Exploring farmers’ perspectives on collective action: a case study on co-operation in Dutch agri-environment schemes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Authors

  • Margarethe Reichenspurner
  • Rena Barghusen
  • Bettina Matzdorf

Research Organisations

External Research Organisations

  • Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1830-1851
Number of pages22
JournalJournal of Environmental Planning and Management
Volume67
Issue number8
Early online date11 Apr 2023
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Abstract

To improve the ecological effectiveness of agri-environment-climate measures (AECM), collective approaches to co-ordinate AECM beyond the farm level have emerged, which are characterised by different levels of co-operation between individual farmers. As participation is voluntary, understanding farmers’ perspectives on collective action in the context of these economic incentive instruments is crucial to improve existing or design novel approaches. We conducted a Q study on farmers’ viewpoints on collective AECM in the Netherlands, where all AECM have to be realised jointly since 2016. Our results reveal three dominant views on collective AECM: a collective-oriented, a business-oriented and an environment-oriented perspective. Clear preferences for the collective approach show that even in cultures with strong values of independence joint action is possible, as farmers’ autonomy can be strengthened through co-operation. Considering different perspectives on collective approaches within the institutional design can help to develop more targeted, and thus successful, incentives.

Keywords

    co-operation, economic incentive instruments, farmer motivation, landscape level approach, Q methodology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cite this

Exploring farmers’ perspectives on collective action: a case study on co-operation in Dutch agri-environment schemes. / Reichenspurner, Margarethe; Barghusen, Rena; Matzdorf, Bettina.
In: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Vol. 67, No. 8, 2024, p. 1830-1851.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Reichenspurner M, Barghusen R, Matzdorf B. Exploring farmers’ perspectives on collective action: a case study on co-operation in Dutch agri-environment schemes. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 2024;67(8):1830-1851. Epub 2023 Apr 11. doi: 10.1080/09640568.2023.2183111
Reichenspurner, Margarethe ; Barghusen, Rena ; Matzdorf, Bettina. / Exploring farmers’ perspectives on collective action : a case study on co-operation in Dutch agri-environment schemes. In: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 2024 ; Vol. 67, No. 8. pp. 1830-1851.
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