Decision making, sociological tools and impact assessment

Focus group with rice farmers in Suphan Buri, Thailand

Focus group with rice farmers in Chainat, Thailand

Our ADB-IRRI planthopper project (see Ricehoppers) considers communication and policy analyses a crucial element in bringing about change in how rice farmers, extension officials and policy makers respond to planthopper/virus disease outbreaks.  In the first phase, our modest goal is to get all the baseline indicators done in order to plan our scaling up approach in the second phase.

For our partners in China, Thailand and Vietnam to be on the same page, we thought that an in-country workshop-training course on decision making, sociological tools and impact assessment is in order. The training content covers these topics:

Module 1: Introduction to decision making
Decision models
Understanding farmers’ decisions – theoretical framework and quantification
How policy makers make decisions – Concepts of bounded rationality, procedural rationality, substantive rationality
How to measure procedural rationality

Module 2:  Diagnostic tools in pest management
Ethnoscience – folk taxonomy, emic-etic
Focus group discussions:  uses and methodological guidelines
Farmer surveys: theory, practice and logistics

Module 3:  Impact assessment
BPH as a common property resource or public liability
Concepts of externality and collective action
Basic economic impact principles & analytical approaches
Baseline data collection

Module 4:  Understanding sociological research methods
Developing issues for emic-etic and FGD
Field work and reporting
Quantification of farmer beliefs and practices
Developing KAP survey instruments
Questionnaire techniques

I have designed the program which you can read in Project News in Ricehoppers. Check it out and post your feedback here.  I would love to hear from you and finetune our training program.