The Role of Factors Affecting the Adoption of Environmentally Friendly Farming Practices: Can Geographical Context and Time Explain the Differences Emerging from Literature?

Daniele Mozzato, Paola Gatto, Edi Defrancesco, Lucia Bortolini, Francesco Pirotti, Elena Pisani and Luigi Sartori
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Daniele Mozzato: Land Environment Resources and Health (LERH) PhD Program—Land Environment Agriculture and Forestry (LEAF) Department, University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Paola Gatto: Land Environment Agriculture and Forestry (LEAF) Department, University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Edi Defrancesco: Land Environment Agriculture and Forestry (LEAF) Department, University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Lucia Bortolini: Land Environment Agriculture and Forestry (LEAF) Department, University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Francesco Pirotti: Land Environment Agriculture and Forestry (LEAF) Department, University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Luigi Sartori: Land Environment Agriculture and Forestry (LEAF) Department, University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: Environmentally Friendly Farming Practices (EFFPs) are tools aimed at providing ecosystem services or mitigating the environmental impacts of intensive agriculture. A large literature has explored the factors affecting the adoption of EFFPs by farmers. However, opposite effects of several factors on uptake have often emerged. We carried out a qualitative meta-analysis of the literature seeking to identify some geographical and temporal trends that can provide a rationale to explain these opposite results. To reach this goal, we analysed the literature and classified the following factors affecting farmers’ behaviour according to the theory of reasoned action and planned behaviour: farm, farmer, informational, and social factors. Our perspective in exploring the existing literature shows that the geographical context and the temporal period under analysis, considered as different adopters’ cohorts, can explain most of the opposite effects. For example, while the different effects of farm structural factors show specific geographical patterns, those of the management and economic factors follow temporal trends. The impact of some farmers’ socio-demographical characteristics and some social factors can be explained in terms of both geographical context and time. The broad trends we found cast light on the importance of further research adopting the same methodological approach in different geographical contexts and under a temporal perspective.

Keywords: environmentally friendly farming practices; adoption; uptake; factors affecting farmers’ behaviour; theory of reasoned action and planned behaviour; geographical context; temporal trend (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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