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In many cases, transitioning towards sustainable agricultural production requires farmers to change their practices. These changes can include the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, water-saving, or the disadoption of excessive chemical input use or land burning. Policy makers interested in making agricultural production more sustainable need to understand what encourages the uptake of sustainable practices and what is effective in reducing unsustainable practices. This thesis seeks to understand whether and how information provision and endorsement can contribute to the transition towards more sustainable agricultural systems.
The thesis consists of three self-contained papers. The first paper explores the potential of religious endorsement for inducing pro-environmental behaviour and encouraging the disadoption of fire as an agricultural practice, thereby preventing forest fires. The paper analyses the impact of a fatwa (an Islamic religious ruling) on reducing fire incidence in Indonesia. Results indicate that fire incidence decreased in Muslim majority villages following the issuing of the fatwa. For the post-fatwa period from August 2016 to December 2019, the average monthly effect amounts to around 2.2 prevented fire events per village. This is a considerable effect. The paper concludes that fire prevention efforts, and potentially other environmental conservation efforts, could benefit significantly from support by religious institutions and stakeholders.
The second paper investigates the role of information provision and training for the adoption of organic farming practices in Java, Indonesia. We use a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to identify the impact of a three-day hands-on training in organic farming for smallholder farmers. We find that the training intervention increased the adoption of organic inputs and had a positive and statistically significant effect on farmers’ knowledge and perceptions of organic farming. Overall, our findings suggest that information constraints are a barrier to the adoption of organic farming, as information provision increased the use of organic farming practices.
The third paper investigates whether urban and suburban Indonesian consumers are willing to pay a price premium for organic food. We use an incentive-compatible auction based on the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) approach to elicit consumers’ WTP. We further study the effect of income and a randomised information treatment about the benefits of organic food on respondents’ WTP. Estimates suggest that consumers are willing to pay a price premium for organic rice, on average 20 percent more than what they paid for conventional rice outside of our experiment. However, our results also indicate that raising consumers’ WTP further is complex. Showing participants a video about the health or, alternatively, environmental benefits of organic food was not effective in further raising WTP. Exposure to the environmental benefits video was, however, effective in raising stated organic food consumption intentions.
Tropical dry forests and woodlands are comprised of trees that are specially adapted to the harsh climatic and edaphic conditions, providing important ecosystem services for communities in an environment where other types of tropical tree species would not survive. Due to cyclic droughts which results in crop failure and death of livestock, the inhabitants turn to charcoal production through selective logging of preferred hardwood species for their livelihood support. This places the already fragile dryland ecosystem under risk of degradation, further impacting negatively on the lives of the inhabitants.
The main objective of the doctoral study was to evaluate the nature of degradation caused by selective logging for charcoal production and how this could be addressed to ensure the woodlands recover without impacting negatively on the producers’ livelihoods. To achieve this objective, the author formulated four main specific objectives namely: 1) To assess the impact of selective logging for charcoal production on the dry woodlands in Mutomo District; 2) To evaluate the characteristics of the charcoal producers that enforces their continued participation in the trade; 3) To assess the potential for adoption of agroforestry to supply wood for charcoal production, and; 4) To evaluate the potential for recovery of the degraded woodlands through sustainable harvesting of wood for charcoal production. The findings based on the four objectives were compiled into to four scientific papers as a part of a cumulative dissertation. Three of these papers have already been published in peer reviewed journals while the final one is under review.
The study used primary data collected in Mutomo District, Kenya through a forest inventory and household survey both conducted between December 2012 and June 2013. The study confirmed that the main use of selectively harvested trees is charcoal production. Consequently, this leads to degradation of the woodlands through reduction in tree species richness, diversity and density. Furthermore, the basal area of the preferred species is significantly less than the other species. However, the results also show that the woodlands have a high potential to recover if put under a suitable management regime since they have a high number of saplings. The study recommends a harvesting rate of 80% of the Mean Annual Increment (MAI), which would ensure the woodlands recover after 64 years. This is about twice the duration it would take if no harvesting is allowed but it would be easier to implement as it allows the producers to continue earning some money for their livelihood.
The study also demonstrates that charcoal production is an important livelihood source for many poor residents of Mutomo District who have no alternative sources of income. As such, addressing the problem of this degradation would require an innovative approach that does not compromise on the livelihoods of these poor people. An intervention that involves total ban on charcoal production would therefore not be acceptable or even feasible unless people are assured of alternative sources of income. The study recommends an intervention with overarching objectives geared towards: 1) diversification of the livelihood sources of the producers to gradually reduce their dependence on charcoal; 2) introduction of preferred charcoal trees in agroforestry systems especially through Famer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) to reduce pressure on the natural woodlands; 3) controlled harvesting of hardwoods for charcoal production from the natural woodlands at a rate below the MAI; 4) promotion of efficient carbonisation technologies and practices to increase charcoal recovery; 5) promotion of efficient combustion technology and cooking practices to reduce demand side pressure, and; 6) encourage fuel switching to other fuels like LPG and electricity.