A quantitative method for classifying farmers using socioeconomic variables
Crossa, J.
A quantitative method for classifying farmers using socioeconomic variables - Mexico, DF (Mexico) : CIMMYT, 2002. - p. 113-127 - Printed
Tables
Small-scale farmers in developing countries are heterogeneous in the resources they control, in the constraints they face, and, hence, in the crop varieties they require. This poses the challenge to participatory plant breeding (PPB) of identifying farmers that experience comparable conditions and needs, and therefore require similar varieties. Practitioners of PPB need methods for classifying farmers into homogenous groups with similar variety demands. This paper presents a statistical method for classifying individuals-farming households in this example-into homogenous but distinct groups. The method allows the use of different types of variables, provides a systematic approach to decide the number of groups present in the data, and assigns a probability that an individual belongs to a group. The method assumes that data have been collected from a sample of farmers in the target socioeconomic or agroecological environments. In the example presented, the method is used to divide a random sample of small-scale maize farmers in Mexico into homogenous groups.
Text in English
970-648-096-X
Developing countries
Ecological succession
Farmers associations
Quantitative analysis
Socioeconomic environment
Statistical methods
Varieties
Genetic resources
Plant breeding
CIMMYT
A quantitative method for classifying farmers using socioeconomic variables - Mexico, DF (Mexico) : CIMMYT, 2002. - p. 113-127 - Printed
Tables
Small-scale farmers in developing countries are heterogeneous in the resources they control, in the constraints they face, and, hence, in the crop varieties they require. This poses the challenge to participatory plant breeding (PPB) of identifying farmers that experience comparable conditions and needs, and therefore require similar varieties. Practitioners of PPB need methods for classifying farmers into homogenous groups with similar variety demands. This paper presents a statistical method for classifying individuals-farming households in this example-into homogenous but distinct groups. The method allows the use of different types of variables, provides a systematic approach to decide the number of groups present in the data, and assigns a probability that an individual belongs to a group. The method assumes that data have been collected from a sample of farmers in the target socioeconomic or agroecological environments. In the example presented, the method is used to divide a random sample of small-scale maize farmers in Mexico into homogenous groups.
Text in English
970-648-096-X
Developing countries
Ecological succession
Farmers associations
Quantitative analysis
Socioeconomic environment
Statistical methods
Varieties
Genetic resources
Plant breeding
CIMMYT