Sergei Schaub, Jaboury Ghazoul, and Robert Finger WEBINAR Enhancing Biodiversity and Resilience in Intensive Farming Systems: Results from an ETH Zürich-IFPRI Collaborative study Co-organized by IFPRI, ETH Zürich, and Bayer DEC 6, 2022 - 10:00 TO 11:30AM EST

1. Factors affecting farmers’ participation in agri-environmental
schemes
By Sergei Schaub, Jaboury Ghazoul, and Robert Finger
Contributors: Robert Huber, Wei Zhang, Adelaide Sander, Charles Rees, Simanti Banerjee, and Noëmi Elmiger
Image: Sergei Schaub
From: Schaub et al., The role of behavioral factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review

2. 2
• We are currently experiencing a dramatic degradation
of ecosystems and biodiversity loss
• Public and private entities introduced agri-
environmental schemes to incentivize the adoption of
environmentally friendly practices by farmers
• How we can encourage the participation in schemes?
• Behavioral factors and opportunity costs can influence
the participation in agri-environmental schemes
‘What are the behavioral factors and opportunity
costs affecting framers’ participation in voluntary
agri-environmental schemes?’
Image: @prairiestrips, Bo Jellesmark Thorsen
From: Schaub et al., The role of behavioral factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review

3. 3
What are opportunity costs and behavioral
factors?
• Behavioral factors stemming
from human behavior. They might
be due to personality, the
situation, or are a reaction to the
environment.
Image: @prairiestrips
From: Schaub et al., The role of behavioral factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review
• Opportunity costs for a farmer
are what a farmer gives up to do
a certain option compared to an
alternative one

4. 4
What did we do?
Items identified though
database searching (n =
6485)
Items identified though
other sources (n = 2)
Items after duplicates
removed (n = 3523)
Items screened by title
and abstract (n = 3523)
Full-test assessment of
items assessed (n = 232)
Articles included covering
opportunity costs and/or
behavioral factors (n =
83). Those articles cover
144 studies and 734
factors
Duplicates removed
(n = 2962)
Items excluded
(n = 2730)
Items excluded
(n = 149)
• Systematically reviewed the existing literature
• Focus on
• Australia, Europe, and North America.
• Specialized and mixed arable farms
• We looked at 83 papers and over >700 factors
From: Schaub et al., The role of behavioral factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review

5. 5
What can we learn?
• The relationships of behavioral factors and opportunity
costs with participation are often ambiguous
• Also less clearer than often communicated, e.g., environmental attitudes
• Looking at heterogenous ‘treatment effects’ will be a way
forward
• Most universal relationships include
• for behavioral factors: receiving advice, peer relationships, and a positive
attitude towards schemes
• for opportunity costs: market conditions and scheme design (e.g.,
flexibility)
• Policymakers and companies: consider those relationships
when incentivizing farmers
From: Schaub et al., The role of behavioral factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review

6. 6
We also looked at indictors for result-based
payments
• Most result-based payments to grasslands
and are simple
• Pathways exists to advance indicators
• New payments are planned in the EU (CAP
Reform 2023-27)
• Using new technologies (smartphone apps)
can help

7. 7
Thank you for your attention!
E-Mail: sergei.schaub@agroscope.admin.ch
Twitter: @SergeiSchaub
Image: Grasland Group, ETHZ