Influence of agroforestry and demographic characteristics on the subjective wellbeing of households practicing agroforestry in Gasabo District, Rwanda

Abstract

Agroforestry coverage is low within households because farmers are less motivated to plant more agroforestry trees on their farms. This study aimed at assessing the influence of agroforestry and demographic characteristics on the subjective wellbeing of households practicing agroforestry in Gasabo district, Rwanda. Independent variables investigated were household demographic characteristics, agroforestry practices applied, agroforestry inputs used, agroforestry land size, as well as agroforestry income, and the household subjective wellbeing as the dependent variable. Government policy remittances were studied as intervening variables. Grounded on a review of literature on agroforestry and social-ecological system theory, a survey was conducted on a population of 910 households and a sample of 270 households practicing agroforestry in Zamuka Cooperative. The reliability of the survey questionnaire was tested before data collection. The selection of respondents followed a stratified random sampling procedure. The collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 20). The wellbeing of household demographic characteristics was very high (M = 6.99 and SD = 1.507) on a scale of 1 to 10. Except for the sex of the household head, other demographic characteristics (age, household size, and formal education level) showed no significant positive influence on the subjective wellbeing of households. The regression analysis exhibited that agroforestry practices applied have a significant positive influence on the subjective wellbeing of households (ß = 0.504, t = 9.554, p = 0.001), as well as agroforestry inputs used (ß = 0.418, t = 7.52, p = 0.001), agroforestry land size (ß = 0.196, t = 3.279, p = 0.001), and agroforestry income (ß = 0.485, t = 9.067, p = 0.001). The study concluded that agroforestry has a significant positive influence on the subjective wellbeing of households. Therefore, the study recommends that policymakers, development partners, and farmers to consider the significant positive influence of the sex of the household head; to increase the number of agroforestry practices applied, to increase the number of agroforestry inputs used, to increase the number of agroforestry land size, and to increase the number of agroforestry income for their influence on the subjective wellbeing of households practicing agroforestry