Preserving forests and biodiversity requires considering land management practices on private property, especially in zones surrounding national parks and biological reserves. To address land management practices, Costa Rica passed Forest Law 7575, establishing objectives to reduce deforestation and to increase environmental services. The subsequent policies have incited participation among large landholdings, but they have not been as effective in engaging smallholders. Small farmers, specifically, can help increase heterogeneity and reduce isolation between forest fragments, giving weight to their importance in conservation efforts. To improve engagement, it is vital to first understand why small farmers participate in sustainable practices. Understanding this can help create policies that meet the needs of individuals targeted, better fit into existing practices, and capitalize on behaviors of self-interest. Here, I looked only at agroforestry practices among small farmers to parse out the influence of social information pathways. I sought to understand why farmers practice agroforestry, how much the information source influences their decision, and why they continue practicing after their initial adoption. I conducted surveys with small farmers (less than 200 ha) in three regions of Costa Rica between January and March 2019 using a combination of open-ended, binary choice, and 5-point Likert scale methods.
Results/Conclusions
A total of 88 farmers were surveyed with an 85% response rate. 95% of participants practice agroforestry. No participants indicated government incentives and few (3.4%) stated receiving training as the primary reasons for adopting agroforestry. Supporting reforestation and biodiversity, increasing personal food security, and soil health are the highest reported reasons for adoption. The lowest reported information sources are NGOs (4.3%), extension workers (1.4%), and the government (8.7%). Family members are the highest reported information source (30.4%), followed by community members, cooperatives, and self-training. Among those participants who have received training, the level of familiarity with agroforestry is significantly higher than those without training (p=0.002). 75% of participants that practice agroforestry are likely to continue. Personal food security, environmental services, biodiversity, and reforestation were the primary reasons given for continued practice. These results show that despite governmental and NGO outreach efforts, small farmers are receiving their information for sources within their community and are motivated by personal, non-technical factors. However, participants with training proved to have the greatest familiarity with the practice. In the case of agroforestry, outreach efforts consider shifting to the utilization of community networks to increase diversity within established systems.