Abstract
A growing body of work aims to understand the impacts of climate change on agriculture as well as farmer’s perceptions of climate change and their likeliness to adopt adapting and mitigating behaviors. Despite this, little work has considered how intention to adopt differs from actual adoption of climate change practices in agriculture. Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior we aim to assess whether different factors affect intended versus actual adoption of climate behaviors among farmers in New Zealand. Data were collected through mixed methods (37 interviews and a telephone survey of 490 farmers) in two regions of New Zealand 2010–2012. Through multiple regression models we test hypotheses related to the Theory of Planned Behavior around the role of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived capacity in affecting intended and actual adoption. Results suggest that there are different drivers of intended and actual adoption of climate change practices. Climate change attitudes and belief is only associated with intended not actual adoption. We find no evidence that subjective norms (climate change policy support) significantly influence either intention or actual adoption. Only perceived capacity and self-efficacy were important predictors of both intended and actual adoption. These results suggest a disconnect between intended and actual behavior change and that using data about intention as a guiding factor for program and policy design may not be prudent. Furthermore, fostering perceived capacity and self-efficacy for individuals may be crucial for encouraging both intended and actual adoption of climate adapting and mitigating behaviors.
Highlights
In recent years, agricultural science, innovation and development has shifted to include a focus on climate change
This paper aims to fill this literature gap by determining the factors that influence farmer’s intended and actual adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation practices (Bclimate change practices^ (CCP)) among farmers in New Zealand, where agriculture is a significant contributor to national emissions
Unlike in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) where Ajzen (1991) makes subjective norms a key component of intended and actual behavior change, we find little evidence this is true in the context of New Zealand farmers and CCPs
Summary
Agricultural science, innovation and development has shifted to include a focus on climate change. This work is crucial to assess both at a case study level (Niles et al 2015; Arbuckle et al 2014; Haden et al 2012) and across broader contexts (Wood et al 2014) to determine drivers of climate mitigation and adaptation behaviors. The majority of existing studies examining farmer’s perspectives and responses to climate change either measure likelihood to adopt a practice, support mitigation and adaptation initiatives in the future (Niles et al 2013, 2015; Arbuckle et al 2013) or examine the actual adoption of a practice (Wood et al 2014; Kristjanson et al 2012). This paper aims to fill this literature gap by determining the factors that influence farmer’s intended and actual adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation practices (Bclimate change practices^ (CCP)) among farmers in New Zealand, where agriculture is a significant contributor to national emissions
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