Developing a farmers’ happiness index with smallholder coffee and tea farmers in Sri Lanka and India

Farmers are often exposed to higher economic as well as physical and mental health risks affecting their overall wellbeing. Together with coffee and tea farmers of India and Sri Lanka, we will develop a farmers' happiness index to measure farmers’ well-being and its influencing factors.

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Description

Agriculture plays a pivotal role in societal development, especially in the Global South where farming is a primary livelihood source. Despite its importance, farming communities face mental health issues, high dropout rates, and elevated suicide risks. To find the root causes of farmers’ unhappiness and measure farmers’ wellbeing we aim to develop a holistic index.

Comprehensive indices delineating human development and happiness principles have been established, such as the UNDP Human Development Index or the Gross National Happiness Index of Bhutan. However, there is a lack of a questionnaire dedicated to farmers’ happiness applicable across diverse cultural and agricultural settings to identify its main drivers for (un)happiness.

To develop and test a farmers' happiness index, we, the Geography of Food Research Group, will collaborate with the University of Agricultural Sciences Bangalore (UASB) and the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (SUSL), focusing on coffee farmers in Karnataka, India, and tea farmers in Sri Lanka. They often face high suicide risks, due to factors like indebtedness, and challenges such as professional dissatisfaction as well as economic hardships.

The farmers’ happiness index will systematically assess the factors that influence farmers' well-being and help policymakers focus on areas where improvements are needed. The final index can be a valuable tool for identifying strategies to promote sustainable agriculture in different contexts.