Vol. 4 No. 2 (2015)
Full Research Articles

Farmer’s motivation to adopt sustainable agricultural practices

Davide Menozzi
Università di Parma
Michele Donati
Department of Biosciences, University of Parma

Published 2015-03-23

Keywords

  • Common Agricultural Policy,
  • durum wheat,
  • theory of planned behaviour,
  • sustainability

How to Cite

Menozzi, D., Fioravanzi, M., & Donati, M. (2015). Farmer’s motivation to adopt sustainable agricultural practices. Bio-Based and Applied Economics, 4(2), 125–147. https://doi.org/10.13128/BAE-14776

Abstract

The 2014-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform defines new rules for farmers including maintenance of the ecological focus area (EFA). Sustainability is also a requirement to meet consumer expectations and a competitive advantage for firms. This paper aims to evaluate the farmers’ intention to implement sustainable practices related to the EFA measure and to the private sustainability schemes proposed by the food industry. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was applied on a sample of durum wheat producers to analyse intentions 1) to maintain 7% of the arable land as an EFA, and 2) to implement the private sustainability scheme. Structural equation modelling was applied to test for the relative importance of intention determinants. The farmers’ attitude and past behaviour positively affect intentions to implement the EFA, while perceived behavioural control and attitudes predict intentions to adopt the private sustainability scheme. These results suggest possible interventions that public authorities and supply chain leaders might implement to stimulate farmers’ sustainable behaviours. 

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...