Farmers’ Willingness to Invest in Agroforestry in Campeche, Mexico: Does Human Capital Matter By

This paper presents results from a survey aimed at analyzing farmers willingness to invest in agroforestry near the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the state of Campeche in Southeastern Mexico. One hundred seventy-five farmers were interviewed from January through March of 1998. The survey included questions pertaining to levels of human capital investment made by individual farmers. The objective of this paper is to empirically test the hypothesis that reducing uncertainty through investment in human capital increases the likelihood of participation in an agroforestry development program. A model based on Keynes notion of profit expectations and weight is developed in order to gain some insight into agroforestry adoption behavior. Results support the hypothesis that particular forms of human capital investment improve the likelihood of participation.