Soil Conservation Practices and Stakeholder’s Participation in Research Projects—Empirical Evidence from Southern Italy

Abstract

Adoption of soil conservation practices is promoted by increased engagement between researchers and stakeholders. By reporting a case study from southern Italy where farmers have been involved in research projects dealing with soil conservation over several years, we demonstrated that the rate of adoption of conservative technologies is positively linked to the degree of stakeholder participation in the project and that farmers (and other stakeholders) have been driven toward more conscious perception of the complex link between agricultural practices, environmental impacts and socioeconomic effects. The results of this study reinforce the pivotal role of effective participatory processes in soil conservation-evidencing the importance of (i) time required to build relationships and (ii) intensity (and persistence) of collaboration among similar initiatives. Empirical evidence highlights the need to combine different approaches to deal with soil degradation. As well as the participatory time length, the synergies between the methods utilized, and the range of interacting mind sets are also very important.

Determinant Variables for Women’s Participation in Soil and Water Conservation Practices in North Western Ethiopia: The Case of Shebel Berenta District (Woreda), East Gojjam Zone, Amhara National Regional State

“…A study from Southern Italy also noted that the adoption of soil conservation practices is promoted by increasing engagement between researchers and stakeholders or concerned bodies. 55-57 Women with better access to extension have a better understanding of modern technologies to SWC practices. 45…”

“…A study from Southern Italy also noted that the adoption of soil conservation practices is promoted by increasing engagement between researchers and stakeholders or concerned bodies. [55][56][57] Women with better access to extension have a better understanding of modern technologies to SWC practices. 45 This result is inconsistent with the findings by Ali and Kedru, 47 who show a significant number of farmers did not perceive and were not aware of the effectiveness of indigenous SWC measures and the practices of mulching, mixing, and strip-cropping.…”

Evaluation of Agricultural Sustainability on a Mixed Vineyard and Olive-Grove Farm in Southern Spain through the INSPIA Model

“…The farmers' mindset is not likely to easily change and sometimes, making changes is difficult for this population of the rural society [36]. For this purpose, farmers' decision-making should be facilitated by taking into account the results coming from any of the solid sustainability assessment tools.…”

“…This indicator, as explained in Triviño-Tarradas et al (2019) [10] refers not only to the manipulation of products, and their application with suitable equipment but also to their prevention as point source pollution. Alike Salvia et al (2018) [36] pointed out farmers' adoption of optimal farm management goes hand by hand with their training level, since there is a huge increase from the 3rd to the 4' year of the indicator No. 31 (425%), whereas the training level indicator (indicator No.…”

Why Do Medium-Sized Technology Farms Adopt Environmental Innovation? The Mediating Role of Pro-Environmental Behaviors

“…Contemporary medium-sized technology farms are having to deal with a wide array of environmental issues that are a significant source of sustainable production [1][2][3], which comes from the pressure of external stakeholders [4][5][6]. Indeed, external pressures from governments, media, and consumers have also encouraged farm enterprises to adopt new methods to achieve sustainable consumption and production strategies for the environment [7][8][9] because agricultural production has caused great pollution [10][11][12][13].…”