Shifting market and climate influences on social networks, labor allocations and wellbeing among rural farmers

Globalization and increasing environmental variability have transformative effects on people living in small agricultural communities worldwide. Because these forces present both opportunities and challenges, the path forward in how to make a living is often uncertain. Is it better to give up farming, move to an urban area, become a wage-laborer, leave family behind, and sever ties with one’s birth community?

How do these decisions affect the wellbeing of families? This project examines how small-scale farmers navigate these decisions. Specifically, the researchers collect new data to assess whether the reliance on family versus formal institutions for social support is influenced by household economic decisions, and what impact this has on the wellbeing of rural families when faced with the dual challenge of increasing environmental variability and globalization.

The project provides scientific and STEM-field research experience to undergraduate and graduate students and professional training to postdoctoral researchers, as well as valuable information for non-governmental organizations and policy makers.

This research provides a novel test of economic, sociological, and cultural anthropological theories to address the extent to which opportunities associated with market transition trade off as they interact with environmental variability to affect farmers’ livelihoods. Using a longitudinal design, ethnographic, and cutting-edge social network methods, the researchers aim to characterize (1) how social relationships and economic activities are affected by market transition over time; and (2) how reliance on relationships versus labor market participation are associated with health and well-being.

The researchers investigate further the extent to which climate variables affect people's social relationships, economic activities, and daily lives, creating much-needed links between social and climate science. Finally, the research provides validity tests and other tools to meet the stated needs of Vulnerability Assessments required by policy makers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in economic development.

Together, findings from the research will provide pertinent insight into the scale at which climate and market variables together affect human behavior and how farmers manage changes in their social, economic, and ecological environments.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.