Smallholder farmers' behavioural intentions towards sustainable agricultural practices.

The introduction of sustainable practices is considered a win-win strategy for low-income countries because of its potential to simultaneously improve food security and address environmental issues. Despite the numerous studies that focus on the adoption of technological innovations, little work has been done on the socio-psychological behaviour of farmers with regard to sustainable practices. This study investigates smallholder farmers' intentions towards two practices: minimum tillage and row planting. The decomposed theory of planned behaviour is used as a theoretical framework to analyse the intentions. The findings reveal that attitudes and normative issues positively explain farmers' intentions to adopt both practices. Perceived control also has a positive significant effect on the intention to apply minimum tillage. When the intention is formed, farmers are expected to carry out their intention when opportunities arise. Moreover, perceived usefulness, social capital, and perceived ease of operation are also significant predictors of farmers' attitudes. Furthermore, social capital and training are factors that positively affect the normative issue, which in turn also positively mediates the relationship between training, social capital and intention. Finally, it is shown that neither the perceived resources nor information from the media significantly affect farmers' intentions. This paper thus confirms that social capital, personal efficacy, training and perceived usefulness play significant roles in the decision to adopt sustainable practices. In addition, willingness to adopt seems to be limited by negative attitudes and by weak normative issues. Therefore, to improve adoption of sustainable practices by smallholder farmers, attention should be given to socio-psychological issues. This could lead to improvements in farm productivity and enhance the livelihoods of smallholders.

Farmers' Preferences for PES Contracts to Adopt Silvopastoral Systems in Southern Ecuador, Revealed Through a Choice Experiment.

This study investigates farmers' preferences to participate in payment contracts to adopt silvopastoral systems in Ecuador. A choice experiment was used to elicit preferences between different contract attributes, including differing payment amounts and land management requirements. The research was carried out in the buffer zone of Podocarpus National Park in Southern Ecuador, an area where most land is dedicated to cattle husbandry. A choice experiment was conducted to measure farmers' interest in different types of contracts. Based on existing incentive programs, contract choices varied with respect to the type of silvopastoral system, extra land-use requirements, payment levels and contract duration. In addition, contracts differed with regards to access by cattle to streams. Although the farmers did not show strong preferences for every contract attribute, the majority of farmers in the area showed interest in the proposed contracts. A latent class model identified three classes of respondents, based on their preferences for different contracts attributes or the "business as usual" option. The results suggest that farmland area, agricultural income, and landowners' perceptions of environmental problems provide a partial explanation for the heterogeneity observed in the choices for specific contracts. Participation might increase if contracts were targeted at specific groups of farmers, such as those identified through our latent class model. Offering flexible contracts with varying additional requirements within the same scheme, involving farmers from the start in payments for environmental services design, and combining payments for environmental services with integrated conservation and development projects may be a better way to convince more farmers to adopt silvopastoral systems.

Capturing and explaining preference heterogeneity for wetland management options in the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania.

Wetland degradation has recently received considerable research attention. Although wetlands are valuable ecosystems, their actual value is difficult to measure because the services they provide often do not have market values. The current study seeks to investigate the preferences for wetland management options in the Kilombero Valley, central Tanzania using choice modeling. The results show that both respondents from the Kilombero Valley and Morogoro Municipality desire improvements in the condition of the wetlands. This indicates that the ongoing degradation is not socially optimal. A second finding is that the preferences for wetland conservation are heterogeneous and can be linked to livelihood characteristics. Communities living in the area, for example, are highly dependent on the wetland for their livelihood and would be impacted by conservation measures. Therefore, in order to reduce the pressure on wetlands, it is necessary and imperative to explore the options for alternative income-generating activities or to focus, for example, on technologies to improve efficiency and effectiveness in crop production.

Irrigation pricing policies and its impact on agricultural inputs demand in Tunisia: a DEA-based methodology.

This paper estimates farmers' individual irrigation water demand functions employing the information hidden in individual farmers' technical efficiency. This information is extracted through the development of a new deductive methodology based on inverse Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models. The empirical results for Tunisia show that farmers who are more technically efficient have less elastic irrigation water demand functions; these farmers would adjust demand only to a limited extent and they can afford the water price. In contrast, water pricing significantly affects those that are less efficient. These farmers shift towards a different cropping pattern using significantly less water and more land when the price of water increases. Thus, higher water prices would threaten this category's livelihood if their efficiency is not improved. However, if the technical efficiency of these farmers were to improve, then it would be more difficult to reach water saving objectives since their demand will also become highly inelastic. The findings have important implications in view of the objectives of Tunisia water policy which include:full cost recovery, continuity of the irrigation activity, and water saving at the national level.

Alternative seagrass wrack management practices in the circular bioeconomy framework: A life cycle assessment approach.

Despite providing important ecological functions, seagrass accumulation causes environmental and economic issues, including eutrophication and tourism reduction. Nowadays, seagrass wrack is commonly removed from the beaches and landfilled, which is considered the least desirable practice according to the European Union (EU) Waste Framework Directive. In this study, different management strategies for seagrass valorisation, including anaerobic digestion (AD), composting and ecological restoration, were considered using a life cycle assessment (LCA) perspective. The aim of the work was to evaluate more ecological and economic alternatives to landfill and to provide a robust evaluation method for public and private companies. An economic assessment was subsequently conducted, considering both direct and indirect impacts with a life cycle costing (LCC) approach. A selected beach located in the Northeast Mediterranean Sea was considered as a relevant case-study. The environmental impacts of the seagrass management scenarios were evaluated with the method ReCiPe 2016H, using both midpoint and endpoint levels. LCA results showed that ecological restoration and AD were the best alternatives in terms of environmental performances because of biogas production used as a renewable energy source. The impacts of the alternative management strategies were significantly lower than the current landfill strategy, -70% considering the categories of human health, ecosystems and resources, and -95% considering global warming potential category. The LCC analysis proved that composting was the best alternative (NPV > 1.27 M€), due to lower operating costs and higher fertilizer value. The obtained results can help beach management companies and public administrations to select the best operational strategies to reduce the environmental and economic impact of seagrass collection and treatment.

Farmers' knowledge and opinions towards bollgard II® implementation in cotton production in western Burkina Faso.

In 2008, the commercial cultivation of Genetically Modified (GM) cotton (Bollgard II®) started in Burkina Faso. The adoption rate increased rapidly in subsequent years to reach around 70% in 2014. Although some criticisms were raised concerning the suitability of the technology for the farming system in Burkina Faso, the introduction of transgenic cotton in the country was generally regarded as a great success. Despite this, during the 2016-2017 agricultural campaign, the government of Burkina Faso decided to suspend the cultivation of Bollgard II®. In this context, this paper investigates farmers' knowledge, perceptions, opinions and attitudes towards Bollgard II® as well as their views on the recent decision to suspend its cultivation. Data was collected from 324 cotton farmers, both growers of conventional and Bollgard II®. The results showed that the farmers surveyed had a poor knowledge concerning the core concepts of biotechnology and Bollgard II® in particular. Moreover, the regulatory oversight of the implementation of the technology was found insufficient, as illustrated by the lack of compliance with prescriptions concerning refuge areas and pesticide treatments. Nevertheless, overall, the farmers interviewed had a slightly positive opinion about the effects on yield, income and their wellbeing. In particular the reduction in pesticide treatments was perceived very positively by all respondents. Although the study finds that the majority of farmers disagreed with the recent suspension of Bt cotton cultivation by the government, it also makes clear that a thorough debate on the technology and its implementation is necessary.

A livelihood in a risky environment: Farmers' preferences for irrigation with wastewater in Hyderabad, India.

Most cities in developing countries fail to treat their wastewater comprehensively. Consequently, farmers downstream use poor-quality water for irrigation. This practice implies risks for farmers, consumers and the environment. Conversely, this water supply supports the livelihood of these farmers and other stakeholders along the value chains. Linking safer options for wastewater management with irrigation could therefore be a win-win solution: removing the risks for society and maintaining the benefits for farmers. However, in developing countries, the high investment costs for the required treatment are problematic and the willingness of farmers to pay for the water (cost recovery) is often questionable. Using a choice experiment, this paper gives insight into farmers' preferences for wastewater use scenarios, quantifying their willingness to pay. The case study is Hyderabad, India. Farmers there prefer water treatment and are prepared to pay a surplus for this. Considering the cost-recovery challenge, this information could be valuable for planning small on site wastewater treatment systems.