"We Could Be Much Further Ahead" -Multidimensional Drivers and Barriers for Agricultural Transition

Abstract

Agricultural transition toward sustainability is subject to individual and political constraints, spurring the need to understand system dynamics from both a psychological and a public policy angle; however, empirical data remains limited. The present paper empirically contributes to theoretical frameworks on sustainability transitions and analyzes multiple dimensions related to the success of agricultural transition. This investigation employed a multidisciplinary, multimethodological approach that combined two empirical studies. The first study focused on electrically driven field cultivation as one transition process to uncover potential drivers and barriers from an actor-centered perspective via semi-structured interviews with farmers and sectoral actors (N = 33). Next, study 2 validated and complemented the context conditions that emerged from the interviews as relevant to agricultural transitions through a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) that uncovered configurations leading to agricultural transition in 38 OECD countries. Results show that for an agricultural transition, it is necessary to have a successful research and innovation policy. Furthermore, the inclusion of a green party in government is sufficient for an agricultural transition, whereas all other cases of agricultural transition are explained through a combination of different policy, polity, and politics factors. The results provide vital theoretical and practical implications for interdisciplinary research on agricultural transition processes and highlight the importance of regulative policies and political investments.