Quantifying farmers preferences: Can it be done?Steven Franzel

• Use of the bao game for getting farmers’ assessments of alternative trees.

• Combine– Accuracy, precision, and ability to

generalize– User-friendliness of participatory

research

Tools for getting farmer evaluations of technologies

• 1. Scoring questionnaires

– Rating on a ‘1 to x’ basis gives quantitative data, but is problematic in rural, third world setting

Because farmers’ involvement is passive, they become bored

Tools for getting farmer evaluations of technologies

• 2. Matrix ranking: diagram with alternatives on one axis, criteria on the other.

Matrix ranking: Maize varieties

Local INIAP 180 Imported

Yield/ha

Resistance to pestsMkt. Price

Taste

Prod. Cost

• Advantages of matrix ranking:

– Farmers control process

– Visual tool, facilitates discussion and correction

But it is not used for collecting quantitative data (Maxwell 1997)

Bao game case study

• Overall research objective: Combine advantages of scoring questionnaires and matrix ranking.

• Case study : Burundi.

• Objective.: Find out how farmers evaluate trees in an on-farm trial.

First you need to get farmers’ criteria

• Tour the farm asking about the uses, advantage and disadvantage of each tree

• List the farmers’ criteria• Break off a branch of each

tree

• Find a comfortable place for the farmer to use the bao game to score different trees

Watch out, a crowd quickly forms!

Burundi case study

• 45 farmer interviews. • They rated 8 trees for timber and

firewood across 7 criteria

• Ratings from 1(low) to 5 (high)

Farmer criteria

• Tree management and growth– Compatibility with crops– Speed of growth– Resistance to pests

• Use for timber– Wood appearance– Straightness

• Use for firewood– Quick in drying– Durability of fire

Farmers' mean ratings of tree species using bao game

Trees Compatabi-lity

with crops

Speed of growth

Durability of fire

Cedrela serrata 4.6 (0.5) 4.3 (0.7) - Grevillea robusta 4.9 (0.3) 4.6 (0.5) 2.8 (1.2) Markhamia lutea 3.7 (1.0) 1.9 (0.9) 4.2 (0.7) Eucalyptus spp 1.1 (0.3) 4.3 (0.8) 5.0 (0.0)

(Standard deviation in parentheses)

Burundi case study: Main findings

• Eucalyptus and Grevillea, the most common species, also the highest rated– Grevillea for fast growth and

compatibility– Eucalyptus for fast growth and

firewood

• Two other high-rated species, Cedrela and Maesopsis, not commonly grown due to lack of planting material

Conclusions• Bao game combines strengths of

scoring questionnaires with those of matrix ranking

• Bao game is useful for generating quantitative data– Accurate– Precise– Permits generalization, hypothesis

testing• Quantitative data on farmer criteria

and preferences are key inputs into tree improvement program.