Seminars

Monday, November 18th, 2024

Ines Chiadmi will present "Digging in Flemish Farmers' Preferences and Satisfaction with Soil and Water Quality Extension Services".

Abstract:

The efficacy of information provision policy instruments is proven to complement traditional environmental policies in pollution control. In the agricultural sector, information is notably disseminated by means of agricultural extension services. In this study, we focus on the advisory services targeting the improvement of soil and water quality in Flanders, Belgium. Using a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE), we elicit Flemish farmers' preferences for advisory strategies in terms of the group size, the interaction format, the provenance of the advisors, the theme of guidance activities, the frequency and the cost of participation. The results of the conditional logit analysis reveal an aversion to advisors representing government institutions and to the cost attribute. We are currently exploring how farmers' population heterogeneity influences the outcomes of our DCE. In addition, we are investigating the interaction between our DCE results and covariates representing farmers' satisfaction with existing advisory activities and their tendencies toward information avoidance.