Social capital factors affecting uptake of sustainable soil management practices: a literature review

Abstract

Soil quality is in decline in many parts of the world, in part due to the intensification of agricultural practices. Whilst economic instruments and regulations can help incentivise uptake of more sustainable soil management practices, they rarely motivate long-term behavior change when used alone. We are now beginning to pay attention to the complex social factors that affect uptake of sustainable soil management practices. To understand why some communities try these practices whilst others do not, we undertook a narrative review to understand how social capital influences adoption. We found that the four components of social capitaltrust, norms, connectedness and power -can all influence the decision of farmers to change their soil management. Specifically, information flows more effectively across trusted, diverse networks where social norms exist to encourage innovation. Uptake is more limited in homogenous, close-knit farming communities that do not have many links with non-farmers and where there is a strong social norm to adhere to the status quo. Power can enhance or inhibit uptake depending on how it is managed. Future research, policy and practice should consider whether a lack of effective social capital could hinder uptake of new practices and, if so, which aspects of social capital could be developed to increase adoption of sustainable soil management practices. Enabling diverse, collaborative groups (including farmers, advisers and government officials) to work constructively together could help build effective social capital, where they can co-define, -develop and -enact measures to sustainably manage soils.

Have farmers had enough of experts?

“…Given soil degradation on farms is a global problem (Lal and Stewart 1990 ), there have been calls for changes in farming soil management practices to be more sustainable (Rust et al 2020 ). However, uptake of more sustainable soil management practices has remained low (Alskaf et al 2020 ; Lahmar 2010 ).…”

Impact Culture: Transforming How Universities Tackle Twenty First Century Challenges

“…There are three elements of community that may significantly influence impact culture: trust, connection, and the role of social norms and power. Taken together, these represent the "social capital" that an individual, team, or institution has with those they need to work with to generate impact (Bachmann, 2001;Rust et al, 2020).…”

“…The temporal dynamics of trust are worth noting. Trust typically forms slowly over many small steps, and so the first step toward building trust with someone is to engage with them, and give each other low-risk opportunities to give and take, and see what happens (Rust et al, 2020). It is this reciprocity that builds trust over time.…”

“…Many supposedly "serendipitous" impacts arise from this process of "being in the right place at the right time" as researchers build their nonacademic networks, and become more visible and accessible to those looking for help. Such networking activities can build three types of connection, which can each play a different role in promoting impact (Pretty and Ward, 2001;Pretty, 2003;Rust et al, 2020): 1. Researchers build "bonding" connections when they invest in relationships with people who are similar to them, typically sharing similar interests and attitudes.…”

“…Norms around reciprocity have been shown to be important for collaborative work and can help rapidly build trust, increasing the likelihood that members of a community will offer help to each other, in the knowledge that others will provide help if and when they need it (Ashby et al, 1998;Gómez-Limón et al, 2014). However, more negative norms can exist, for example a highly critical group norm may stifle innovation among members who are worried that the group will be quick to judge their actions (Rust et al, 2020). Norms are often shaped (or imposed) by the most powerful members of a group, who may be invested in protecting the status quo that has given them power (Gelderblom, 2018).…”