Does participation in e-commerce affect fruit farmers’ awareness of green production: evidence from China

Abstract

Based on data for 812 Chinese farmers and a conditional mixed process (CMP) approach, this paper investigates the impact of farmers’ e-commerce participation on their awareness of green production. Main results include: (1) e-commerce participation increases farmers’ overall awareness of green production by 0.771 (i.e. 0.88 standard deviations); meanwhile such impact is more evident for old-generation, low-income and small-scale farmers; (2) risk awareness is most affected among three sub-dimensions; (3) three influencing channels are confirmed, which are improving information acquisition, strengthening connections with the food market, and alleviating information asymmetry. This paper concludes that e-commerce can play a significant role in promoting the green transition of farmers and agricultural production. As for implications, policymakers need to further promote e-commerce in agriculture while building a more solid food system, including green food certification and a full chain traceability system. However, farmers’ heterogeneities should be considered when any intervention is proposed.