A TYPOLOGY TO EXPLAIN FACTORS AFFECTING THE ADOPTION OF AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICES: A CASE STUDY IN JAPAN

Abstract

Like the governments of many other countries, the Japanese government is encouraging transitions to more environmentally sustainable agricultural schemes. However, there have been numerous debates around the world about what kind of farmers are willing to participate in agri-environmental practices, and no clear consensus has yet to emerge. Towards that end, some studies have used quantitative analysis to identify the demographic characteristics that affect the adoption of conservation practices, while others have used qualitative analysis to clarify the cognitive values farmers employ in their daily lives as social beings. In this study, to investigate farmers' motivational heterogeneity from the viewpoints of values and demographic characteristics, quantitative research was conducted in a rural community in the North-eastern region of Japan, where environmentally friendly agricultural practices have been used for more than 15 years. In this survey, 81 rice farmers responded to a variety of questions regarding their intentions to grow environmentally friendly rice and related demographic characteristics. Examining this data using factor analysis revealed that farmers were motivated to continue conservation practices due to three primary factors: stewardship, self-interest, and social networks. Contrary to previous studies, the stewardship factor was correlated with the self-interest factor, that indicates the emergence of a new type of environmentally friendly farmers. Also, as opposed to other studies that emphasized the importance of the stewardship and the self-interest, this study showed by cluster analysis that some farmers continued their practice solely due to the social networks. In addition, this study bridged the gap between previous qualitative and quantitative approach by indicating the relation between farmers value orientation and their demographic characteristics. To further encourage transitions to agri-environmental systems, policies that deal with farmer heterogeneity will need to be implemented.