Assessing farmers’ intention to adopt sustainable management practices for soil conservation across Europe

Jo Bijttebier; Greet Ruysschaert; Fleur Marchand; Renske Hijbeek; Annette Pronk; Norman Schlatter; Gema Guzm; Alina Syp; Magdalena Werner; Laura Zavattaro; Nadia Guiffant; Erwin Wauters

Assessing farmers’ intention to adopt sustainable management practices for soil conservation across Europe

Jo Bijttebier, Greet Ruysschaert, Fleur Marchand, Renske Hijbeek, Annette Pronk, Norman Schlatter, Gema Guzm, Alina Syp, Magdalena Werner, Laura Zavattaro, Nadia Guiffant, Erwin Wauters

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › C3: Conference Abstract › peer-review

Abstract

During the past decennia, sustainable soil management practices (BMPs) have been developed in order to maintain or restore soil health which is essential to the resilience of the farm. However, the adoption practice is rather low. Amongst other reasons, the BMPs might lack on-farm compatibility, or farmer’s lack confidence in the presented measures. To increase the adoption rate of BMPs, capturing farmer’s ideas in their specific farming context can aid future strategies to implement the BMPs. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify and compare different barriers and drivers towards the adoption of BMPs. To unravel farmer’s motivation and ability to implement a certain BMP, we applied a sequential mixed method approach based on the theory of planned behavior, a socio-psychological framework to predict human behavior (Ajzen, 1988, 1991; Wauters et al., 2013). Qualitative semi-structured interviews with farmers reveal a first indication of possible barriers and drivers. These serve as the basis for a broad quantitative survey in 25 major farm types across 8 European countries, all
characterized by their own soil, climate, legislative and socio-economic context. Due to this context, the selected BMPs in the questionnaire differ among the major farm types, although two wide-spread practices such as cover crops and reduced and/or non-inversion tillage were questioned among almost all farm types. An EU-wide comparison between different regions allows us to better relate differences in barriers, motivators and farmers’ intention to differences in bio-physical, economic, institutional, social and regulatory conditions. To obtain a correct interpretation and clarification of the most striking results, we organize regional focus groups with experts and farmers. The results will offer valuable insights to advice EU policy, extension and scientific research. They will
be able to take into account the specific context of the different major farm types when developing strategies to increase the adoption rate of BMPs.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	IFSA Book of Abstracts
Editors	Heike Schobert, Maja-Catrin Riecher, Holger Fischer, Thomas Aenis, Andrea Knierim
Publication date	2014
Pages	126-126
Publication status	Published - 2014
Event	11th European IFSA Symposium - Berlijn, Germany Duration: 1-Apr-2014 → 4-Apr-2014

CATCHC: Compatibility of Agricultural Management Practices and Types of Farming in the EU to enhance Climate Change Mitigation and Soil Health (Catch-C)
Ruysschaert, G. (Project Manager), Bijttebier, J. (Researcher), D'Hose, T. (Researcher), Marchand, F. (Researcher) & Wauters, E. (Researcher)
1/01/12 → 31/12/14
Project: Research

Cite this

Bijttebier, J., Ruysschaert, G., Marchand, F., Hijbeek, R., Pronk, A., Schlatter, N., Guzm, G., Syp, A., Werner, M., Zavattaro, L., Guiffant, N., & Wauters, E. (2014). Assessing farmers’ intention to adopt sustainable management practices for soil conservation across Europe. In H. Schobert, M.-C. Riecher, H. Fischer, T. Aenis, & A. Knierim (Eds.), IFSA Book of Abstracts (pp. 126-126)

@inbook{3096043c74964c4fb45a037289a95257,

title = "Assessing farmers{\textquoteright} intention to adopt sustainable management practices for soil conservation across Europe",

abstract = "During the past decennia, sustainable soil management practices (BMPs) have been developed in order to maintain or restore soil health which is essential to the resilience of the farm. However, the adoption practice is rather low. Amongst other reasons, the BMPs might lack on-farm compatibility, or farmer{\textquoteright}s lack confidence in the presented measures. To increase the adoption rate of BMPs, capturing farmer{\textquoteright}s ideas in their specific farming context can aid future strategies to implement the BMPs. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify and compare different barriers and drivers towards the adoption of BMPs. To unravel farmer{\textquoteright}s motivation and ability to implement a certain BMP, we applied a sequential mixed method approach based on the theory of planned behavior, a socio-psychological framework to predict human behavior (Ajzen, 1988, 1991; Wauters et al., 2013). Qualitative semi-structured interviews with farmers reveal a first indication of possible barriers and drivers. These serve as the basis for a broad quantitative survey in 25 major farm types across 8 European countries, allcharacterized by their own soil, climate, legislative and socio-economic context. Due to this context, the selected BMPs in the questionnaire differ among the major farm types, although two wide-spread practices such as cover crops and reduced and/or non-inversion tillage were questioned among almost all farm types. An EU-wide comparison between different regions allows us to better relate differences in barriers, motivators and farmers{\textquoteright} intention to differences in bio-physical, economic, institutional, social and regulatory conditions. To obtain a correct interpretation and clarification of the most striking results, we organize regional focus groups with experts and farmers. The results will offer valuable insights to advice EU policy, extension and scientific research. They willbe able to take into account the specific context of the different major farm types when developing strategies to increase the adoption rate of BMPs.",

author = "Jo Bijttebier and Greet Ruysschaert and Fleur Marchand and Renske Hijbeek and Annette Pronk and Norman Schlatter and Gema Guzm and Alina Syp and Magdalena Werner and Laura Zavattaro and Nadia Guiffant and Erwin Wauters",

year = "2014",

language = "English",

pages = "126--126",

editor = "Heike Schobert and Maja-Catrin Riecher and Holger Fischer and Thomas Aenis and Andrea Knierim",

booktitle = "IFSA Book of Abstracts",

note = "11th European IFSA Symposium ; Conference date: 01-04-2014 Through 04-04-2014",

}

Bijttebier, J , Ruysschaert, G , Marchand, F, Hijbeek, R, Pronk, A, Schlatter, N, Guzm, G, Syp, A, Werner, M, Zavattaro, L, Guiffant, N & Wauters, E 2014, Assessing farmers’ intention to adopt sustainable management practices for soil conservation across Europe. in H Schobert, M-C Riecher, H Fischer, T Aenis & A Knierim (eds), IFSA Book of Abstracts. pp. 126-126, 11th European IFSA Symposium, Berlijn, Germany, 1/04/14.

Assessing farmers’ intention to adopt sustainable management practices for soil conservation across Europe. / Bijttebier, Jo ; Ruysschaert, Greet ; Marchand, Fleur et al.
IFSA Book of Abstracts. ed. / Heike Schobert; Maja-Catrin Riecher; Holger Fischer; Thomas Aenis; Andrea Knierim. 2014. p. 126-126.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › C3: Conference Abstract › peer-review

TY - CHAP

T1 - Assessing farmers’ intention to adopt sustainable management practices for soil conservation across Europe

AU - Bijttebier, Jo

AU - Ruysschaert, Greet

AU - Marchand, Fleur

AU - Hijbeek, Renske

AU - Pronk, Annette

AU - Schlatter, Norman

AU - Guzm, Gema

AU - Syp, Alina

AU - Werner, Magdalena

AU - Zavattaro, Laura

AU - Guiffant, Nadia

AU - Wauters, Erwin

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - During the past decennia, sustainable soil management practices (BMPs) have been developed in order to maintain or restore soil health which is essential to the resilience of the farm. However, the adoption practice is rather low. Amongst other reasons, the BMPs might lack on-farm compatibility, or farmer’s lack confidence in the presented measures. To increase the adoption rate of BMPs, capturing farmer’s ideas in their specific farming context can aid future strategies to implement the BMPs. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify and compare different barriers and drivers towards the adoption of BMPs. To unravel farmer’s motivation and ability to implement a certain BMP, we applied a sequential mixed method approach based on the theory of planned behavior, a socio-psychological framework to predict human behavior (Ajzen, 1988, 1991; Wauters et al., 2013). Qualitative semi-structured interviews with farmers reveal a first indication of possible barriers and drivers. These serve as the basis for a broad quantitative survey in 25 major farm types across 8 European countries, allcharacterized by their own soil, climate, legislative and socio-economic context. Due to this context, the selected BMPs in the questionnaire differ among the major farm types, although two wide-spread practices such as cover crops and reduced and/or non-inversion tillage were questioned among almost all farm types. An EU-wide comparison between different regions allows us to better relate differences in barriers, motivators and farmers’ intention to differences in bio-physical, economic, institutional, social and regulatory conditions. To obtain a correct interpretation and clarification of the most striking results, we organize regional focus groups with experts and farmers. The results will offer valuable insights to advice EU policy, extension and scientific research. They willbe able to take into account the specific context of the different major farm types when developing strategies to increase the adoption rate of BMPs.

AB - During the past decennia, sustainable soil management practices (BMPs) have been developed in order to maintain or restore soil health which is essential to the resilience of the farm. However, the adoption practice is rather low. Amongst other reasons, the BMPs might lack on-farm compatibility, or farmer’s lack confidence in the presented measures. To increase the adoption rate of BMPs, capturing farmer’s ideas in their specific farming context can aid future strategies to implement the BMPs. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify and compare different barriers and drivers towards the adoption of BMPs. To unravel farmer’s motivation and ability to implement a certain BMP, we applied a sequential mixed method approach based on the theory of planned behavior, a socio-psychological framework to predict human behavior (Ajzen, 1988, 1991; Wauters et al., 2013). Qualitative semi-structured interviews with farmers reveal a first indication of possible barriers and drivers. These serve as the basis for a broad quantitative survey in 25 major farm types across 8 European countries, allcharacterized by their own soil, climate, legislative and socio-economic context. Due to this context, the selected BMPs in the questionnaire differ among the major farm types, although two wide-spread practices such as cover crops and reduced and/or non-inversion tillage were questioned among almost all farm types. An EU-wide comparison between different regions allows us to better relate differences in barriers, motivators and farmers’ intention to differences in bio-physical, economic, institutional, social and regulatory conditions. To obtain a correct interpretation and clarification of the most striking results, we organize regional focus groups with experts and farmers. The results will offer valuable insights to advice EU policy, extension and scientific research. They willbe able to take into account the specific context of the different major farm types when developing strategies to increase the adoption rate of BMPs.

M3 - C3: Conference Abstract

SP - 126

EP - 126

BT - IFSA Book of Abstracts

A2 - Schobert, Heike

A2 - Riecher, Maja-Catrin

A2 - Fischer, Holger

A2 - Aenis, Thomas

A2 - Knierim, Andrea

T2 - 11th European IFSA Symposium

Y2 - 1 April 2014 through 4 April 2014

ER -

Assessing farmers’ intention to adopt sustainable management practices for soil conservation across Europe

Abstract

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Projects

CATCHC: Compatibility of Agricultural Management Practices and Types of Farming in the EU to enhance Climate Change Mitigation and Soil Health (Catch-C)

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