Programme de bourses "Echanges Universitaires"

Application of the Structured Mental Model Approach (SMMA) to analyse the Sustainability of a new Cultivation and Livestock Feeding Method in Nicaragua

The goal of this thesis is threefold: first to analyse farmers’ mental models and compare them to those of experts; second to examine farmers’ system understanding, risk perception and perception about changes in their access to livelihood capitals due to the implementation of a new cultivation method and compare it to experts’ understanding and perception and third to analyse farmers’ agent networks and compare them to the experts’ farmer agent network.

The analysis will be conducted with the Structured Mental Model Approach (SMMA) (Binder and Schöll, 2007). 15 experts and ten farmers will be interviewed with the SMMA. Expert as well as farmer interviews are divided into three parts. First: definition and weighting of farmers’ livelihood capitals. Second: analysis of farmers’ livelihood dynamics. Third: definition of farmers’ social capital. During the field phase the collaboration with the local university, Universidad Católica del Trópico Seco (UCATSE), will be important to bridge cultural and language problems.

The SMMA is conducted in the context of the development project: „Realizing the benefits of cover crop legumes in smallholder crop-livestock farms of the hillsides of Central America“. The ETH Zurich is running this project in Nicaragua in cooperation with local partners. The project aims to increase farmers’ access to natural capital with the implementation of a new cultivation method. Canavalia brasiliensis (canavalia) is introduced into the traditional crop rotation where it replaces beans. The plant characteristics lead to the assumption that canavalia has the potential to ameliorate soil conditions which results in higher harvest yields.

The master thesis will show whether the SMMA is suitable to analyse the long-term impact of a project in the field of development cooperation. It will be analysed to what degree farmers’ mental models, system understanding, risk perception, agent networks and perception about changes in their access to livelihood capitals differ from the one of experts. This comparison will indicate if farmers will implement the new crop rotation on a long-term basis. All acquired information will be used to make advocacies to experts of the ETH project about how they can improve their communication with the farmers. The collaboration with the UCATSE will enhance the capacity of the collaborating students.

Contact
Regina Schöll and Anna Mosimann
Department of Geography, Social and Industrial Ecology
University Zurich (UZH)
Winterthurerstrasse 190
8057 Zürich
regina.schoell@geo.uzh.ch
annamo@ethz.ch

Research collaborator
Jorge Luis Martínez Rayo
Department of Research of the Faculty of Agriculture
Universidad Católica del Trópico Seco (UCATSE)
Estelí, Nicaragua
jmartin@catie.ac.cr