Form Questionnaire Appe4ndix I Questionnaire Renewal 2022

Farm and Forest Readiness and Resilience in the Caribbean

A Researcher Administered Questionnaire

By USDA Forest Service

International Institute of Tropical Forestry

and Caribbean Climate Hub

OMB No. 0596-0246, Expires XXXX

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The valid control number for this information collection is OMB 0596-0246.

Introduction and Instructions

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this study. Your responses will provide important information for the design and implementation of programs and policies that support farm and forest hurricane and other hazard resilience in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.

The individual who makes most of the decisions about the land and/or operations that we are discussing today should answer this questionnaire. A member of the research team will read the questions and response options to you and note your responses. The estimated time for completion of the questionnaire is about 35 minutes. Your participation is completely voluntary and you may stop, postpone, or withdraw your responses at any time for any reason.

The information that you share with us today is confidential. With your permission, we will record our conversation to help guarantee the accuracy of the information. This recording is strictly for research purposes and will not be used or accessible beyond the members of the research team.

Your answers and opinions will not be associated with or attributable to your name or other personally identifiable information in reports, publications, or any other information generated from this work. Your responses to this questionnaire will be combined with those of other farmers and forest owners across Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands to better understand farm and forest characteristics, practices, preferences, and needs, particularly as they relate to hurricanes and tropical storms.

I will read you the questions and provide possible responses. You can tell me what response you wish to select and I will record it. Let’s begin.

Farm and Forest Readiness and Resilience in the Caribbean Questionnaire

*Do you own, lease, or otherwise actively manage farm or forestland in PR/USVI?

⃝ Yes ⃝ No … If you answered yes, please complete this questionnaire.

General Questions About Your Land

1. How many total acres of land do you own, lease, and/or otherwise manage in PR/USVI?

⃝ Own ______ acres ⃝ Lease _______acres ⃝ Otherwise manage _____acres

2. Please indicate the location of the land you own, lease, and/or otherwise manage: (PR: Barrio, Municipality/USVI: Estate, Island) _____________________________________________________

3. Please indicate the type of ownership, lease, or other arrangement that best describes your land:

⃝ Individual ⃝ Joint ⃝ Family ⃝ Corporate ⃝ Other (please specify______________)

4. Do you live on or within a mile of your farm/forest land? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No

5. In what year did you first acquire ownership or lease or first otherwise manage your land? _______

6. Because there are many different types of land use and land cover in PR/USVI, please indicate approximately what percentage or area of your total land is described as follows:

Land Use Type	% of your total land area or number of acres
Crop land - areas where crops, including orchards (fruit/nut trees), are produced or have been produced in the past	_____%	_____ acres
Pasture - areas used for livestock or livestock forage or covered in grasses	_____%	_____ acres
Forest or wooded land - areas with trees that are not mowed, including where trees have established naturally or by planting and what is locally referred to as ‘bush’ in USVI or matorral in PR	_____%	_____ acres
Developed or Built Up - for example, residential, commercial, paved areas	_____%	_____ acres
Beach - sandy or rocky areas above the high-water mark	_____%	_____ acres
Water - for example, river, stream, lake, pond	_____%	_____ acres
Other (please specify) ____________________________	_____%	_____ acres

7. Please indicate the main crops, livestock, and forest products, if any, produced on your land.

CROPS		LIVESTOCK		FOREST
Principal agricultural crops (up to 5)	Percent of total land dedicated to this crop	Principal livestock (up to 5 types/ species)	Number of head of this type of livestock	Principal forest products (timber, nontimber)	Percent of total land dedicated to this product

Questions About Hurricanes and Other Factors that Affect Your Land

8. To what extent, if any, has your farm or forest been adversely affected by the following events in the past 5 years?

	Not at all affected	Slightly affected	Somewhat affected	Moderately affected	Extremely affected	Not applicable
Drought	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Earthquake	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Fire	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Flood	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Hurricane or tropical storm	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Pest or disease	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Other (please specify_______)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝

9. If you owned or managed your land in 2017, was your farm or forest damaged at all by the effects of hurricanes Irma and/or Maria? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No ….If yes, please answer Q10-14; If no, please skip to Q16

10. To what extent, if any, were the following aspects of your land/operations damaged by the effects and associated impacts of hurricanes Irma and/or Maria in 2017?

	Not at all damaged	<25% damaged	25-50% damaged	50-75% damaged	>75% damaged	Not applicable
Crop(s)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Livestock	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Forest	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Farm assets and infrastructure (buildings, fences, irrigation sys., etc.)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Residential assets and infrastructure (house, personal vehicle, etc.)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝

11. How long after the 2017 hurricanes did it take to return to or exceed your pre-hurricane production/income levels?

⃝ I/we have not yet fully recovered ⃝ < 3 months ⃝ 3-6 months ⃝ 6-12 months

⃝ 1-2 years ⃝ 2-3 years ⃝ > 3 years

12. Did you receive any financial assistance for your farm/forest recovery? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No

If yes, from whom? _________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

If yes, what was the total amount of this financial assistance in $?_______________________

13. Did you have crop, farm, or other related insurance for your farm/forest prior to the 2017 hurricane(s)? ⃝ Yes ⃝No

If yes, with whom? _________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

If yes, did you make any claim(s) for hurricane related damages? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No

If yes, please indicate the percent of total damages that were covered by your paid claim(s): _____%

14. Did you take out (a) loan(s) to aid in your farm/forest recovery? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No

If yes, from whom? __________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

If yes, what was the total amount in $? _________

15. Did you receive technical assistance for your farm/forest recovery? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No

If yes, from whom? ________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

If yes, what type(s) of assistance did you receive? ____________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

16. Did you do any of the following in response to the effects of the 2017 hurricane(s) on your land or operations?

	YES	NO	Don’t Know	Not Applicable
Make changes in crop varieties, species, mixtures	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Make changes in livestock species, stocking	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Make changes in land/water conservation practices	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Make changes in forest management practices	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Make changes in infrastructure/equipment	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Sell/gift/relinquish some/all of your land	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Purchase/lease more land	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Other (please specify_______________ _________________________________	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝

If you made changes to your farm or forest management in response to the 2017 hurricane(s) and would like to provide details of those changes, please do so here: ____________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Questions About Land Management Planning

Note: Some farmers and forest owners have a written management or stewardship plan to help guide their practices and meet their goals for the land.

17. How familiar are you with land management or stewardship plans?

⃝ Not at all familiar ⃝ Slightly familiar ⃝ Moderately familiar ⃝ Very Familiar

18. Do you have a written management or stewardship plan? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No ⃝ Don’t know

(If yes, please answer Q19-20, If no or don’t know skip to Q21)

19. Who wrote your management plan?

⃝ I/My staff did ⃝ Private Consultant ⃝ Agriculture/Forest Extensionist/Advisor

⃝ Federal Govt. Agent/Staff ⃝ Other (please specify_____________________________________)

20. Have you taken actions to implement your management plan? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No ⃝ Don’t know

21. Have you been involved in other land use/conservation planning efforts that involve or address your land (e.g., watershed planning; conservation district planning; industry association/network planning)? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No ⃝ Don’t know

Note: Some farmers and forest owners have an emergency, contingency, or continuing operations plan to help prepare and guide them in case of a major disruption, disaster, or emergency.

22. How familiar are you with these emergency, contingency, or continuing operations types of plans? ⃝ Not at all familiar ⃝ Slightly familiar ⃝ Moderately familiar ⃝ Very Familiar

23. Do you have a written emergency/contingency/continuing operations plan? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No ⃝ Don’t know (If yes, please answer Q24-25, If no or don’t know skip to Q26)

24. Who wrote your emergency/contingency/continuing operations plan?

⃝ I/My staff did ⃝ Private Consultant ⃝ Agriculture/Forest Extensionist/Advisor

⃝ Federal Govt. Agent/Staff ⃝ Other (please specify_____________________________________)

25. Have you taken actions to implement this plan? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No ⃝ Don’t know

26. Have you been involved in other emergency planning efforts that involve or address your land (e.g., municipal emergency planning, industry association/network contingency planning)? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No ⃝ Don’t know

27. Does your farm/forest currently have Catastrophic Risk Protection or other crop/non-crop/farm/forest insurance? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No ⃝ Don’t know

If yes, what percent of your total crop/livestock/production value is insured?

⃝ < 25% ⃝ 25-50% ⃝ 50-75% ⃝ 75-100%

Land Management and Conservation Financing and Assistance

Note: Conservation financial assistance programs (a.k.a. cost-share programs) provide landowners with money to help them establish, manage, and protect their farm or forest. Examples include EQIP, CSP, and ACEP administered by NRCS and CRP administered by FSA.

28. How familiar are you with these types of financial assistance programs?

⃝ Not at all familiar ⃝ Slightly familiar ⃝ Moderately familiar ⃝ Very Familiar

28. Are you currently enrolled in a conservation financial assistance program, or have you been enrolled in such a program in the past 5 years? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No ⃝ Don’t know

30. If conservation financial incentives were available that included support for hazard mitigation and adaptation practices on your farm or forest, and these required you to have an emergency or contingency plan in place to participate, how interested would you be in participating?

⃝ Not at all interested ⃝ Slightly interested ⃝ Moderately interested ⃝ Very interested

31. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements:

	Strongly Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neutral	Somewhat Agree	Strongly Agree
I need financial assistance or incentives to manage my land to reach my management objectives	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Programs that provide financial assistance/incentives for my land management are easy to access	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
I am interested in learning more about financial assistance and incentives to help me with my land management	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Financial assistance and incentives for farm/forest management and conservation limit my flexibility to make decisions about my land and operations	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝

32. Please indicate your level of interest in the following types of assistance for reducing the risks associated with hurricanes, tropical storms, and other natural disturbance (e.g., flooding, earthquakes).

TYPES OF ASSISTANCE	Not at all interested	Slightly Interested	Neither agree or disagree	Moderately Interested	Very Interested
Workshops about hurricane preparedness and other hazard planning, mitigation, and adaptation	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Pamphlets/Reports on hurricane preparedness and other hazard planning, mitigation, and adaptation	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Advice from Extension Services/Ag. and Forest Advisors	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Advice from fellow farmers and forest owners	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Technical assistance from Extension agents	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Technical assistance from Federal government agents	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Technical assistance from Local government agents	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Federal conservation funding or financial incentives	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Non-federal conservation funding or financial incentives	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Crop/Farm insurance	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Other (Please specify: ______________________________________________)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝

33. Please indicate how much, if at all, the following factors or phenomena have influenced your decisions about your farm or forest in the past five years.

AFFECT ON YOUR DECISIONS	None	Very little	Moderate	Very much	Do not know	Not applicable
Access to/availability of capital	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Access to supplies and materials (e.g., fuel, feed, seed, machinery)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Air pollution	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Changes in agricultural markets (e.g., demands, opportunities)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Climate change/variability	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Coastal flooding/storm surge	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Crop insurance coverage/availability	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Desire to contribute to environmental protection/conservation	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Drought or lack of water	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Development of nearby lands	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Earthquakes	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Flooding from rainfall	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Government regulation	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Hurricanes/tropical storms	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Invasive/unwanted plants, insects, disease	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Labor/workforce access/availability	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Landslides	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Passing land on to future generations	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Property taxes	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Saltwater intrusion	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Sea level rise	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Soil loss/erosion	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Water pollution	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Wildfire	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Other (please specify_________________________________)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝

34. Please indicate if you have made changes in the following activities on your land in the past 5 years.

CHANGE IN ACTIVITY	Increase	Decrease	Substitution	No Change	Do not know	Not applicable
Crop species or varieties	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Livestock types or species	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Timing of planting or land preparation	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Location of planting/production areas	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Agrochemicals (e.g., pesticides, fertilizer)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Agroecological farming/practices	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Total land area in production	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Total land area in fallow	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Total land area in protection	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Harvest timber for sale	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Harvest timber for own use	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Harvest nontimber forest products (e.g., medicines, foods, decorations) for sale	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Harvest nontimber forest products for own use	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Plant trees for food production	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Plant trees for wood production	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Manage fire hazard(s)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Irrigation	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Drought mitigation measures	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Water conservation measures	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Soil conservation measures	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Seed bank	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Back-up/off-grid electrical power	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Water storage	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Farm/forest inventory/records	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Crop/farm insurance	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Staffing/personnel employed	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Other (please specify_________________________________ __________________________________________________)	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝

35. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements.

	Strongly Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neutral	Somewhat Agree	Completely Agree
Average global temperatures are increasing	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
The global climate is changing	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Climate change poses risks to agriculture and forestry globally	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Climate change poses more risks than benefits to agriculture and forestry globally	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝
Extreme climate events are related to changing climate	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝	⃝

Questions about you and your household

Note: This section asks question about you to help us understand farm and forest owners more broadly. As with the rest of the questionnaire, your answers are confidential and will not be used to identify you in any way.

36. Age in years _______

37. Gender __________

38. Highest degree/level of education:

⃝ Less than 12^th grade ⃝ High School/GED ⃝ Some college ⃝ Associate degree

⃝ Bachelor’s degree, Advanced degree

39. Race (select one or more):

⃝ American Indian/Alaska Native ⃝ Asian ⃝ Black/African-American

⃝ Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander ⃝ White

40. Ethnicity

⃝ Hispanic or Latino ⃝ Not Hispanic of Latino

41. On average, what percent of your household’s annual income comes from your farm/forest? _____%

42. (PR) Are you registered/identify as a bona fide farmer/farm operator? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No ⃝Don’t know

43. On average, how many days a year do you spend on your land?

⃝ <20 days ⃝ 20-100 days ⃝ 100-200 days ⃝ 200-300 days ⃝ >300 days

44. Do you have internet access on your farm/forest? ⃝ Yes ⃝ No

If yes, please indicate what type of internet connection you have on your farm/forest (check all that apply): ⃝ Dial-up telephone line ⃝ DSL enabled phone line ⃝ Cable TV modem

⃝ Wireless Connection (land-based or satellite) ⃝ Fiber optic ⃝ Don’t know

⃝ Other (please specify)_________________________________________________

Do you have any additional comments or concerns that you would like to share? (please note here)

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for participating in this questionnaire! If you would like a copy of the results, please note your name and address here:_________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

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