Better safe than sorry? European Farmers' perceptions on agroecological practices: A Theory of Planned Behaviour case study

Antonio Paparella¹Jacques-Aristide Perrin²James Henty Williams³Bettina Wenzel^4*Massimiliano Borrello¹Hella Kehlenbeck⁴Julian Winkler⁵Luigi Cembalo¹Samantha Murray Cook⁶Velemir Ninkovic⁷Aurelie Ferrer²Teresa Del Giudice¹Alexander Wezel²

• ¹Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Portici, Italy
• ²Agroecology and Environment research unit, ISARA, Lyon, France
• ³Department of Agroecology, Aarhus Universitet, Aarhus, Denmark
• ⁴Julius Kuehn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Strategies and Technology Assessment, Kleinmachnow, Germany
• ⁵Beratungsteam Ökologischer Landbau, Landesbetrieb Landwirtschaft Hessen, Witzenhausen, Germany
• ⁶Agroecology & Integrated Pest Management Division, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, United Kingdom
• ⁷Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

Adoption rates of agroecological farming practices remain low amongst European farmers and vary from country to country, despite European or national policies aimed at achieving 'sustainable agriculture'. Our study, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and conducted in eight European countries in 2023 with 268 farmers surveyed, examines behavioural drivers of adoption of agroecological practices in terms of attitudes, perceived behavioural control, social norms, perceived risk, and the role of formal and informal information sources. The main findings reveal three key points: 1) Farmers were more likely to adopt agroecological practices if they had a positive attitude towards them and felt confident in their ability to implement them whilst social pressure had only a limited impact on adoption. 2) Perceived risks associated with agroecological practices significantly reduced farmers' willingness to adopt. 3) Formal sources of information had a significant positive effect on the perceived risks, whereas informal information sources did not. However, the latter had a significant positive effect on social pressures, suggesting that they influence farmers' perceptions of what is socially expected by their communities. These findings imply that to accelerate the adoption of agroecological practices, policy and advisory services should focus on mitigating farmers' risk perceptions through formal, evidence-based information, thereby fostering positive attitudes and a stronger sense of control.