Adopting sustainable soil management – the role of socio-economic factors

Katrin Prager, Helena Posthumus (International Sustainable Development Research Conference, Hong Kong, 30 May – 1 June, 2010)

Abstract

The sustainable management of soils is crucial to enable the long term use of the various soil functions. Although soil degradation caused by agriculture is a process defined by technical, climatic, and bio-physical factors, there is recognition that the underlying causes are to be found in the socio-economic, political and cultural context in which farmers operate. In Europe, farmers’ decision-making on farm management is strongly influenced by agricultural policies and economic incentives.

This paper aims to review and summarize findings of existing studies on the role of socio-economic factors that influence farmers and other land managers’ adoption of soil conservation practices with a focus on the European situation.

In order to provide a structured overview we classified factors derived from previous studies into four groups (environmental/ technical, personal, economic and institutional), and added a time dimension by considering the process of adoption. There is no evidence in the studies that either economic factors or social factors are superior in explaining adoption decisions. Rather, it is always a mix of personal, socio-cultural, economic, institutional and even environmental variables that explain behavior.

Across the studies reviewed for the European context we found that there are three distinct pathways for the adoption of soil conservation practices: (1) an individual adopts a practice on their own initiative; (2) an individual enrolls in an agri-environment scheme or soil conservation program and receives compensation (incentive payments); or (3) an individual complies with legislation and conservation requirements. A mixture of these may apply but there are distinct differences how these pathways determine the set of socio-economic factors that play a role in the adoption decision. These pathways will also decide whether an investigation of adoption factors will focus on personal motivation, learning and experiences, on scheme characteristics that facilitate participation, or on compliance and enforcement of legislation.

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