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Socio-economic evaluation of soil conservation technologies for upland farming systems in the Philippines

Project ID

ANRE2/1992/011

Project Country

Commissioned Organisation

University of Queensland, Department of Agriculture, Australia

Project Leader

Associate Professor Robert Cramb

Email

r.cramb@uq.edu.au

Phone: 

07 3365 2967

Fax: 

07 3365 9016

Collaborating Institutions

SEAMEO Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, Philippines

Project Budget

$853,470.00

Start Date

01/07/1993

Finish Date

30/06/1996

Extension Start Date

01/07/1997

Extension Finish Date

31/12/1998

ACIAR Research Program Manager

Dr Padma Lal

Overview Objectives

The objective of this project is to improve the flow of appropriate soil conservation technology to upland farmers by providing feedback from farmers to researchers and policymakers regarding factors likely to promote technology adoption. This farming systems approach will start by defining the goals and circumstances of farmers in specific physical and socioeconomic environments.

It also has an ecological focus, examining not only whole-farm systems but agroecological systems, including agroforestry systems and land-use systems. A general hypothesis which will guide the research is that upland farmers choose technology in order to further their goals, subject to the constraints imposed by resource availability and environmental conditions.

Project Background and Objectives

Soil erosion is a major environmental and socioeconomic problem in the Philippine uplands (which account for about 15 million hectares or half the total area of the country). It is related to the physical environment, increasing agricultural pressure on the uplands at the expense of forests and grasslands, the high incidence of rural poverty and the prevalence of social and economic structures unfavourable to small farmers.

Although there has been much research effort directed towards the development of new soil conservation technologies for the area, the adoption of such technologies by farmers has been limited. This has been attributed to the promotion of inappropriate technologies and socioeconomic factors such as the lack of tenure or credit.

Location

There are no project locations defined for this project.