Agroforestry Dissemination and the Social Learning Theory in Pontal do Paranapanema, São Paulo, Brazil.

The conversion of natural habitats to unsustainable land use practices that continues in many developing countries can further degrade the agricultural landscape and hinder the development of rural areas. Agroforestry is one of the approaches being used to addressing this problem. Acquiring the information pertaining to such sustainable practices and disseminating it to land users is a critical step in rural development. To assess whether Social Learning Theory (SLT) would be useful in understanding the dissemination of agroforestry information among farmers, a survey of farming households was conducted in the Pontal do Paranapanema region of São Paulo state, Brazil. This region was selected because of the on-going agrarian reform which has resulted in the fragmentation of natural habitat and agricultural areas. A total of 94 heads-of-households were interviewed about farming practices and sources for agriculture information. The results indicated that farmers with greater social networks and agricultural experience were more likely to adopt agroforestry practices than those who did not have such advantages. The SLT results provide partial evidence of its applicability to understanding agroforestry behavior dissemination. Two of the theory's constructs (Imitation and Differential Reinforcement) were significantly correlated with agroforestry adoption. Yet, the other two (Differential Association and Definitions) were not. Confusion on behalf of the farmers about what constitutes an agroforestry practice could account for these results. By understanding how to motivate farmers to adopt agroforestry practices, land stewardship could be improved, making agricultural areas more conducive for environmental conservation and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]