To leave or not to leave? Understanding determinants of farmers' choices to remain in or abandon agri-environmental schemes

Effectiveness of Agri-Environmental Schemes (AESs) as tools to enhance the rural environment can be achieved not only by increasing uptake rates, but also by avoiding participating farmers abandoning the scheme once they are in. For this reason, it is important to also consider what affects farmers\u2019 decisions to remain in the scheme rather than leave it at the end of the contractual obligation. However, up to now, there has been very little on this issue in the literature. The paper offers a contribution to this by revealing the role of determinants like the farmer\u2019s and farm structural characteristics, farmer\u2019s learning process, neighbourhood effect and the impact of changes in the policy design on the farmer\u2019s decision to remain in the scheme over a long time scale. This is examined in a long-standing scheme in the case study area, the Veneto Region of Italy. The paper uses duration analysis and is based on longitudinal panel-data of the entire population of 2000-2015 adopters. By using only data available in official regional records, it also provides regional policy-makers with an operational tool that is useful to analyse the impact of their AES design changes. The results of the duration models show that a larger farm size, a younger farmer age, the succession in the family farm, and the farmer\u2019s positive attitude towards the environment, trigger longer durations in AES. Similarly, the impact of the accumulation of the farmer\u2019s experience in the scheme management, as well as the neighbourhood effect increase the probability of remaining. Lastly, the changes in policy tailoring and targeting also have a positive impact on maintaining the farmer in the scheme. The paper concludes by noting that duration analysis can deliver useful results in order to guide policy-makers in the effort to steer higher levels of farmers\u2019 persistence in the scheme and provides some recommendations for a more mature agro-environmental policy design

Are non-industrial private forest owners willing to deliver regulation ecosystem services? Insights from an alpine case

As non-industrial private forest owners own a large share of forests in Europe, their management choices can largely affect the delivery of forest ecosystem services of different types: provisional, regulation and cultural. The literature is rich in studies exploring the delivery of both provisional services (timber or wood products) and cultural ones (recreation or amenity). However, fewer researches have addressed the delivery of regulation services like regulation of climate, carbon sequestration or preservation of habitats. The paper intends to contribute to this scarce literature with a Southern European case study. It analyses whether non-industrial private forest owners from an Italian alpine region would be willing to deliver additional (i.e. beyond legal requirements) quantities of regulation forest ecosystem services, whether they would do so with or without payment, and what affects such willingness. Three services are analysed: habitat improvement, soil conservation and carbon sequestration. Three multinomial logit models are estimated on a sample of 106 non-industrial forest owners. The results show, among others, that the willingness to deliver regulation forest ecosystem services is enhanced when the service impacts also on the property scale: this result concurs with the literature which shows that non-industrial private forest owners very often maximise not only their profit but also their overall utility by considering the self-consumption of services. The paper concludes by providing indications for targeting and tailoring active forest management policies focused on non-industrial forest owners of Italian alpine regions

Drivers of farmers' adoption and continuation of climate-smart agricultural practices. A study from northeastern Italy

Abstract The EU rural development policy has addressed challenges related to climate change in agriculture by introducing public voluntary schemes, which financially support the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices. Several factors, most of which are non-financial ones, drive adoption and continuation of these schemes by farmers. Despite the importance of these factors, only a few studies explore their role in the European context. This paper contributes to filling this gap from a twofold perspective. First, it investigates the role of the farming factors, technology accessibility, environmental features, policy design and social expertise at the territorial level on early adoption. Second, it sheds light on farmers' attitudes and motivations and on social pressure on their decision to continue or discontinue the practices, by surveying a sample of early adopters. Three schemes for the Veneto region rural development programme are considered: no tillage, fertiliser reduction, and water and fertiliser reduction. The results highlight that non-financial factors should be considered in order to design more effective schemes to prompt farmers to adopt and continue such practices over the long run. The paper also stresses the need to complement financial support with proactive information-based instruments

Factors affecting adoption and continuation of environmentally friendly practices in agriculture and forestry

Agriculture and forestry can heavily affect the rural environment, especially when intensive practices are put in place. To increment environmental conservation, the EU financially supports the adoption of Environmentally Friendly Farming/Forestry Practices (EFFPs). To date, policies aimed at supporting EFFPs adoption in agriculture and forestry are however at a different development stage. Given this, and considering the strong interconnection between conservation of the rural environment and farmers' and forest owners' choices, it is crucial that policy design takes into account the range of factors affecting EFFPs adoption by farmers and private forest owners. In the case of farmers, while the adoption factors have been largely explored (and research results have shown that the same factor may have opposite effect on the farmers' choices), research is still scarce on the factors affecting EFFPs implementation for a long time. In the case of private forest owners, the main research gap is on factors affecting their willingness to adopt of EFFPs, while those affecting productive choices are more known. In order to contribute to fill these gaps, this PhD thesis aims to provide the state of the art on factors affecting EFFPs adoption by farmers offering some original insights. In addition, the thesis wants to explore which factors affect private forest owners' willingness to deliver Ecosystem Services (ESs) through EFFPs and to analyse the factors influencing farmers' choices on the continuation of EFFPs for a long time. Finally, the thesis attempts to provide suggestions to policy-makers in developing more effective policy instruments aimed to stimulate EFFPs implementation. To achieve the first research objective, a qualitative meta-analysis has been carried out on the available literature. Results show that specific geographical and temporal trends help to explain most of the differences emerging in relation to the role played by several factors. These differences reflect the characteristics of the geographical context and show temporal trends linked to the different cohorts of EFFPs adopters. To reach the second research objective, private forest owners' willingness to provide ESs by adopting EFFPs has been analysed through three different multinomial logit models. The results highlight that private forest owners' willingness increases when they have a high familiarity with the actions needed to provide the analysed ESs. It also emerges that the already high mandatory baseline imposed upon them by the strict Italian regulation framework does not seem to reduce their willingness to provide additional ESs. This should be considered in defining a clearer structure of the policy instruments and a well-defined baseline over which the additionality of forest-environmental payments has to be established. Referring to the driving forces behind the continuation for a long time of EFFPs by farmers, the results of two diverse duration models show that farmers' choices are affected by a mix of factors evolving over time. Policy design has to take into account these time-dynamics, particularly referring to the effects of farmers' attitudes and motivations and social factors, avoiding the implementation of one-size-fits-all policies. Results place emphasis also on the positive effects played by the accumulation of experience and by the neighbourhood effect. Finally, in fulfilment of the third research objective, the thesis concludes by delivering some suggestions to policy-makers enabling them to design more effective policy instruments. Given the different development stages achieved by policies in agriculture and forestry, no common policy recommendations are drawn for both sectors. For farmers, more mature EFFPs policies are required aiming to stimulate their participation for a long time, while for private forest owners, more structured and well-defined policy instruments to steer EFFPs adoption are needed.Le attività agricole e forestali possono esercitare una profonda influenza sull'ambiente rurale, specialmente quando vengono messe in atto pratiche di gestione intensive. Di conseguenza gli agricoltori e i proprietari forestali privati possono influenzare profondamente la qualità dell'ambiente e le caratteristiche del paesaggio con le loro scelte gestionali. Allo scopo di incrementare la conservazione dell'ambiente e del paesaggio rurale, l'UE mette a disposizione aiuti economici per gli agricoltori e i proprietari forestali privati volti a favorire l'adozione di pratiche eco-compatibili (in inglese Environmentally Friendly Farming/Forestry Practices – EFFPs). Ad oggi, però, gli strumenti politici che regolano gli aiuti concessi dall'UE nei settori agricolo e forestale sono in una fase di sviluppo molto diversa, dovuta al fatto che questi strumenti hanno seguito processi di attuazione inizialmente divergenti, per poi confluire, solo di recente, all'interno dei Piani di Sviluppo Rurale. Alla luce di ciò e considerando anche la forte interconnessione tra la conservazione dell'ambiente rurale e le scelte degli agricoltori e dei proprietari forestali privati, risulta fondamentale che la progettazione di questi strumenti politici tenga conto dell'ampia gamma di fattori che ne influenzano le scelte riguardo all'adozione delle EFFPs. Nel caso degli agricoltori questi fattori sono stati ampiamente analizzati, anche se i risultati che emergono dalla letteratura evidenziano che lo stesso fattore può avere effetti opposti. Al contrario, la letteratura scientifica è ancora carente in relazione all'analisi dei fattori che influenzano la continuazione delle EFFPs nel lungo periodo. Per quanto riguarda i proprietari forestali privati, invece, contrariamente a quanto avviene per i determinanti delle scelte produttive, il principale gap informativo riguarda i fattori che influenzano la scelta di adottare le EFFPs. Al fine di contribuire a colmare queste lacune, questa tesi si propone di fornire lo stato dell'arte concernente i fattori che influenzano l'adozione delle EFFPs da parte degli agricoltori offrendo alcune interpretazioni originali utili a far luce su alcune evidenze contrastanti. Inoltre, la tesi si propone di analizzare i fattori che influenzano la disponibilità dei proprietari forestali privati a fornire servizi ecosistemici (in inglese Ecosystem Services – ESs) attraverso l'adozione delle EFFPs e di analizzare i determinanti che, invece, influenzano le scelte degli agricoltori in relazione alla continuazione delle EFFPs nel lungo periodo. Infine, la tesi vuole fornire alcune linee guida utili ai decisori politici per lo sviluppo di strumenti più efficaci. Per soddisfare il primo obiettivo, la letteratura scientifica inerente al tema analizzato è stata esaminata attraverso una meta-analisi qualitativa i cui risultati dimostrano che specifici trend geografici e temporali contribuiscono a fornire una spiegazione in merito alla maggior parte delle differenze emergenti in relazione al ruolo associato ai diversi fattori. Queste differenze riflettono le caratteristiche del contesto geografico e seguono tendenze temporali legate alle diverse coorti di agricoltori che adottano le EFFPs. Passando al secondo obiettivo, la disponibilità dei proprietari forestali privati a fornire gli ESs mediante l'adozione di EFFPs è stata analizzata attraverso tre diversi modelli logistici multinomiali. I risultati ottenuti evidenziano che la disponibilità dei proprietari forestali privati aumenta quando essi hanno un'elevata familiarità con le azioni necessarie per fornire gli ESs analizzati. Inoltre emerge che la già elevata baseline obbligatoria imposta dal rigido quadro normativo italiano sembra non ridurre la loro disponibilità a fornire ESs aggiuntivi. Ciò dovrebbe essere preso in considerazione nel definire una struttura più chiara degli strumenti politici e una baseline di riferimento ben definita sulla quale stabilire l'addizionalità dei pagamenti silvo-ambientali. Riferendosi, invece, ai fattori determinanti per la continuazione delle EFFPs da parte degli agricoltori, i risultati di due diversi duration models mostrano che le scelte degli agricoltori sono influenzate da un insieme di fattori che evolvono nel tempo. La progettazione degli strumenti politici deve, quindi, tenere in considerazione queste dinamiche temporali, con particolare riferimento agli effetti delle attitudini e delle motivazioni degli agricoltori e dei fattori sociali, andando ad evitare l'implementazione di strumenti indifferenziati. Oltre a ciò, i risultati ottenuti mettono in evidenza l'effetto positivo dell'esperienza maturata nel tempo e dell'imitazione tra agricoltori. Infine, in risposta al terzo obiettivo, la tesi propone alcune linee guida utili ai decisori politici per la progettazione di strumenti più efficaci. Tuttavia, data la diversa fase di sviluppo raggiunta dagli strumenti politici che supportano l'adozione delle EFFPs nei settori agricolo e forestale, non è possibile fornire raccomandazioni comuni: se per gli agricoltori sono necessari strumenti politici più maturi che mirino a stimolare la continuazione delle EFFPs nel lungo periodo, per i proprietari forestali privati occorrono strumenti politici più strutturati e ben definiti per incoraggiare l'adozione di questo tipo di pratiche

The Role of Factors Affecting the Adoption of Environmentally Friendly Farming Practices: Can Geographical Context and Time Explain the Differences Emerging from Literature?

Environmentally Friendly Farming Practices (EFFPs) are tools aimed at providing ecosystem services or mitigating the environmental impacts of intensive agriculture. A large literature has explored the factors affecting the adoption of EFFPs by farmers. However, opposite effects of several factors on uptake have often emerged. We carried out a qualitative meta-analysis of the literature seeking to identify some geographical and temporal trends that can provide a rationale to explain these opposite results. To reach this goal, we analysed the literature and classified the following factors affecting farmers’ behaviour according to the theory of reasoned action and planned behaviour: farm, farmer, informational, and social factors. Our perspective in exploring the existing literature shows that the geographical context and the temporal period under analysis, considered as different adopters’ cohorts, can explain most of the opposite effects. For example, while the different effects of farm structural factors show specific geographical patterns, those of the management and economic factors follow temporal trends. The impact of some farmers’ socio-demographical characteristics and some social factors can be explained in terms of both geographical context and time. The broad trends we found cast light on the importance of further research adopting the same methodological approach in different geographical contexts and under a temporal perspective

Determinanti, attitudini e disponibilit\ue0 alla produzione di beni e di servizi da parte dei proprietari forestali privati: una rassegna della letteratura internazionale

There is an information gap in the Italian literature with regards to private forest ownership, while several analysis are available on the characteristics and the management systems of public forest ownership. To address this gap, this paper presents the characteristics of private forest owners and their evolution in time by reviewing the international literature in the last three decades. The examined studies are reported according to four perspectives: (i) the available classifications and/or typologies of private forest owners; (ii) the determinants of different forest owners\u2019 behaviors, especially in relation to their objec - tives; (iii) the attitudes of forest owners and the motivations behind their management decisions; (iv) the valuation of the willingness to accept monetary compensations in return for the provision of ecosystem servi - ces. The results show a very complex picture, varying both in space and time. However, some recurring fea - tures can be identified: (i) not only are forest owners motivated by timber production goals, but also by other reasons, often very diversified and detached from market considerations; (ii) a \u201cmulti-functional\u201d forest owner is by no means less active, but, conversely, is more active than a forest owner whose sole objective is timber production; (iii) in general, the active owner is a farmer whose family has owned the forest for many ge - nerations (and in this case he/she is more market-oriented), or is a new entry in the forestry sector; (iv) the \u201cpassive\u201d owner is usually elderly, non-farmer and resides far from the property. In addition, the \u201cabsent\u201d owner is a common problem to several of the examined geographical contexts. Although the results of the review cannot be transferred as such, they represent a useful starting point for similar analyses in the Italian context. Examining the determinants and attitudes of private forest owners in Italy would indeed prove interesting, given that private forest ownership in Italy represents a relevant share of total forest area and that the implementation of new policy tools such as payments for ecosystem services requires active participation by all key actors, including forest owners

Drinking Covid-19 away: wine consumption during the first lockdown in Italy

In Italy, wine is an integral part of most people’s habits and lifestyles. The advent of a traumatic event like the Covid pandemic brought profound changes to people’s lives: economic instability and normality disruption led consumers to revise their priorities and modify their consumption and purchase behavior. This study analyses the impact of socio-demographic, psychological, and context-related modifications induced by the pandemic on wine consumption and purchase patterns. Participants completed an online, structured survey, and the sample is constituted by Italian wine consumers. Logistic regression and descriptive techniques are applied to analyze data. Results highlight that wine consumption is a deeply rooted habit among Italian consumers, which resisted the great context modifications that occurred with the pandemic. Moreover, changes in wine consumption are connected to that of other alcoholic beverages. Significant short-term and potential long-term effects are discussed. Information collected is paramount to understanding wine consumers’ reactions and behavioral changes induced by the pandemic and effectively plan marketing strategies during new infection peaks

Virtual Wine Experiences: Is Covid Extending the Boundaries of Wine Tourism?

The Covid pandemic has profoundly impacted the dynamics of the tourism sector, including rural tourism. Restrictions applied to slow down the diffusion of the virus like mobility bans and social distancing have revealed the susceptibility of the sector (G\uf6ssling et al., 2021). Indeed, 2020 arrivals recorded the worse negative peak since the fifties. In Italy, visitors of wine regions are primarily constituted by domestic tourists (e.g., 30% International tourists, 70% domestic tourists in the Prosecco Region; Centro Studi Distretto del Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG, 2019) who, except for the lockdown phase, were allowed to circulate within the Country. Indeed, proximity has long been identified as a success factor in wine tourism (Getz & Brown, 2006). Moreover, wine tourism is generally perceived as safer in case of threats (e.g., terrorist attacks, Song et al., 2019) compared to urban tourism. Nevertheless, the Coronavirus outbreak prompted the diffusion of fear and anxiety (Ahorsu et al., 2020; Luo & Lam, 2020; Mamun & Griffiths, 2020) that may have contributed to change (wine) tourists travel patterns. Consequently, many wineries and oeno-gastronomic tourism providers had to find alternative ways to retain existing customers and attract new ones. In this context, online oeno-gastronomic experiences became an important marketing tool for remote communication and marketing. For these reasons, the following study aims at proposing a first overview on the interest for online wine tourists experiences and its long-term and short-term potential predictors focusing on Italy, which is among the countries with the most remarkable presence of wine tourists (14 million; Garibaldi, 2020). Information collected is helpful to understand whether factors inducing tourists to purchase online oeno-gastronomic experiences are purely short-term or leave room for long-term planning