Farmer Consumer
Behavior Consultant
(Location: Sumenep, East Java, Short
Term: up to 25 days)
Project Overview and Role
AIP-Rural
is an Australian government funded program with four projects: PRISMA
(agricultural development), TIRTA (irrigation), SAFIRA (value chain finance)
and ARISA (applied agriculture research). It follows a Making Markets Work for
the Poor (M4P) approach, and will contribute to a 30%, or more, increase in net
incomes for 300,000 smallholder farming households by December 2018.
PRISMA aims to sustainably increase the agricultural
incomes of 300,000 poor households in eastern Indonesia. Its approach is
significantly different from many past rural development projects, in that its
main strategy for delivering changes, at the farm level, is mainly through
private firms that have a stake in rural agricultural growth and
competitiveness. It focuses on facilitating sustainability and systemic
changes, rather than intervening directly, and building partnerships with the
private sector around commercially viable opportunities.
In East Java province, particularly in Madura Islands,
maize is one of the most important crops and is the staple food for most of the
people. However, farmers in Madura have the lowest productivity around 2 MT/Ha
(national average is 5.18 MT/Ha; BPS 2015) due to their preference of using
local retained seeds. Although, hybrid seeds are available in the market, the
penetration rate of hybrid seed is simply low in Madura, which is reflected in
the slow production growth of around 0.49% per year. There are lot of factors
that may cause low adoption of hybrid seeds such as: lack of awareness on the
benefits of using hybrid seed, high cost of cultivating hybrid seed, poor
knowledge and application of agricultural practices, and mostly farmers prefer
planting tobacco which is perceived as prestige crop. In addition, most of the
farmers rely on subsidised seeds and fertilizer, which decreases seed and
fertilizer purchases from commercial markets.
PRISMA is currently implementing market development
interventions to strengthen the maize seed market system in East Java. PRISMA
is working with 4 private companies to promote the increased use of hybrid
maize seed in Madura island. However, these companies face enormous challenge
in promoting high quality seeds because of farmers’ reliance on using their
retained seeds. PRISMA is also facilitating public private coordination, since
the local government has similar purpose on expanding cultivation area of
hybrid seed. The intervention focuses on collaboration between seed companies
and local government to avoid overlap between subsidized seeds distribution and
seed producers’ free market area, and to persuade farmers to shift towards
hybrid maize. In order to increase the adoption
rate of hybrid seeds, PRISMA is looking forward to further understand the
behavior of maize farmers in Madura Islands of East Java.
In this connection, PRISMA is looking for a
consultant with substantive experience of working with behavior
change issues of farmers.
Application
The post
is open for Indonesian national only. Female candidates are encouraged to
apply.
Responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities of the consultant are as
follows:
·
Attend a briefing session with
PRISMA to discuss PRISMA’s ongoing work in Madura, review key documents i.e.,
baseline, impact assessment and understand the study outcomes further.
·
Finalize research methodology and key research questions..
·
Conduct a survey for data collection from farmers, lead farmers, village
heads, private sector representatives, government officials etc.
·
Analyse data and share a top line presentation for PRISMA.
·
Finalize the research report.
Purpose of the Consultancy
The overall objective of the assignment is to do a consumer
research on the behavior of farmers in Madura with regards to using maize
seeds. Findings from the consumer research will assist PRISMA and its partners
in developing and implementing a marketing strategy aimed at increasing the
usage of high quality maize seeds among farmers in the focus areas. Specific
objectives of the assignment then become, but not limited, to –
1.
Establish a baseline for farming practices among maize
farmers in Madura, and map out key behavioural and non-behavioural determinants
that influence these practices. Farming practices in Madura is quite different than
other areas. Through this study, PRISMA aims to capture the current cultivation
practices of maize farmers and the key determinants of these practices.
Specific information under this objective may entail, among others, basic
typographic information, soil condition, input use, cultivation techniques,
post-harvest techniques and socio-cultural practices related to maize
cultivation.
2.
Identify key factors that influence maize farmers’
decision making on key inputs, particularly seeds. PRISMA aims for
improving the design and implementation of its maize interventions based on how
farmers decide on using key inputs. Based on the study findings, PRISMA will
work with private companies to design marketing strategies around these
influencing factors.
3.
Assess the main benefits sought from hybrid and local
seeds. It’s worth understanding the key utilities that
farmers sought from both hybrid and local maize seeds. This will shape key
messages to be delivered while promoting a specific type of seed.
4.
Identify the behavioural and non-behavioural barriers
to adopt high quality hybrid seeds. Usually, the first step of any programme is to provide
more or better information and affordable prices to help farmers decide to
shift to new varieties of seeds. However, sometimes people are convinced of the
utility of the new seeds, but fail to follow through on their intentions for a
variety of reasons. Thus, if a program keeps giving them more information or
highlighting the benefits without understanding what other behavioural
constraints may be contributing to non-adoption, additional uptake may not
result. This study is aimed at identifying those behavioural and
non-behavioural barriers to adopt high quality seeds.
5.
Gauge farmers’ ability and willingness to purchase
hybrid seeds. Maize farmers in Indonesia show diverse behavior
with regards to their willingness to purchase hybrid seeds. Very often,
companies narrowly focus their attention to purchasing power, while the main
reasons contributing to lack of willingness are diverse and difficult to
understand. This study aims to highlight farmers’ ability and willingness to
better select a target market, develop appropriate products, and design
promotion and distribution strategies accordingly.
6.
Recommend marketing strategies for private companies
to promote hybrid seeds among maize farmers. The research will help
companies to design a sound marketing strategy targeting the maize farmers in
Madura. Companies are already promoting the hybrid seed using traditional media
i.e., farmer meeting, field days, demonstration etc.. This research will further
equip them with critical insights of what works and what does not work. The
research will recommend on the product design, packaging, services to embed,
pricing, distribution and promotions including key message, messengers and
media to deliver the message.
Requirements
The consultant must have:
·
Minimum a Master Degree, preferably PhD in behavior economics,
psychology, and related field, from recognized university.
·
Around 10 years’ experience of working with behaviour change issues.
·
Strong command over designing strategies for behavior change among rural
communities.
·
Has basic understanding on agriculture.
·
Fluent in English and Bahasa.
Expected Output and Deliverables
Following deliverables will be produced during the contract
period.
1.
Research methodology with key research questions.
2.
Enumerator training plan and completion report.
3.
Cleaned data set.
4.
Draft report with presentation.
5. 3 copies of final report.
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