Fruit tree–based agroforestry has been promoted as an alternative farming practice in upland Northwest Vietnam to replace monocultures of staple crops. Although many studies have focused on evaluating the performance of agroforestry systems at the plot level, research on how farmers perceive and evaluate agroforestry considering whole-farm contexts is limited. We explored the perceptions and reasoned management decisions of agroforestry farmers to uncover challenges that hinder the wider use of agroforestry, and we assessed farmers’ strategies for effective management of adoption challenges. We combined the Q methodology and the systems thinking approach. With the Q methodology, we explored prevalent discourses among the members of the farming community on the impact of agroforestry. Systems thinking elucidated a system-wide understanding of farmers’ adaptive decision-making processes. By combining the two approaches, we uncovered the dynamics that shape farmers’ perceptions and the rationale behind their management of the adoption process. Through the Q method, we identified three distinct discourses among participants. Two of these discourses are in favor of agroforestry, highlighting its beneficial impacts on livelihoods and the environment, e.g., through diversification of household income and through soil erosion control. We also generated a collective development pathway outlining how farmers navigated and adapted agroforestry practices to overcome adoption challenges through a whole-system approach to farm resource management. We identified structural barriers, such as unstable farm-gate prices, that may need high-level interventions. Our study adds a new dimension to the assessment of agroforestry through farmers’ perspectives and contributes to the existing body of research on knowledge systems in agroforestry. Considering farmers’ views and their ways of reasoning during innovation processes may allow tailoring appropriate innovations by accounting for unique farm situations and local farming systems. Such locally generated knowledge will have relevance for real-world contexts and therefore be useful for guiding actions.

以果树为基础的农林业已作为越南西北部高地的替代农业实践得到推广，以取代主要农作物的单一种植。尽管许多研究侧重于评估地块层面农林业系统的绩效，但关于农民如何考虑整个农场环境来看待和评估农林业的研究仍然有限。我们探讨了农林业农民的看法和合理的管理决策，以发现阻碍农林业更广泛应用的挑战，并评估了农民有效管理采用挑战的策略。我们将 Q 方法论和系统思维方法结合起来。通过 Q 方法，我们探讨了农业社区成员中关于农林业影响的普遍讨论。系统思维阐明了对农民适应性决策过程的全系统理解。通过结合这两种方法，我们揭示了影响农民观念的动态以及他们管理收养过程背后的基本原理。通过 Q 方法，我们确定了参与者之间的三种不同的话语。其中两种论述支持农林业，强调其对生计和环境的有益影响，例如通过家庭收入多样化和土壤侵蚀控制。我们还制定了一条集体发展路径，概述了农民如何通过农场资源管理的全系统方法来引导和适应农林业实践，以克服采用挑战。我们发现了结构性障碍，例如农场交货价格不稳定，可能需要高层干预。我们的研究从农民的角度为农林业评估增加了一个新的维度，并为现有的农林业知识系统研究做出了贡献。在创新过程中考虑农民的观点和他们的推理方式可以通过考虑独特的农场情况和当地农业系统来定制适当的创新。这种本地生成的知识将与现实世界背景相关，因此可用于指导行动。