Search Results (241)

European pig farmers are challenged by increasingly stringent EU regulations to protect the environment from pollution, to meet animal welfare standards and to make pig farming more sustainable. Economic sustainability is defined as the ability to achieve higher profits by respecting social and natural resources. This study is focused on the analysis of the economic resilience of intensive and extensive farming systems, based on data collected from 56 farms located in Denmark, Poland, Italy and Spain. Productive and economic performances of these farms are analyzed, and economic resilience is assessed through a survey including a selection of indicators, belonging to different themes: [i] resilience of resources, [ii] entrepreneurship, [iii] propensity to extensification. The qualitative data from the questionnaire allow for an exploration of how production systems relate to the three dimensions of resilience. Different levels of resilience were found and discussed for intensive and extensive farms. The findings suggest that intensive farms benefit from high standards and greater bargaining power within the supply chain. Extensive systems can achieve profitability through value-added strategies and generally display good resilience. Policies that support investment and risk reduction are essential for enhancing farm resilience and robustness, while strengthening farmer networks can improve adaptability. Full article

In order to fulfil SDG 13—taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impact—SDG 2—ending hunger and poverty—and the African Union CAADP Strategy and Action Plan: 2026–2035, which’s goal is ending hunger and intensifying sustainable food production, agro-industrialisation, and trade, the resilience of commercial livestock farmers to agricultural droughts needs to be enhanced. Agricultural drought has affected the economies of many sub-Saharan African countries, including South Africa, and still poses a challenge to commercial livestock farming. This study identifies and determines the factors affecting commercial livestock farmers’ level of resilience to agricultural drought. Primary data from 123 commercial livestock farmers was used in a principal component analysis to estimate the agricultural drought resilience index as an outcome variable, and the probit model was used to determine the factors influencing the resilience of commercial livestock farmers in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. This study provides a valuable contribution towards resilience-building strategies that are critical for sustaining commercial livestock farming in arid regions by developing a formula for calculating the Agricultural Drought Resilience Index for commercial livestock farmers, significantly contributing to the pool of knowledge. The results showed that 67% of commercial livestock farming households were not resilient to agricultural drought, while 33% were resilient. Reliance on sustainable natural water resources, participation in social networks, education, relative support, increasing livestock numbers, and income stability influence the resilience of commercial livestock farmers. It underscores the importance of multidimensional policy interventions to enhance farmer drought resilience through education and livelihood diversification. Full article

The increasingly severe ecological and environmental problems in rural areas pose a serious threat to agricultural sustainability and human well-being. Protecting the ecological environment of cultivated land is fundamental to ensuring food security and achieving sustainable development goals. The effective integration of digital technology into farmers’ production and daily life is a key driver for transforming farming practices and advancing the ecological protection of cultivated land. This study draws on data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS) to systematically examine the impact of farmers’ digital participation on the ecological protection of cultivated land. The main findings are as follows: (1) Digital participation significantly promotes ecological conservation of cultivated land, with each unit increase associated with a 7.8% reduction in fertilizer use intensity; (2) the results are robust across various empirical strategies, including instrumental variable estimation, the ERM approach, residual analysis, and alternative indicator specifications; (3) mechanism analysis indicates that digital participation reduces fertilizer use through three main channels: expansion of social networks (accounting for 7.10%), enhancement of subjective cognition (29.66%), and adoption of agricultural technologies (10.18%); and (4) heterogeneity analysis shows that the protective effects on cultivated land are more pronounced among households with off-farm employment experience, in villages where leaders have higher educational attainment, and in regions with more advanced digital environments. Based on these findings, the following policy recommendations are proposed: enhancing digital infrastructure in rural areas, strengthening the training of agricultural practitioners, and developing localized digital environments tailored to local conditions. Full article

Against the backdrop of global climate change, enhancing farmers’ adaptive capacity to reduce crop production risks has emerged as a critical concern for governments and researchers worldwide. Drawing on social capital theory, this study develops a four-dimensional measurement framework comprising social networks, social trust, social norms, and social participation, utilizing survey data from 1772 households in the Yellow River Basin. We employ factor analysis to construct comprehensive social capital scores and apply ordered Probit models to examine how social capital influences farmers’ climate adaptation behaviors, with particular attention to the moderating roles of agricultural extension interaction and digital literacy. Key findings include: (1) Adoption patterns: Climate adaptation behavior adoption remains low (60%), with technical adaptation measures showing particularly poor uptake (13%); (2) Direct effects: Social capital significantly promotes adaptation behaviors, with social trust (p < 0.01), networks (p < 0.01), and participation (p < 0.05) demonstrating positive effects, while social norms show no significant impact; (3) Heterogeneous effects: Impact mechanisms differ by crop type, with grain producers relying more heavily on social networks (+, p < 0.01) and cash crop producers depending more on social trust (+, p < 0.01); (4) Moderating mechanisms: Agricultural extension interaction exhibits scale-dependent effects, negatively moderating the relationship for large-scale farmers (p < 0.05) while showing no significant effects for smaller operations; digital literacy consistently demonstrates negative moderation, whereby higher literacy levels weaken social capital’s promotional effects (p < 0.01). Policy recommendations: Effective climate adaptation strategies should integrate strengthened rural social organization development, differentiated agricultural extension systems tailored to farm characteristics, and enhanced rural digital infrastructure investment. Full article

As Europe is the world’s leading producer of biogas, this article examines how agricultural anaerobic digestion (AD) is organized and governed, and explores the social challenges involved in structuring the sector around a possible “European model”. Following a social science perspective, it presents a systematic review of 64 French- and English-language articles drawn from 16 academic databases. The findings highlight five key dynamics. First, there is a shift from farmer-led to increasingly industrial models of AD. Second, diverse and hybrid business models are emerging, involving new forms of multi-scale coordination. Third, the sector remains structurally dependent on public subsidies and on regulatory frameworks. Fourth, the economic viability of AD for farmers remains uncertain, driving a transition from cogeneration to biomethane injection. Fifth, tensions develop between rural place-based imaginaries and the realities of globalized energy networks. These patterns underscore the complexity of biogas sector-building in Europe and the competing narratives shaping its evolution. We argue that agricultural AD cannot be reduced to a unified trajectory, but reflects ongoing negotiations over energy models, territorial development and socio-technical legitimacy. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of these dynamics for the sustainability and fairness of future biogas trajectories across Europe. Full article

Sustainable development initiatives are essential for enhancing the social economy and environmental preservation in marginalised rural areas of Tanzania. This study examines the impact of an IoT micro-factory on sustainable development, addressing issues such as inadequate production techniques, agribusiness monopolisation practices, the shortage of small-scale factories, and the failure to leverage global market comparative advantages. It explores the mediating role of architectural innovation and the moderating role of industrial symbiosis. The study surveyed 196 participants, including 100 orange farmers, 96 industrial engineers in the beverage sector, and conducted interviews with 3 industrial managers and 3 industrial consultants. SmartPLS 4 was used to evaluate the relationships between constructs. The results indicate that both IoT micro-factories and global production networks (GPNs) have a direct influence on sustainable social-economic development. Architectural innovation mediates these relationships, while industrial symbiotic moderates the interaction between IoT micro-factories and architectural innovation. The findings emphasise the importance of IoT micro-factories for sustainable development, with industrial symbiotic relationships addressing gaps in knowledge, skills, and equitable trade. The industrial stakeholders should prioritise IoT micro-factories as small-scale factories to promote sustainable development in rural communities of developing countries. Full article

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the social support level among perimenopausal women and explore its key influencing factors. Methods: From November 2022 to March 2023, a stratified multistage random sampling method was used to recruit 647 perimenopausal women from three communities in Tianjin, China. The participants completed the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), the Kupperman Menopausal Index (KMI), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Nonparametric tests, correlation analysis, and stepwise regression analysis were conducted to explore key factors influencing social support. Robustness checks were performed using hierarchical regression analysis. Results: The overall social support level of perimenopausal women was moderately low (34.190 ± 10.007), with the lowest scores observed in the 46–50 age group (33.000 ± 9.666). Stepwise regression analysis showed that, compared to married women, single women reported significantly lower social support levels (β = −0.242, p < 0.001). Using public sector employees as the reference group, women in all other occupational categories (including self-employed, corporate employees, farmers, freelancers, and other professions) had significantly lower social support scores (β range: −0.196 to −0.232, all p < 0.05). Compared to those with good family relationships, women with average (β = −0.420, p < 0.001) and poor (β = −0.349, p < 0.001) family relationships reported significantly lower social support levels. In terms of menopausal symptoms, greater severity of palpitations (β = −0.140, p < 0.05) and dyspareunia (β = −0.143, p < 0.05) was associated with lower social support, while higher levels of neuroticism (β = 0.102, p < 0.05) and joint/muscle pain (β = 0.158, p < 0.05) were linked to greater social support. Conclusions: Social support levels among perimenopausal women were generally low, particularly among those aged 46–50 years. Marital status, occupational type, and family relationships were key influencing factors, and certain menopausal symptoms were closely related to social support, especially those that are difficult to discuss, such as palpitations and dyspareunia. These findings highlight the necessity of strengthening social support networks for perimenopausal women and provide scientific evidence for the development of targeted interventions and public health policies to enhance their well-being and promote healthy aging. Full article

Enhancing farmers’ behaviors toward cultivated land quality protection is a crucial support in achieving sustainable agricultural development and the national food security strategy. This study aims to investigate the impact of land transfer-in on farmers’ behaviors regarding cultivated land quality protection, explore the underlying mechanisms, and analyze group heterogeneity. To achieve this, the study empirically estimates the impact of land transfer-in on farmers’ behaviors in protecting cultivated land quality using micro-survey data from 743 households in Hubei Province, while addressing endogeneity and conducting robustness checks. The study further explores the mechanisms and heterogeneity of the effects of land transfer-in on farmers’ cultivated land quality protection behaviors. The results reveal that (1) land transfer-in significantly increases the likelihood of farmers taking actual actions to protect cultivated land quality and enhances their awareness, thereby promoting protective behaviors; (2) land transfer-in facilitates these protective behaviors mainly through income incentives and social network interactions, while rental constraints may have a suppressive effect; (3) full-time farmers, those with higher agricultural literacy, those who access agricultural knowledge online, and those affected by natural disasters are more likely to engage in proactive land quality protection behaviors after land transfer-in. Full article

Environmental degradation combined with the need to ensure food security for a rapidly growing world population has prompted the adoption of Sustainable Weed Management Practices (SWMPs), which are expected to reduce crop losses while preserving natural resources. However, evidence shows that farmers are reluctant to adopt them, and European farming remains dependent on chemical herbicides. The objective of this study is to analyze the adoption of SWMPs in Greece by identifying common factors that may explain the information (variance) included in each of two initial sets of variables, separately describing the following: (i) factors that hinder the adoption of SWMPs in Greece; (ii) factors and strategies to promote the use of SWMPs in the country. To achieve this purpose, 121 farmers cultivating annual arable crops in the Region of Thessaly in Central Greece were surveyed by means of a structured questionnaire. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to reduce both initial sets of variables and categorize farmers’ responses into two smaller sets of uncorrelated components (dimensions) without missing valuable information, the analysis yielded five factors that limit the adoption of SWMPs (“Costs and availability of resources”; “Environment and land ownership”; “Compatibility and easiness of use”; “Economic performance”; “Social capital and education”) as well as four factors to promote their use (“Policy, research and Cooperatives”; “Training and mandatory regulations”; “Technology and networking”; “Targeted approaches”). The derived factors can be used in terms of policy objectives, as each dimension represents different aspects to be considered when developing effective strategies and integrated policies for the evolution and further expansion of SWMPs. Full article

In countries and regions where Asian elephants are distributed, human–elephant conflict has become an important ecological and socio-economic issue. As one of the major habitats of Asian elephants, China faces severe challenges. Based on the theory of planned behavior and the risk perception theory, this study takes the survey data of 449 smallholder farmers in the Asian elephant distribution areas of Pu’er City, Yunnan Province as samples and uses the Tobit model and the mediating effect model to empirically analyze the impact of human–elephant conflict on farmers’ land use efficiency and its mechanism. The results show the following: (1) The human–elephant conflict risk perception has a significant negative impact on farmers’ land use efficiency. A one-unit increase in risk perception decreases land use efficiency by 250.34 CNY/mu. (2) Social networks positively moderate the negative impact of the human–elephant conflict risk perception on farmers’ land use efficiency, further strengthening the negative impact of risk perception. (3) From the perspective of the mechanism, the human–elephant conflict risk perception increases the likelihood of farmers changing their land use behavior. Farmers with high risk perception tend to reduce agricultural capital investment, which in turn leads to a decline in land use efficiency. In view of this, this paper puts forward suggestions in terms of strengthening ecological monitoring and control, increasing support for agricultural production, and guiding rational social network communication, providing theoretical support and practical guidance for alleviating human–elephant conflict and improving farmers’ land resource use efficiency. Full article

Background: The social interactions of farm animals affect their performance, health and welfare. This proof-of-concept study addresses, for the first time, the hypothesis that applying social network analysis (SNA) on AI-automated monitoring data could potentially facilitate the analysis of social structures of farm animals. Methods: Data were collected using automated recording systems that captured 2D-camera images and videos of pigs in six pens (16–19 animals each) on a PIC breeding company farm (USA). The system provided real-time data, including ear-tag readings, elapsed time, posture (standing, lying, sitting), and XY coordinates of the shoulder and rump for each pig. Weighted SNA was performed, based on the proximity of “standing” animals, for two 3-day period—the early (first month after mixing) and the later period (60 days post-mixing). Results: Group-level degree, betweenness, and closeness centralization showed a significant increase from the early-growing period to the later one (p < 0.02), highlighting the pigs’ social dynamics over time. Individual SNA traits were stable over these periods, except for the closeness centrality and clustering coefficient, which significantly increased (p < 0.00001). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that combining AI-assisted monitoring technologies with SNA offers a novel approach that can help farmers and breeders in optimizing on-farm management, breeding and welfare practices. Full article

Social innovations responding to the local needs of farmers and consumers are the subject of recent studies, and their results indicate effectiveness in mitigating the effects of crises and, in the long run, in building the resilience of local communities to future challenges. One of the social innovations is the Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) model. This article presents the current status of active CSA groups in Poland. The paper’s main objective is to identify active CSA farms in Poland and then analyse the individual farms’ CSA offers, the number of people they reach, and their members’ characteristics, motivation, and degree of involvement. As of 2023/2024, when the study was conducted, 13 food-producing farmers were inventoried for 35 groups, reaching an estimated 1200 people. Taking into account the Polish context and referring to the experience and examples of CSA communities in Europe and the world, the following conclusions were drawn: the need to establish an umbrella organisation to network the current CSA community in Poland and to support the already active farmers through, among other things, advocacy, education and coordination of CSA model development at the national level. Full article

The increasingly severe issue of pesticide packaging waste (PPW) pollution poses a significant threat to human health and sustainable agricultural development. Encouraging farmers to recycle PPW is critical to addressing the “tragedy of the commons” problem in rural areas. Using data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS), this paper examines the impact of digital literacy on farmers’ PPW recycling behavior. The results indicate that (1) a one-unit increase in digital literacy raises the likelihood of farmers recycling PPW by 20.1%. (2) Mechanism analysis shows that subjective cognition, information transmission, and social network are the key channels through which digital literacy affects farmers’ PPW recycling behavior. (3) After conducting multiple robustness tests—including Propensity Score Matching (PSM), instrumental variable methods, alternative weighting approaches for digital literacy, and different model specifications and samples—the findings remain robust. Based on these results, we propose the following policy recommendations: improve digital infrastructure in rural areas; enhance farmers’ digital literacy; establish incentive mechanisms; encourage village self-governance; and reinforce social oversight. Full article

The green production practices of farmers are essential for sustainable agricultural development. However, studies have mostly overlooked the social factors affecting farmers’ decisions regarding green production behaviors (GPB). Furthermore, the pathways and mechanisms through which social networks modify these behaviors have not been fully validated. Therefore, by examining 1203 farmers from China’s main grain-producing regions, this study aims to empirically investigate both the direct and indirect impacts of social networks on farmers’ GPB, thereby furthering relevant research. First, family social networks in rural areas markedly enhanced farmer engagement in GPB. After assessing the endogeneity issues associated with farmers’ self-selection behaviors using propensity score matching, this effect was found to substantially persist. Analysis of the indirect impact revealed that social networks primarily facilitated farmers’ adoption of green production through channels such as information acquisition, interactive learning, and service support. Second, heterogeneity analyses based on generational differences and crop types demonstrated a distinct, promotional impact of social networks on both “middle-generation” and “older-generation” farmers. Moreover, a comparison between grain crop farmers and cash crop farmers determined the more substantial influence of social networks on encouraging grain crop farmer GPB. Overall, this study emphasizes that rural China’s social networks, especially clan-based ones, can successfully nurture agricultural sustainability by accelerating the propagation of green technologies while offering suitable environments for elderly farmers to “learn by observing” and “learn by doing”. Relevant departments should pay attention to and make full use of farmers’ social network relations in the process of promoting farmers’ adoption of green production behavior and further promoting the green development of agriculture. Full article

The precipitation pattern in South Africa is unpredictable and irregularly distributed across the nine provinces. Water resources support agriculture, mining activities, and other social and economic activities in the country. Nevertheless, South Africa is a water-scarce country prompting the urgent need for revitalization to increase water availability. There are major issues with irrigation water security in South Africa’s agriculture sector. Water scarcity, exacerbated by population growth, climate change, and wasteful use, threatens smallholder farmers’ livelihoods. Smallholder farmers encounter difficulties obtaining water despite initiatives to enhance water management, such as poor infrastructure, a lack of funding, and exclusion from choices about water management. This study examines the current water security challenges faced by smallholder farmers in ensuring water security in South Africa. It emphasizes the importance of collaborative networks, inclusive water governance, and innovative irrigation technologies. The study highlights the need for programs and policies that promote cutting-edge irrigation technologies and support smallholder farmers’ participation in water management decisions. Effective solutions require a coordinated approach, involving government, NGOs, and the private sector. Addressing these challenges can improve water security, promote sustainable agricultural development, and enhance food security nationwide effectively and efficiently. Additionally, the study suggests that context-specific solutions be developed, considering the requirements and difficulties smallholder farmers face. This entails funding irrigation infrastructure, assisting and training farmers, and advancing water-saving innovations. Full article