Identifying drivers of organic adoption for agent-based modelling of wholesale transition
Rod MacRae, Martin Bunch, Ali Ghaffari and Shuilin Zhao
A Research Report of the SpEAR Lab, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University
January, 2015
Abstract
Organic food is one of the few growth areas in the food system, but conventional farmers are reluctant to convert to organic production. This reluctance is not well accounted for by conventional adoption theory and many analysts have consequently asked why adoption seems to be only sluggishly responsive to market signals. Numerous studies have identified a diverse set of interacting farmer motivations and structural elements associated with undertaking a transition to organic farming. These studies reveal that barriers to adoption cannot simply be overcome by price and cost – related elements that involve factors related to psycho-social impediments, status with neighbours and in the community, transition information and financial supports, and other supportive environment considerations. Although our understanding of these forces remains somewhat limited, given our review of the literature, certain kinds of motivations and interventions appear to influence adoption rates, particularly positive feedback from within the social network, transition advisory services, marketing supports and transition subsidies. The challenge remains to identify the levels of support to optimize uptake, including how the main variables supporting transition might interact. The analysis provided here has helped to parameterize a large Agent Based Model, with the ultimate objective to further understand how supportive environments might significantly accelerate adoption of organic farming.
Key words: organic agriculture, transition, farming systems adoption theory, agent-based modelling, policy and program supports
