An assessment of the role of social capital in sustainable agriculture : a case study of Prachinburi and Saraburi Provinces, Thailand | |
| Author | Nitchakan Inkong |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.RD-19-02 |
| Subject(s) | Social capital (Sociology)--Thailand--Prachinburi--Case studies Social capital (Sociology)--Thailand--Saraburi--Case studies Sustainable agriculture--Thailand--Prachinburi--Case studies Sustainable agriculture--Thailand--Saraburi--Case studies |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Regional and Rural Development Planning, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. RD-19-02 |
| Abstract | Even though the government strives to promote sustainable agriculture and social capital in Thailand by establishing many local institutions, the Thai farmers still lack crucial knowledge on sustainable agriculture and are unable to become a successful group due to lack of norm, interaction and network. The research attempts to find out the farmers' perception of social capital, namely interaction within group, interaction with other groups, intrarelationship, interrelationship, common norms and rules and networking that is built within their organizations within different socioeconomic contexts, namely Bann Sang district ofPrachinburi province and Nong Saeng district of Saraburi province. Additionally, it also studies two different farming systems which involves crop production and fishery. The research tries to access the farmers' knowledge and practice of sustainable agriculture and observes how the social dimensions affect the knowledge and practice of sustainable agriculture by using semi-structured interview and questionnaire survey. It uses convenience sampling to approach all the organization which were listed by district authority and approaches all the members who were available to do the survey. This study observed the farmers' perception of social capital's dimensions built within local institution in both study areas. It found that farmers in Saraburi province had higher perceived level of interaction with other groups and networking than the farmers in Prachinburi province due to geographical set up. In contrast, the farmers in Prachinburi province had higher perceived level of common norms and rules than Saraburi province because of poor management of the organization. Nevertheless, fish farmers had lower perceived level of every social capital's dimensions than crop farmers due to their work characteristics. In terms of the farmers' knowledge and practice, farmers in both provinces had same knowledge on sustainable agriculture concept, but Saraburi farmers tend to have more knowledge of sustainable agriculture practice than the farmers in Prachinburi. Also, all of the sustainable agriculture practice is more common in Saraburi province rather than Prachinburi province due to their area characteristics and social capital perceived by farmers in agricultural institutions. In contrast, fish farmers had more knowledge on sustainable agriculture concept than crop farmers even though they perceived lower level of social capital. However, the results from hypothesis showed that social capital influenced farmers' knowledge and practice on sustainable agriculture in both study areas. Farmers' perception of interaction within group and intrarelationship had the positive effects on farmers' knowledge on sustainable agriculture. On the one hand, Farmers' perception of interaction with other groups had the positive effects on the farmers' practice on sustainable agriculture. These results are similar with other previous studies that have been studied about the role of social capital. On the other hand, there was no effect of farmers' perception of networking on the farmers' practice on sustainable agriculture. This result is different from other previous studies which have been studied about the effects of networking on sustainable agriculture. This study suggests to the policy makers that they have to conduct more training and workshops with farmers in order to provide the necessary information about sustainable agriculture practice to the key persons in the group by taking advantages of the social capital for providing key knowledge of sustainable agriculture. |
| Year | 2019 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. RD-19-02 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Rural Development, Gender and Resources (RD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Thi Phuoc Lai Nguyen |
| Examination Committee(s) | Ahmad, Mokbul Morshed;Tsusaka, Takuji W. |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Her Majestry the Queen's Scholarships (Thailand) |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2019 |