed by a brief outline of various approaches on measuring those and lead into a group discussion on the implications of the differences for future research strategies. The second part of the roundtable will then focus on practical implications of the Special Issue for development planning and design. Speakers will outline the bottom-up view on aspirations as well as the top-down view in order to kick-start a group discussion on what we can learn from the different view and how these could be harmonized.

• Resolving tensions between global development goals and local aspirations

The Sustainable Development Goals –- a set of 17 globally agreed-upon targets for the year 2030 -– are clearly listed and appear to be easy to subscribe to. However, development planning and the implementation of development projects are never straightforward.

Trade-offs between the 17 goals have to be considered. The pursuit of one goal may negatively affect the achievement of another. For instance, raising farmer incomes may lead to unaffordable food for the urban poor. How should development actors decide on priorities and how should they handle such trade-offs?

As the goals are so broad and multi-faceted, many development agencies focus on specific niches – such as wildlife conservation – that they feel passionate about or think they can contribute most to. Politicians need to prioritise available funds and often choose high visibility, prestige mega-projects such as highways, railway lines or airports.

• SPECIAL ISSUE

Rural aspirations – livelihood decisions and rural development trajectories

• Stories of change: Analyzing aspirations of rural women and men

Looking into the aspirations of rural people provides insights into how they earn, invest, make decisions within the household, hold government accountable, make technology choices, and engage in other future-oriented behaviors.

While aspirations-based theories in economics have largely focused on people’s ‘capacity to aspire’, or rather their level of ambition relative to those around them, we use the term ‘aspiration’ to refer to what people aspire to do, with specific attention to the livelihood activities with which they wish to engage. Gender and age play an important role in aspiration formation. While aspirations of young people in agriculture have been studied, desires and ambitions of rural women have largely been overlooked. Yet, the topic is becoming even more important as many men migrate in search of more lucrative employment opportunities outside their rural homes, and many women assume the role of primary farmer.

One region where this is happening at scale is the eastern drylands of Kenya. In our recent study there, we interviewed 88 women and 50 men of all ages to understand where they see their future opportunities and what role farming plays in their aspired future.

continue reading 

• Rural aspirations - reflections for development planning, design, and localized effects

Abstract/Summary

In this editorial introduction to the Special Issue “Rural aspirations in Africa – Livelihood decisions and rural development trajectories” we outline current views on aspirations and their relevance for development research, projects, and approaches. Using several examples from Africa, we outline how the combination of the different theoretical perspectives, case studies and regional backgrounds provides deeper insights about the role of aspirations in shaping rural areas. The distinct entry points of the ‘bottom up’ local aspirations for future lives, the ‘top down’ aspirations as visions for change and the process of negotiating between these provide novel insights into directions for development action as well as for future research in the field of aspirations in the development arena.

Authors

• Not all about farming: understanding aspirations can challenge assumptions about rural development.

Abstract/Summary

Another Special Issue contribution online:

Rural development is a political topic in which debate has been more focussed on externally identified needs than on demands or aspirations of the rural population and polarised between the attractions of urban income earning opportunities and the importance of rural farming communities for national food provision. The heterogeneity of local aspirations and their implications for development have barely been considered. We explore the aspirations of residents of three contrasting regions in Kenya that vary in their agricultural and off-farm potential. We argue that opportunities are a major framing influence on aspirations but there is important, and routinely overlooked, diversity within the communities which could inform future options for effective development. We outline how development initiatives could be redesigned to align more closely with aspirations. However, aspirations are a complex concept and, while our approach offered novel insights, these would be enriched when combined with household survey data.

Authors

• Luzia's PhD

As part of my doctoral research, I am investigating the determinants and challenges of agroforestry technology adoption in sub-Saharan Africa. More specifically, the geographical focus is on Kenya and Zambia. The study focuses on smallholder households in rural Kenya and Zambia participating in the Fruit Tree Portfolio Project. In line with the project's objectives, I analyze factors, particularly intrinsic aspects, that determine the uptake of agroforestry. In addition to general socioeconomic characteristics, I explicitly emphasize the role of livelihood aspirations in this process. In the Kenyan context, we examined the complex interactions between personality traits, aspirations, and agroforestry adoption and found significant positive correlations among these factors.

• Gendered aspirations - Brief

Description

About this brief

This brief presents a study on the changing opportunity spaces of men and women in the drylands of eastern Kenya (Crossland et al., 2021). It sheds light on the dynamics of rural aspirations in relation to both gender and age within the themes of outmigration and feminisation of agriculture. Using a novel methodology combining short narratives with semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, this research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of aspirations and the wider socio-cultural context within which they are embedded and makes several recommendations for progressing aspirations research. The purpose of the research is to provide a better understanding of people’s current situations, desired trajectories and the influences that shape these aspirations, so that researchers and development actors might better tailor their support options to meet the needs of different user groups by matching technologies to their strategies and demands.

• Aspiration for Zambia's food tree crop portfolios

Since early 2021 the aspirations framework is being used under a project that aims to to ensure smallholder families have year-round access to nutritious foods while simultaneously diversifying income generating opportunities. Here we are using an aspirational assessment tool to enable the project to improve the matching of the portfolios to farmers’ needs and future visions. Assessing the connection of aspirations to adoption among participants of a previous portfolio project allows us to take aspirations more directly into account when designing and supporting the adoption of the portfolios in a new context. One of the guiding research questions here is: How can different portfolios of food trees and crops be tailored to suit different smallholder farming systems and farmers’ aspirations?

• What's the Story on Agriculture? Using Narratives to Understand Farming Households' Aspirations in Meru, Kenya

Abstract/Summary

Another Special Issue contribution online: 

In the limited research on farming aspirations, little attention has been paid to the narratives which frame and shape them, and the ways in which the aspirations of those who farm intersect with the goals of extension services. Drawing on multimethod research conducted in Meru county, Kenya, we demonstrate how aspirations are not only situated within a consideration of personal circumstances, but are shaped in crucial ways by networks of relations and by the perceived possibilities aforded by material and cultural resources. We further highlight the accounts of state extension agents that link a lack of engagement with the desires and needs of those who farm to the failure of agricultural development initiatives. We argue that an engagement with aspirations opens up a route to understanding the obstacles and potentialities that matter to those who farm and, as such, might enable more responsive development initiatives centred on the perceptions and desires of those who farm.

Authors

• Women's Changing Opportunities and Aspirations Amid Male Outmigration: Insights from Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract/Summary

Another Special Issue contribution online:

In Makueni County, Kenya, an area experiencing intensifying migration lows, we investigate the aspired futures of rural men and women using a novel methodology combining a narrative-based survey tool, focus group discussions and semistructured interviews. Our indings indicate that, in the absence of men and presence of norms restricting women’s movement out of rural life, women are becoming increasingly engaged in farm management. Women’s aspirational narratives focused on commercialising farm activities, likely relecting their changing agricultural opportunity space and new realities as farm managers. We highlight that only considering aspirations at the household level overlooks difering individual contributions, agency over various household income streams and individuals’ changing roles throughout life. Based on our indings, we make recommendations for further aspirations research including explicit consideration of intrahousehold heterogeneity and how individual strategies and aspirations interrelate and are negotiated at the household level to build an overall livelihood strategy.

Authors

• How young Kenyans feel about farming goes against conventional wisdom

Every year, 12 million young people enter the labour market across the African continent.

Economists and policy makers differ about how they should be absorbed into the labour market. Some experts believe that only agriculture can create enough jobs. Others argue for a focus on the agricultural sector and industrialisation especially with increasing urbanisation.

Choosing which policy avenue to follow requires a good understanding of the aspirations of young people.

continue reading

• Who wants to farm? Answers depend on how you ask: a case study on youth aspirations in Kenya.

Abstract/Summary

While there is a consensus that rural poverty has to be reduced, there are two opposing views on the role that agriculture can play in this regard: a “farm-based” and an “off-farm led” development paradigm where the respective other sector is merely a complementary income source during a transition period. The latter paradigm is supported by studies finding that rural youth in sub-Saharan-Africa, are not particularly interested in agriculture. However, policy discourse on youth in agriculture often situates their aspirations as either full-time farming or non-farming, thus either supporting or opposing one or the other of the two paradigms, while neglecting the shades of grey between these two extremes. Using a mixedmethods approach - a household survey and a narrative-based tool called SenseMaker - to collect data from both adults and youth in 261 households in rural Kenya, this study suggests that this categorical understanding needs to be revisited to inform rural development strategies based on the actual aspirations of rural youth.

Authors

• New perspectives on technology adoption in agriculture

Virtual Special Issue / Special Collection in Outlook on Agriculture 

https://journals.sagepub.com/topic/collections-oag/oag-1-technology_adoption_in-agriculture/oaga

• Luzia - Introduction

Biography

• Special Issue - coming soon

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everything everywhere causing delays, changes of plans and cancelation of plans. Adjustments had to be made for the special issue too. Despite this, 10 contributions have since been submitted and are under review. While we are waiting for the first papers to come online, a few thoughts on the pandemic and the opportunities to realign development efforts 

• Why measuring youths' aspirations is key to sustainable and inclusive rural development

Especially for young people, diverse portfolios for rural populations should be the core part of a well-thought out rural investment strategy, say researchers.

The first results of the Kenyan census conducted in 2019 reveal a gradual demographic transition towards smaller families coupled with a growing urban population. 

Still, even for this dynamic African nation that recently rose to ‘middle-income’ status, its future inclusive prosperity and ability to reach the Sustainable Development Goals will depend on how the rural population, most of whom are farmers with a few acres each of rain-fed land, fare in the decade to come.

Rural households are the most vulnerable to the climate crisis because their livelihoods depend on erratic rainfall. Across sub-Saharan Africa, rural areas have higher rates of poverty, illiteracy and child mortality as well as less access to basic services, such as electricity and safe sanitation. The widening gulf between rural and urban zones is fuelling large-scale migration of rural youth to burgeoning African cities.

Continue reading 

• Not just farmers: understanding rural aspirations is key to Kenya's future

Understanding rural household aspirations and taking them seriously in development planning could offer great potential in shaping the future of rural spaces. - A short recap of what we have been working on in the past.

• Special Issue on aspiration

The European Journal of Development Research just accepted our proposal for a Special Issue on rural aspirations entitled 'Rural aspirations in Africa – Livelihood decisions and rural development trajectories'. Teaming up with the DFG funded research group 'Future Rural Africa' we will provide a wide-ranging overview of research into the aspirations of rural people. Kai Mausch and Dave Harris will serve as guest editors alongside Javier Revilla Diez to coordinate the submissions from about 50 contributing authors across 15 manuscripts. The special issue will represent the coming together of a set of papers that are cross-methodological and cross-disciplinary in approach and examine rural aspirations across a range of subject areas including land use change and social-ecological transformations; migration; value chains; gender; and youth. 

• Rethinking poverty eradication and food security through agriculture in Africa

MEDIA RELEASE:

Nairobi, Kenya, 28 November 2019 — Agriculture in Africa is expected to meet the dual objectives of providing food and helping people to escape poverty but, in practice, this is rarely possible on the small farms that cover the vast majority of the continent’s agricultural landscapes. It’s time for policymakers, agricultural researchers and practitioners to recognize the need to separate food security and poverty eradication, argue a team from World Agroforestry (ICRAF), International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Bangor University and Oxford Martin School.
 

• Poverty eradication and food security through agriculture in Africa: Rethinking objectives and entry points

Abstract/Summary

Agriculture in Africa is expected to meet the dual objectives of providing food and helping people to escape poverty. African agriculture is dominated by smallholdings and donors generally target their agricultural support at the smallholder sector. The expectation is that if the gap between actual and potential yields can be closed, smallholders will grow sufficient crops to feed their families, with a surplus to sell, thus meeting food security needs and bringing in an income to move them out of poverty. In practice, this is often not possible. While technologies already exist that can raise smallholder farmers’ yields 3 or 4 times, even under rainfed conditions, the small size of land available to them limits how much can be grown and the per capita income from agriculture is insufficient to allow people to move above the current World Bank-defined poverty line of US$1.90 per day. We link this finding with farmer typologies to further explain that there are large differences between individual farming households themselves in terms of their investment incentives and capability to benefit from field-level technologies that are aimed at increasing farm productivity. We argue for more differentiated policies for agricultural development in Africa and suggest that policymakers should be much more aware of the heterogeneity of farms and target interventions accordingly. It is important to understand where and for whom agriculture will have the main purpose of ensuring food and nutritional security and where and for whom there is the potential for significant increases in incomes and a contribution to wider economic growth. Let us recognize the distinctiveness of these targets and underlying target groups and work towards solutions that address the underlying needs.

Authors

• Sharing aspiration and sensemaker insights with UNEP

Abstract/Summary

UN Environment Programme and Cognitive Edge jointly hosted a panel discussion on “Behavioral Insights for environmental impact” at its headquarters in Nairobi on 5 September 2019.

The panel discussed how innovative methods and behavioral science can be used to deliver positive environmental impact by exploring new and innovative solutions and methods that can improve our role as agents of change in addressing the critical environmental challenges of our time.

In that context, the panel explored the following key issues:

• What are the barriers to environmental change not meeting globally set goals and challenges?
• How can we better use social, economic and environmental data in a complimentary way to drive our behaviors towards sustainable solutions?
• Is there an opportunity to embed behavioral changes into our business models at all levels?

View the World Agroforestry contribution on slideshare: Understanding farmer behavior and options to improve outcomes von World Agroforestry (ICRAF)

Or download it from the link below. 

• Stories shared

Gathering stories from more than 600 households is easy, analysing the content takes much longer. Here is a word cloud preview of what stories have been shared.

• Youth Aspirations in Kenya

Introduction

My name is Katie LaRue and I am currently pursuing a Master Degree at Hohenheim University in Stuttgart, Germany. My studies revolve around environmental protection and agricultural food production, which seeks to answer the pressing problem of feeding a growing population sustainably. In culmination of my program, I wanted to see first hand the backbone of the world’s agriculture industry. So when I stumbled upon a flyer advertising a thesis opportunity in Kenya that would address the aspirations of rural farmers, I knew this was my chance. After a few months of tedious preparation, I arrived at the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya and am well on my way to witnessing the 

• Sensemaker field work

• Katie LaRue

Biography

• The enumerator training

The enumerator training phase of the project, led by Jules Yim and Emma Jones, kicked off with a 3-day event at the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.

• Turkana scoping

• Survey design workshop

The design phase of the survey instrument (link to the survey tool) for this project, led by Jules Yim and Emma Jones, kicked off with a 2-day workshop at Bangor University, UK. Ellie Snowden, a researcher at Cynefin Centre, provided remote support via video conference.

• Marys story: Rural aspirations through a gender lens

I was first introduced to Dave Harris and Kai Mausch by my PhD supervisor at Bangor University, Tim Pagella. As a PhD student, my research explores how agricultural interventions to restore degraded lands can and cannot influence the livelihood trajectories of rural households. That is, the way that livelihoods change over time – and the extent to which innovations can reduce poverty and improve food security. Considering the increasing recognition that people’s aspirations influence their investment decisions, both in and out of farming, it was clear to Tim and me that understanding rural aspirations had important implications for the development, uptake and success of land restoration approaches. The types of restoration options a household may be willing to invest in will likely differ with their aspirations for the future. Compared to those who aspire to continue farming for the foreseeable future, households with aspirations to diversify away from agriculture may be less likely to invest in the often labour-intensive process of land restoration.

• Mary Crossland

Biography

• Who are those people we call farmers?

Agricultural interventions should match household aspirations

Just about six percent of rural households in Kenya, aspire for their children to become farmers. This is highlighted through a recent study that interviewed 624 rural households from Embu and Kitui in eastern Kenya.

• Adding an MSc student to the team

After an initial chat with Prof. Regina Birner from the University of Hohenheim, we agreed to look for an MSc student to work on the aspirations project and started advertising the opportunity.  

• Researchers recommend factoring in aspirations of rural households

Agricultural research must listen to farmers and their aspirations while designing effective technology solutions

Over 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s one billion people are under the age of 30. While most rural households engage in agriculture, more and more young people have chosen to migrate to cities and away from farming. This trend has significant implications for research and investment efforts underway to transform sub-Saharan Africa’s agriculture.

• Who are those people we call farmers? Rural Kenyan aspirations and realities

Abstract/Summary

Rural Kenyan households have different aspirations and income portfolio strategies, including agricultural intensification and income diversification. This article reports on a study that interviewed 624 households to explore rural aspirations and derive lessons for agricultural technology development and transfer. Though few households specialised in farming, many households self-identified as farmers and aspired to increase their agricultural income. Despite the prevalence of agricultural aspirations, few aspired for their children to have a future in farming. Combining aspirations with potential to invest, the article provides suggestions for targeting agricultural interventions. We need to start listening better to those people we call “farmers” to develop and offer innovations that meet their realities.

KEYWORDS: Environment (built and natural) – Agriculture, Food security, Labour and livelihoods – Poverty reduction, Technology, Sub-Saharan Africa

https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2018.1446909

Authors

• Households' aspirations for rural development through agriculture

Abstract/Summary

In sub-Saharan Africa, rural households are the focus of many development efforts and the transformation of smallholder agriculture is one entry point for this process. Understanding farming households’ technology choices remains one of the most critical aspects of agricultural research in rural areas. However, many technologies that are known to be effective and potentially highly beneficial have remained widely unused. One reason is that predicting farmers’ decisions concerning agricultural technologies using conventional economic theories is flawed. In this article, we suggest that human aspirations have a much greater influence on technology choices than hitherto believed. We further argue that a better understanding of aspirations will improve the targeting of technology development by researchers. We propose distributed ethnography to empirically test the influence of human aspirations on technology choice. From such insight, we anticipate better research priority setting as well as more effective rural development strategies in general.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0030727018766940

Authors

• Jules Yim

Biography

• Emma Jones

Biography

• The first meeting - Cynefin Centre perspective

The Cynefin Centre for Applied Complexity was officially launched in April 2016 with an inaugural lecture by Professor Dave Snowden at Pontio in Bangor University. Dave Harris, who was present, decided to get in touch with the Cynefin Centre team soon after to arrange a meeting.

Introducing SenseMaker

Managing In Complexity

• Opening up new opportunities

The livelihood choices we were trying to study at the time were too complex to be captured using standard survey tools. We all went back to other commitments for a while until Dave Harris came across an announcement of an inaugural lecture by Dave Snowden at Bangor University. Prof. Snowden had just opened the Cynefin Centre at Bangor University that was intriguingly framed as a journey into complexity. The Cynefin approach seemed to directly address the problems we were facing at the time. After Dave Harris attended the talk by his namesake, he reached out to the rest of the team and shared several of Dave Snowden’s lectures that are available on YouTube. The whole team had a notion that the SenseMaker tool and Distributed Ethnography method that Dave Snowden and his team were using might be just what we needed to move forward. Consequently, we scheduled a face-to-face meeting with the Cynefin Centre team for October in Bangor in order to fully explore its potential use.

• Sometimes plans do not work out

With the approval of the activity under CRP PIM, we reached out to the Department of Psychology at Bangor University, UK. This partnership was aimed at ensuring that the psychology of these very complex life choices could be accounted for.

• Related projects join forces

Our colleague Simone Verkaart has been working on the link between diversified incomes and adoption of agricultural technologies for her PhD, so we were happy to bring her on board for this activity and expand the scope.

• Dr Kai Mausch

Biography

• Dr Dave Harris

Biography

• What we planned

Rainfed farming in Sub-Saharan Africa is risky, hard work and small parcels of land limit the returns from agriculture that many farming families could achieve. Engagement in other income generating activities such as wage labour, casual labour, running small businesses, etc., is widespread. These off-farm and non-farm activities have implications for the attributes that farmers value in agricultural technologies and more generally, for how they approach their own farming activities. The ongoing debate about those implications has two contrasting arguments: