46 research outputs found
Evaluation of agri-environmental participatory extension programmes
No full textDue to negative impacts on the environment, such as emission of greenhouse gases and pollution
of surface and ground water, the agricultural sector has come under increasing scrutiny by wider
society. A range of environmental policies and regulations have been developed to create a more
environmentally sustainable farming culture, but successful implementation is complex due to
the biophysical, economic and social heterogeneity of farms. Therefore, change towards more
environmentally sustainable farming has been partially reliant on policies that stimulate
voluntary change, such as participatory (research and) extension programmes (PEPs). In PEPs,
farmers are participants in knowledge generation and practice change by introducing practices
via experimentation on farm and subsequently demonstrating and scrutinising these in
discussion groups with peers, experts and researchers.
Given the public investment in PEPs, the increasing requirement for accountability by policy
makers and funding bodies, and the uncertainty around the contribution to environmental
targets, it is important that these programmes are reliably evaluated. This thesis addresses the
topic of evaluation by: i) presenting a literature review of the current state of PEP evaluation; ii)
conducting a mixed-method ex-post evaluation of an agri-environmental PEP in Scotland; iii)
conducting an explanatory study on farmer decision-making regarding the uptake of
environmental practices in New Zealand; and iv) studying the change within the culture of
farming in New Zealand and Scotland due to environmental pressures and the role of PEPs in
that change.
The findings show that quantitative and qualitative methods are required to comprehensively
assess the effect of PEPs beyond practice adoption, as well as longitudinal data collection to
correctly quantify the effect of PEP participation. Furthermore, heterogeneity in decision-making
factors is observed amongst farmers, which has to be taken into account when designing a PEP.
Moreover, achieving sustained environmental change requires more than practice change, such
as redefining the values and beliefs guiding farming culture. PEPs can be instrumental in
achieving change beyond practice adoption, but additional policy tools, such as regulation and
market-based instruments, are required to achieve successful change. The contribution of this thesis is four-fold: i) it presents one of the first evaluations of climate
change PEPs in peer-reviewed literature; ii) it contributes to the development of a mixed
methods approach for evaluation; iii) it provides insight into farmer decision-making around
water quality issues in countries with low regulation; and iv) it considers PEP evaluation from a
novel institutional logics perspective
Spatial evaluation of the impact of a climate change participatory extension programme on the uptake of soil management practices*
No full textParticipatory extension programmes (PEPs) are a popular policy tool to stimulate the uptake of climate change mitigation practices on a farm level. Given the public investment in PEPs, reliable evaluation is important. However, few studies evaluate climate change PEPs. Moreover, the evaluations conducted so far do not correctly account for potential spatial effects, such as the influence of neighbouring farms on PEP participation. Therefore, this paper estimates the impact of PEP participation on the uptake of a climate change mitigation practice and soil management, and identifies the importance of spatial effects on PEP participation. A spatial propensity score matching method is applied to a dataset from Scotland, consisting of 134 PEP and 184 control farmers. The results show that PEP participation facilitates the uptake of soil management practices and that spatial dependence exists in farmers’ decision-making, indicating the need for the inclusion of spatial factors. This study contributes to the current literature by combining spatial econometric analysis and propensity score matching to conduct a quantitative evaluation of a climate change PEP. The evaluation methodology provides decision-makers with reliable insights into the potential contribution of PEPs towards climate change mitigation targets
Spatial evaluation of the impact of a climate change participatory extension programme on the uptake of soil management practices
No full textParticipatory extension programmes (PEPs) are a popular policy tool to stimulate the uptake of climate change mitigation practices on a farm level. Given the public investment in PEPs, reliable evaluation is important. However, few studies evaluate climate change PEPs. Moreover, the evaluations conducted so far do not correctly account for potential spatial effects, such as the influence of neighbouring farms on PEP participation. Therefore, this paper estimates the impact of PEP participation on the uptake of a climate change mitigation practice and soil management, and identifies the importance of spatial effects on PEP participation. A spatial propensity score matching method is applied to a dataset from Scotland, consisting of 134 PEP and 184 control farmers. The results show that PEP participation facilitates the uptake of soil management practices and that spatial dependence exists in farmers’ decision-making, indicating the need for the inclusion of spatial factors. This study contributes to the current literature by combining spatial econometric analysis and propensity score matching to conduct a quantitative evaluation of a climate change PEP. The evaluation methodology provides decision-makers with reliable insights into the potential contribution of PEPs towards climate change mitigation targets
Mind the gap: perception of environmental performance of farms in Aotearoa New Zealand through farmers’ and public lenses
No full textThe agricultural sector is vital to Aotearoa New Zealand's (Ao-NZ) economy and cultural identity, yet faces social and political pressure due to its environmental impacts. Limited research has explored how the public perceives farms’ environmental performance in Ao-NZ and whether this perception differs between urban and rural areas. Our study addresses this gap by examining farmers’ environmental self-assessment, farmers’ expectation of public perception, and actual public perception of farmers’ environmental performance across Ao-NZ. We analysed data from two major surveys conducted by Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research in 2023: the Survey of Rural Decision Makers (n = 2965) and the Environmental Perception Survey (n = 2007). Our results show that while 87% of farmers rate their own environmental performance highly, only 43% expect the public to rate their environmental performance positively. However, nearly half of the public holds favourable views on farmers’ environmental practices. Moreover, farmers perceive their peers’ environmental performance more critically than their own performance. This perception gap may contribute to the urban-rural divide, making environmental policy dialogues challenging. Gender also plays a role, with women generally viewing farmers’ environmental performance more critically. These findings highlight the need to understand perception differences and their drivers to foster meaningful discussions and more effective policy developmen
Wellbeing, environmental sustainability and profitability: Including plurality of logics in participatory extension programmes for enhanced farmer resilience
No full textEnvironmental sustainability and economic challenges are requiring significant change in the agricultural sector, and this is driving an increased focus on farmer and farm business resilience. Participatory extension programmes (PEPs) are a well-known approach for supporting farmer change. The objective of this article is to explore how a PEP based on peer-to-peer learning can support farmers in increasing resilience. Our study examines the interaction of wellbeing, environmental change and profitability through the applications of an institutional logics evaluation framework. We interviewed 24 participants in a PEP based in Northland, New Zealand. Findings show that PEPs can provide a safe space to discuss wellbeing challenges and link farmers with networks to support them on their wellbeing journey. We found that farmer wellbeing is intrinsically linked to other pressures that farmers face around profitability and sustainability, and therefore PEPs need to balance these three pillars. This article adds to the current literature by expanding an institutional logics evaluation framework and identifying the role of different actors in change mechanisms
Understanding the influence of indigenous values on change in the dairy industry
No full textCommunities, scientists, policy-makers and industries are requiring farmers to address environmental and wellbeing challenges in their on-farm management, transitioning away from a productivity dominated focus towards a multi-faceted system focus that includes environmental and social values. This paper analyses how Miraka Ltd., an Aotearoa-New Zealand indigenous owned and operated milk company, has taken on the role of institutional entrepreneur to enable and support change towards a multi-faceted system amongst its supply farmers. Observations and interviews were carried out to: (i) identify farmers’ changes in practices, beliefs and values over the last ten years; and (ii) identify how Miraka functions as an indigenous entrepreneur in the agricultural sector. Findings show that interviewees were initially guided by business and family-oriented values, beliefs and practices, but in response to the institutional entrepreneurship by Miraka, approximately half of the interviewees changed these values, beliefs and practices, by internalising people and environmental values. The main strategies employed by Miraka were mobilisation of material resources such as incentives and awards, creation of a rationale addressing environmental and social concerns in the dairy sector, and proactive connection with new actors. The research shows an indigenous owned small-medium enterprise can make changes in values, beliefs and practices amongst its supply farmers, but requires a stronger shared base of values to contribute to a wider economic change. The discussion connects these findings to wider literature on diverse economies and indigenous entrepreneurship to identify to what extent an indigenous small-medium enterprise can contribute to a system change
Priming for individual energy efficiency action crowds out support for national climate change policy
No full textThe uptake of actions to mitigate climate change at the household level might crowd out subsequent policy at the national level, which is problematic because national policy often has a larger mitigation potential than individual household measures. This study analyses crowding out between the uptake of low-cost actions and the support for national climate change policy in the agricultural sector. In the experimental set-up, survey respondents were primed to think about the implementation of low-cost mitigation practices and subsequently asked to express support for national mitigation policy. The results show a crowding-out effect between individual mitigation measures and support for national policy. Individuals with high levels of worry show a stronger crowding out effect. This study contributes to building understanding of when and why crowding out occurs in order to help frame and communicate future climate change policy
Reshaping a farming culture through participatory extension:An institutional logics perspective
No full textHistorically the dominant farming culture in Western developed countries, such as Scotland and New Zealand, has been based on maximising food production and maintaining the family business. However, this culture of production and family is under pressure from societal calls to increase the uptake of environmental practices in farm management. The pressure is leading farmers to adopt environmental practices, which causes a clash with the beliefs and values underlying the culture of production and family business. This clash is problematic, as it might form a barrier to sustained environmental change, for which not only practice change is required, but also a change in beliefs and values guiding the farming culture. This study explores the clash using an institutional perspective to: i) analyse how farmer practices, beliefs and values change due to external pressure to adopt environmental practices; ii) identify mechanisms via which this change unfolds; and iii) understand the role of participatory extension programmes in this change. An institutional perspective enables this study to move beyond the role of individual's attitudes and behaviours in adoption of environmental practices, towards considering how farmers' practices, beliefs and values together constitute the culture of farming, and how these are shaped by societal and institutional mechanisms. Twenty Scottish and 52 New Zealand farmers participated in qualitative, open-ended interviews and were observed during discussion groups or advisory meetings. Our findings show that all farmers are guided by a ‘business’, ‘lifestyle’ and/or ‘learning’ logic. The institutional clash influenced practices underlying the business logic to change from being purely based on maximising productivity, to including environmental aspects. However, no change in values was observed. Participatory extension programmes influenced practices, beliefs and values underlying the learning logic (changing from a ‘linear’ to ‘multi-actor’ logic) and thus can help facilitate more effective practice change by providing support via micro-mechanisms and enabling dynamics. The study contributes to current literature by introducing a new lens for understanding change induced by participatory extension programmes and by providing change agents, such as extensionists, with more in-depth knowledge about the main logics guiding the culture of farming, and the mechanisms by which farmer practices, beliefs and values may change. The in depth-knowledge will help to communicate, frame and organise extension initiatives.</p
