In recent years the institutional framework of the organic certification system has step by step become a more formal and state run system. Our research shows that al-though the majority of the farmers accept the system, they are not convinced of its cost-benefit relationship. Farmers prefer a more association- and advice-oriented control of the organic certification process

Jahn, G.

Schulze, Holger

Spiller, Achim

English

Organic Eprints

9. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau. Beitrag archiviert unter http://orgprints.org/view/projects/wissenschaftstagung-2007.html Acceptance and Motivational Impact of the Organic Certification System H. Schulze1, G. Jahn1 and A. Spiller1 Keywords: organic certification system, food quality, development of organic agricul-ture, guidelines and control Abstract: In recent years the institutional framework of the organic certification system has step by step become a more formal and state run system. Our research shows that al-though the majority of the farmers accept the system, they are not convinced of its cost-benefit  relationship.  Farmers  prefer  a  more  association-  and  advice-oriented control of the organic certification process. Introduction and objectives: In Europe the reliability of organic agriculture is secured by a special EU regulation, which was introduced in 1992 (EEC No. 2092/91). Main part of this regulation is a third party  certification  system  to  control  the  whole  organic  supply  chain.  Currently  the structure and the accomplishments of this scheme are critically discussed. On a na-tional level, the introduction of a German “organic production law” (“Ökolandbauge-setz“, June 17, 2005) has reformed some important aspects of the system, but, how-ever, did not simplify the system. In contrast, its excessive bureaucratic requirements are openly criticized. Against this background some authors call for a private quality assurance scheme. In other agribusiness sectors a variety of new private systems for quality certification such as EurepGAP, IFS, BRC or QS have emerged. These sys-tems pursue similar targets. As a consequence of this situation, the question arises whether a private control scheme could be less bureaucratic.  On  the  other  side  the  Agricultural  Council  agreed  on  a  proposal  of  the  European Commission for a new regulation on organic production and labelling of organic prod-ucts (COM(2005)0671 final, December 19, 2006). The new regulation aims at integrat-ing organic certification deeper into national control plans and tries to have a stronger link  to  the  state-run  food  and  feed  control  regulation  (No.  882/2004).  Certification procedures by private bodies should be supervised more strictly. In general, the regu-lation can be interpreted as a step towards a more state-controlled system. All in all, the institutional framework of the certification scheme is a crucial factor for the future success of the organic market. The following paper tries to contribute to this aspect by taking the viewpoint of the supervised enterprises. In a farmer survey the experiences and attitudes of organic farmers are revealed. A better understanding of farmers’ attitudes is necessary to increase acceptance and to guarantee the confi-dence of the consumers in organic certification in the long run. So far, only a few studies have dealt with farmers’ attitudes towards quality assurance systems in the food sector. A first research question deals with the preferred institutional framework, i. e.,  whether  the  farmers  favour  a  private  or  a  state-run  certification  system.  The second topic is the understanding of farmers’ attitudes towards the organic certifica-tion scheme. Acceptance and positive motivation are important because a scheme which is recognized as a bureaucratic burden will not lead to quality improvements.                                                   1Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University Goettingen, Platz der Goettinger Sieben 5, 37073 Goettingen, Germany, h.schulze@agr.uni-goettingen.de 9. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau. Beitrag archiviert unter http://orgprints.org/view/projects/wissenschaftstagung-2007.html Methods: The analysis reported in this paper was conducted on data obtained from a sample of 126 organic farmers in Germany. In July 2005, farmers were questioned via an online survey. The average interview took about 12 minutes. All in all, the sample includes larger sized farms (81.5 hectare per farm) than the average organic farm in Germany (57.4 hectare per farm, SBD 2006). The respondents were on average 45 years old and 81.6 % of them had a further agricultural education. The majority of these farmers (60 %) were members of the leading German organic associations (Bioland; Demeter = 16 %). All in all the sample is a “convenience sample” and does not fulfil all the criteria of representativeness. It includes more “future-oriented” and bigger farms than the average in Germany. However, these farms might be decisive for future develop-ments as larger farms gain more importance due to the structural changes in German agriculture. Public or private certification: To answer the question about the preferred institutional framework, i. e. whether the farmers  favour  a  private  or  a  state-run  certification  system,  we  used  a  frequency analysis (Tab. 1). Tab. 1: Frequency analysis of the preferred institutional framework.     Frequency in % Statement      σ  (Partly) disagree Neither/ nor (Partly) agree I would prefer it if only the government con-ducted the control. -1.69  1.49  84.94  6.35  8.73 Supervising by organic associations is more effective than organic certification. 0.52  1.85  30.65  20.16  49.19 A control by colleagues or by organic associa-tions would be completely sufficient to guaran-tee the quality of organic products. -0.31  1.99  57.14  10.32  32.54 I would prefer a more advice-oriented type of quality control in organic production.  1.57  1.36  5.56  15.08  79.37 σ = standard deviation;   = mean; scale from +3 = totally agree to -3 = totally disagree Source: Authors’ calculation. Only 8.73 % of the farmers were of the opinion that the government should be respon-sible for the organic certification system. The results indicate that the majority of the farmers prefers a more association- and advice-oriented control. Hence, the attempt of the EU to strengthen the influence of public authorities in the scheme is rejected by the farmers. The other questions deal with alternative institutional forms of regulation, i. e., should the control process be organized by organic associations like it was be-fore the EU regulation had been introduced, or should it be a process of self supervis-ing (by colleagues) or a kind of Total Quality Management. In these cases farmers are mostly insecure, but they clearly prefer certifiers who are able to support farms in case of quality or production problems. Acceptance and motivational impact: The second topic of our paper is the understanding of farmers’ attitudes towards the organic certification scheme. Only little is known about the actual factors provoking it. So far, only few studies have dealt with farmers’ attitudes towards quality assurance systems in the food sector. Referring to first studies, two main problems have been revealed: (1) the cost-benefit ratio is often negatively evaluated, and (2) communica-tion,  which  is  necessary  for  successful  implementation,  is  neglected  (JAHN  & SPILLER 2005, BÖCKER et al. 2003). As a consequence, a “gap of acceptance” has been revealed in the literature.  9. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau. Beitrag archiviert unter http://orgprints.org/view/projects/wissenschaftstagung-2007.html Our theoretical foundations are primarily based on behavioural research, cost-benefits analyses and especially on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by DAVIS (1989). TAM is a well-known and important modification of the Fishbein and Ajzen  Theory  of  Planned  Behaviour  and  the  Theory  of  Reasoned  Action  (AJZEN 1991, FISHBEIN & AJZEN 1975). It is aimed at explaining and predicting the accep-tance and use of information systems.  While  the  basic  TAM represents  a  suitable starting  point  for  the development  of  a  re-search model for organic certification,  some  char-acteristics specific to the current  situation  associ-ated with the implemen-tation  of  quality  assur-ance  systems  must  be considered.  The  key difference is the fact that the  adoption  of  organic certification is not volun-tary,  but  a  necessary requirement  for  market access. Therefore we analysed the attitudes towards organic certification. On the one side, we defined three dependent variables which characterized the main attitudes towards the system, the overall satisfaction, the perceived necessity and the motiva-tion. On the other side we introduced five determinants which influence the attitudes towards organic certification (Fig. 1). The first part of the analysis was aimed at gaining insight into the pattern of farmers' attitudes towards organic certification. The result shows on the one side that 91.2 % thought that the system is important. On the other side only 41.1 % of the farmers were satisfied with the system and only 36.5 % agreed with the statement that the certification system is motivating. These results indicate that there is, compared to other certification systems in the food sector (e. g. QS, IFS or QM), a high acceptance for the organic system. However, it is not motivating for the farmers. We used three regression models to get a deeper look into this controversial situation (Tab. 2). Tab. 2: Results of the regression analysis.    Dependent Variable Independent Variable  Model 1 Overall satisfaction Model 2 Perceived necessity Model 3 Motivation Perceived (bureaucratic) costs -0.298*** (-4.507)  -0.187 (-2.292)*  -0.277*** (-3.995) Perceived effectiveness  0.211** (3.187)  0.280*** (3.423)  0.284*** (4.097) Perceived usefulness  0.575*** (8.690)  0.273** (3.335)  0.478*** (6.900) Organic motivation  0.071 (1.076)  0.123 (1.499)  0.195* (2.817) Risk perception  -0.065 (-0.984)  -0.002 (-0.022)  0.052 (0.748)   adj. R² = 0.452 F = 21.624*** adj. R² = 0.171 F = 6.116*** adj. R² = 0.405 F = 17.848*** *** = p < 0.001. ** = p < 0.01 * = p < 0.05; first value = beta value; second value = t-value Source: Authors’ calculation. Interpreting the results of the regression model, the farmers’ overall satisfaction to-wards organic certification is higher, if they perceive an increased usefulness of the  Fig 1: Attitude model towards organic certification  Source: Authors’ representation. 9. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau. Beitrag archiviert unter http://orgprints.org/view/projects/wissenschaftstagung-2007.html system. Perceived effectiveness considerations are less important for the evaluation of organic certification than the bureaucratic costs.  The analysis of the perceived necessity pointed out that the most important factor is the perceived effectiveness of the organic certification system. Only a system which is credible will be able to convince the farmers of its necessity. With regard to future strategies for organic certification, the relation of product and process management should be linked more closely in order to prevent pure “give-me-paper” procedures. For that purpose, laboratory analyses of organic quality and management metasys-tems  can  be  combined.  A  negative  influence  on motivation  is  associated  with  the bureaucratic burden involved in the documentation and formalisation procedures of organic certification. Two factors could reduce this: a better usefulness and effective-ness of the system. However, farmers with a higher organic motivation have also a high motivation towards organic certification. Conclusions: The results clearly demonstrate that the theoretical transfer of the Technology Accep-tance Model to the attitudes towards organic certification is possible and applicable. Our  research  shows  that  although  the  majority  of  the  farmers  accept  the  organic certification system, they are not convinced of its cost-benefit relationship. Especially the perceived bureaucratic burden of organic certification decreases its acceptance. A higher conviction and motivation are necessary to ensure farmers` diligence in the implementation of the guidelines. Such changes should be accompanied by a proper communication of the costs and benefits incurred in organic certification. However, the farmers prefer a more association- and advice-oriented control of the organic certifica-tion process. In addition the farmers favour a privately run certification system as an institutional framework.  References: Ajzen I. (1991): The theory of planned behavior. Organ Behav Hum Dec 50:179-211. Böcker A., Bredahl M. E., Northen J. (2003): ISO 9000 certification in British agribusiness: motiva-tions  and  performance  impacts.  Schiefer  G.,  Rickert  U.  (ed.)  (2003):  Quality  Assurance,  Risk Management and Environmental Control in Agriculture and Food Supply Networks. Proceedings of the 82nd Seminar of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE), University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany, p. 51-60. Davis F. D. (1989): Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Infor-mation Technology. MIS Quarterly 13/3:319-340. Fishbein M., Ajzen I. (1975): Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behaviour: An introduction to Theory and Research. Reading: MA: Addision-Wesley. Jahn  G.,  Spiller  A.  (2005b):  Acceptance  of  a  processor-driven  quality  management  system  by dairy  farmers:  A  structural  equation  model,  Conference  proceeding  presented  at  92nd  EAAE Seminar  on  “Quality  Management  and  Quality  Assurance  in  Food  Chains”,  2-4  March  2005, Göttingen, Germany. SBD (Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschand) (2006) (ed.): Landwirtschaftliche Betriebe und Fläche insgesamt  und  mit  ökologischem  Landbau  2003  und  2005.  http://www.destatis.de/basis/ d/forst/forsttab12.php, (accessed 2006-10-10).  Archived at http://orgprints.org/9572/  

Acceptance and Motivational Impact of the Organic Certification System

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