Community Participation and the Integration of Agroecosystem Health and Sustainability Concerns into Practical Decision Making - Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems - page 64

table 3.2
sequencing of topics covered in semistructured Interviews conducted
in selected land-use units in each of the Intensive study sites

topic timing of activity expected outputs

1. Introduction On arrival Name of household head

Size of household
Occupation of household head

2. Land use Beginning of

household/farm/
homestead tour

Settlement history
Acreage
Ownership, tenure, access, and control of land
Apportionment to crops, livestock, dwelling, etc.

3. Crop production and

agroforestry

Tour of fields, Types, acreage, and yields by crops and seasons

Soil conservation measures
Cropping practices (rotation, etc.)
Tree types and uses, vegetation

4. Livestock production Tour of pens and sheds Production types and yields by species and breed

Pest and disease issues

5. Marketing End of tour of fields,

pens, and sheds

Market availability for produce
Trends and seasonality of prices

6. Farm inputs End of tour of fields,

pens, and sheds

Types, amount, and costs of inputs (chemicals,
labor, seeds, vet services, etc.)

7. Access and control Beginning of discussion

session

Availability, ownership, access, and control of
resources
Activity profile

8. Institutions Discussion session Names and roles or responsibilities of

institutions
Activities and benefits derived

9. Human health Discussion session Common health issues

State of health of household members
Trends in disease occurrence

10. Livelihood Discussion session Sources of income and their relative importance

Types and relative importance of expenditures

11. Problems and coping
strategies

End of discussion
session

Types and relative importance of needs and
issues
Coping strategies for each

social maps to show household-level characteristics such as relative wealth, levels of
resource use, membership in community groupings, and project activity. Discussions
of the resource map were geared toward how participants perceived the importance,
availability, quality, and utilization of natural resources within the study site.

3.2.4.3 Institutional mapping

Institutional mapping (Theis and Grady, 1991; Kabutha et al., 1993) was used as a
tool to learn about the activities of groups and organizations within the community
and to understand how the community viewed these institutions. Local participants