Crowdfunding of Climate Mitigation Measures in Agriculture: Developing a Sustainable Business Model Concept

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to develop a sustainable business model (SBM) concept for local crowdfunding of climate measures in agriculture. Many climate measures entail significant capital costs preventing farmers from their adoption, and existing finance schemes have experienced limited success. Crowdfunding can be a novel financing tool for farmers to implement climate measures in agriculture. Design/Methodology/Approach: We apply the adapted SBM canvas framework and argue that the framework presents a suitable tool for identifying and validating business models for a local crowdfunding program. Findings: By applying the adapted SBM canvas tool and through an extensive mixed method approach, the study identifies 6 relevant design principles for SBM development and relates them to different dimensions in the SBM canvas. Practical Implications: The study develops a proven business model concept that can be implemented by practitioners and farmers to facilitate the adoption of climate change mitigation measures, overall contributing to the transition to a low emission society. Originality/Value: This study demonstrates the existing limitations of the adapted SBM canvas and suggests how it can be improved by integrating external structural constraints that can be a barrier to business model development. Moreover, we contribute to the SBM literature by being the first to connect Design Science with crowdfunding and the adapted SBM canvas

Biochar systems: Developing a socio-technical system framework for biochar production in Norway

Biochar is charcoal produced from feedstock under pyrolysis. It has gained interests among researchers in recent years because of its agronomic and environmental benefits. It is considered to increase soil fertility and crop productivity, and biochar might play an important role as a climate mitigation tool that is able to capture carbon in the soil. However, although research has focused on the chemical, biological, and technical aspects of biochar, we seem to be far away from the implementation of a functioning biochar system. One key aspect needed for the actual use of biochar technologies is increased awareness and emphasis on the social and organizational aspects of its implementation. As there are no functional markets for the services and products needed to ‘produce’ a biochar system, political and market devices are needed. This paper contributes to this debate by introducing a socio-technical framework that investigates the implementation of different biochar technologies in Norway. Based on this socio-technical system framework, we discuss necessary components of a sustainable biochar socio-technical system, and we outline variations of this system based on different levels of biochar production scaling.acceptedVersio

Cooking with the sun : An analysis of Solar Cooking in Tanzania, its adoption and impact on development

This study aims to analyse solar cooking projects in Tanzania regarding their adoption and impact on development. Biomass is a traditional source of energy in Tanzania which counts for 90 percent of the total energy use. The high use of biomass is claimed to have negative environmental, economic and health impacts. In this way, Solar Cooking seems to present an alternative solution since it does not require the use of firewood or charcoal, which prevents people from cutting trees, and particularly women from spending hours for fuelwood collection or even from spending money to buy it. In addition, Solar Cooking does not pollute the environment since it does not produce smoke. However, several studies showed that decades of efforts to implement and improve solar cookers for developing countries have not helped to achieve the breakthrough of this technology. The specific objectives of this thesis are to find out which factors limit/enable the adoption of solar cookers, to investigate why people decide to use/ not this technology, and to find out in which way the use of Solar Cooking could be increased. In addition, the study investigates the ways in which Solar Cooking contributes to a development. The discussion of these objectives is based on the Capability Approach and the Innovation- Decision Model according to Rogers. The study focuses on three solar cooking projects in Tanzania.     I argue that Solar Cooking is adopted to a certain degree in Tanzania but that the wider success is influenced by different factors including economic affordability, technology, social/cultural values, sustainability, infrastructure, information and the area where the solar cooking projects takes place. In addition, the study shows that solar cooking leads to an improvement of women’s perception of their own health and a considerable time gain which is mainly used for income generating activities and domestic work. Key words:   Solar Cooking, Capability Approach, Innovation Diffusion Theory, Energy

Fornybar energi og landskapskvalitet: en utfordring for medvirkning i planprosesser

Økt utbygging av energiproduksjon fra fornybare kilder fremmes som en løsning for å begrense klimaendringer og kompensere for redusert tilgang på fossile energikilder. På tross av generell støtte for ‘grønn energi’ kan landskapsendringer og tap av landskapskvalitet føre til sterk motstand i befolkningen

Facilitating integrated agricultural technology development through participatory research

Purpose: In this paper, we discuss the role of participatory research in integrated agricultural technology development using the example of a solar fruit drying project in Mozambique. Design/methodology/approach: We engage in seven participatory exercises with groups of farmers from two farmers’ associations in Inharrime district in Mozambique to identify their needs for solar fruit drying that are crucial for solar dryer technology design. We focus in the analysis on three of these exercises including a daily schedule exercise, SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats) analysis and technology requirement exercise. Findings: Participatory research takes a dual function for integrated agricultural technology development. First, it can help to identify the technology needs of farmers and second it can enable the exchange and creation of different sets of knowledge for agricultural technology development between multiple stakeholders. Practical implications: Participatory research provides a tool for joint knowledge exchange and creation, which allows the identified technology requirements to be translated into practical technology design. Theoretical implications: This paper extends the concept of integrated research to integrated agricultural technology development and shows how participatory research is a tool that enables transdisciplinarity, which presents the most desired form of integrated research. Originality: This research is highly relevant for researchers working in an interdisciplinary environment with agricultural technology development in cross-cultural contexts. From a meta-level perspective, it provides insights for joint and integrated technology development

The importance of gender roles and relations in rural agricultural technology development : a case study on solar fruit drying in Mozambique

Many agricultural technology interventions that aim to improve farmers’ livelihoods focus on households as the unit of analysis and ignore gender roles that entail different benefits and costs for different household members. Agricultural projects have shown limited success where gender roles and relations were ignored and thus more gender sensitive research is needed in agricultural technology development to ensure social acceptance. In this study, we address this need by investigating the importance of gender roles and relations in the case of solar fruit drying in Mozambique. We apply a variety of gender sensitive participatory methods that enable farmers to actively take part in the technology development process. First results indicate that the costs and benefits of solar fruit drying are not shared equally between genders. Women have much less time available for using the solar fruit dryer. The data also indicate that certain steps in the solar fruit drying process are clearly gender divided. We finally discuss potential mechanisms that can be applied in agricultural technology projects that can create awareness of the risk to reproduce traditional gender roles and unequal relations in the development process of new agricultural technologies

The importance of gender roles and relations in rural agricultural technology development: a case study on solar fruit drying in Mozambique

Many agricultural technology interventions that aim to improve farmers’ livelihoods focus on households as the unit of analysis and ignore gender roles that entail different benefits and costs for different household members. Agricultural projects have shown limited success where gender roles and relations were ignored and thus more gender sensitive research is needed in agricultural technology development to ensure social acceptance. In this study, we address this need by investigating the importance of gender roles and relations in the case of solar fruit drying in Mozambique. We apply a variety of gender sensitive participatory methods that enable farmers to actively take part in the technology development process. First results indicate that the costs and benefits of solar fruit drying are not shared equally between genders. Women have much less time available for using the solar fruit dryer. The data also indicate that certain steps in the solar fruit drying process are clearly gender divided. We finally discuss potential mechanisms that can be applied in agricultural technology projects that can create awareness of the risk to reproduce traditional gender roles and unequal relations in the development process of new agricultural technologies