Perceived Causes and Solutions to Soil Degradation in the UK and Norway

Niki Rust, Ole Erik Lunder, Sara Iversen, Steven Vella, Elizabeth A. Oughton, Tor Arvid Breland, Jayne H. Glass, Carly M. Maynard, Rob McMorran and Mark S. Reed
Additional contact information
Niki Rust: Centre for Rural Economy, Newcastle University, Kings Road, Newcastle NE2 1HA, UK
Ole Erik Lunder: Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Science, 1432 Aas, Norway
Sara Iversen: Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé, 8830 Tjele, Denmark
Steven Vella: School of the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, 15 Bartholomew Row, Birmingham B5 5JU, UK
Elizabeth A. Oughton: Centre for Rural Economy, Newcastle University, Kings Road, Newcastle NE2 1HA, UK
Tor Arvid Breland: Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Science, 1432 Aas, Norway
Jayne H. Glass: Rural Policy Centre, Department of Rural Economy, Environment & Society, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Peter Wilson Building, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
Carly M. Maynard: Rural Policy Centre, Department of Rural Economy, Environment & Society, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Peter Wilson Building, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
Rob McMorran: Rural Policy Centre, Department of Rural Economy, Environment & Society, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Peter Wilson Building, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
Mark S. Reed: Thriving Natural Capital Challenge Centre, Department of Rural Economy, Environment & Society, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Peter Wilson Building, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: Soil quality is declining in many parts of the world, with implications for the productivity, resilience and sustainability of agri-food systems. Research suggests multiple causes of soil degradation with no single solution and a divided stakeholder opinion on how to manage this problem. However, creating socially acceptable and effective policies to halt soil degradation requires engagement with a diverse range of stakeholders who possess different and complementary knowledge, experiences and perspectives. To understand how British and Norwegian agricultural stakeholders perceived the causes of and solutions to soil degradation, we used Q-methodology with 114 respondents, including farmers, scientists and agricultural advisers. For the UK, respondents thought the causes were due to loss of soil structure, soil erosion, compaction and loss of organic matter; the perceived solutions were to develop more collaborative research between researchers and farmers, invest in training, improve trust between farmers and regulatory agencies, and reduce soil compaction. In Norway, respondents thought soils were degrading due to soil erosion, monocultures and loss of soil structure; they believed the solutions were to reduce compaction, increase rotation and invest in agricultural training. There was an overarching theme related to industrialised agriculture being responsible for declining soil quality in both countries. We highlight potential areas for land use policy development in Norway and the UK, including multi-actor approaches that may improve the social acceptance of these policies. This study also illustrates how Q-methodology may be used to co-produce stakeholder-driven policy options to address land degradation.

Keywords: conservation agriculture; deliberative democracy; q-methodology; regenerative agriculture; soil conservation; sustainable land management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/1/131/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/1/131/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:1:p:131-:d:725154

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().