Bell, Andrew

We present results from a combined research + experiential learning intervention developed using the Netlogo-based FarmSquares platform, undertaken with farmers preparing to launch community-level ‘aggregate farms’ in Kisumu, Kenya under the One CGIAR ‘Nature+’ program. Our intervention incorporated a repeated discrete-choice experiment to identify shifts in stated preferences for different dimensions of risk and autonomy in farming that occurred in immediate response to game play, and a within-subjects comparison of incentive payments designed to i) encourage independent farming activity and ii) encourage collective farming activity. We present findings from a post-game debrief session in which players identified their own learning experiences from these comparative treatments, and any relevance they felt these experiences may have for them moving forward in their aggregate farms. Lastly, we discuss this novel FarmSquares platform, how it fits into the existing landscape of tablet-based games for conservation, and how this particular application handled the design tensions across the goals of games as research (standardizing framing information in order to observe differences in response to treatment) and games as experiential learning (making specific dilemmas salient as a means of enhancing critical thinking, discussion, and shifting perceptions).