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Pathways from information to the adoption of conservation agriculture practices in Malawi and Tanzania

Paswel Marenya Dil Bahadur Rahut (2023, [Artículo])

To reduce agriculture's carbon, land and water footprint, the diffusion of conservation farming methods is one commonly cited proposition. Yet the process of translating available information on new conservation farming methods into farmers' practices is often a black box in many studies. This understanding is critical to inform strategies for scaling these complex, knowledge-intensive, but necessary practices for improving agriculture's resource and climate balance sheet. By implementing a series of mediation analysis using data from 700 households in Malawi and 930 households in Tanzania, this study examines how an improved understanding of conservation agriculture (CA) principles is an important mediator in the pathway from extension contact to the adoption of two of the CA practices examined. For the adoption of conservation tillage, the share of the mediated treatment effect was in the 31.5–34.4% range, while it was 31.6–46.9% for the adoption of soil cover (mulching). Our results suggest that unless learning from external sources strongly correlates with improved farmers' technical understanding of new farming practices, private learning by doing must be a critical adjunct to other avenues of learning. Beyond the basic promotional goals, improving farmers' technical know-how needs to be the centerpiece of holistic efforts in support of conservation farming and similar knowledge-intensive practices necessary for agriculture's sustinability goals.

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE SMALLHOLDERS AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES FIELD EXPERIMENTATION

Analyzing antifragility among smallholder farmers in Bihar, India: An assessment of farmers' vulnerability and the strengths of positive deviants

Roos Adelhart Toorop Santiago Lopez-Ridaura ML JAT Deepak Bijarniya Jeroen Groot (2023, [Artículo])

Farmers around the world are increasingly vulnerable: climate variability is identified as the primary stressor, but unfavorable biophysical circumstances and disturbances in the socioeconomic domain (labor dynamics and price volatility) also affect farm management and production. To deal with these disturbances, adaptations are recognized as essential. Antifragility acknowledges that adaptations and volatility are inherent characteristics of complex systems and abandons the idea of returning to the pre-disturbance system state. Instead, antifragility recognizes that disturbances can trigger reorganization, enabling selection and removal of weaker system features and allowing the system to evolve toward a better state. In this study, we assessed the vulnerability of different types of smallholder farms in Bihar, India, and explored the scope for more antifragile farming systems that can 'bounce back better' after disturbances. Accumulation of stocks, creation of optionality (i.e., having multiple options for innovation) and strengthening of farmer autonomy were identified as criteria for antifragility. We had focus group discussions with in total 92 farmers and found that most expressed themselves to be vulnerable: they experienced challenges but had limited adaptive capacity to change their situation. They mostly made short-term decisions to cope with or mitigate urgent challenges but did not engage in strategic planning driven by longer-term objectives. Instead, they waited for governmental support to improve their livelihoods. Despite being confronted with similar challenges, four positive deviant farmers showed to be more antifragile: their diverse farming systems were abundant in stocks and optionality, and the farmers were distinguished in terms of their autonomy, competence, and connectedness to peers, the community, and markets. To support antifragility among regular farmers, adaptations at policy level may be required, for example, by shifting from a top-down toward a bottom-up adaptation and innovation regime where initiative and cooperation are encouraged. With a more autonomous orientation, farmers' intrinsic motivation is expected to increase, enabling transitions at the farm level. In this way, connected systems can be developed which are socioeconomically and biophysically adaptive. When practices, knowledge, and skills are continuously developed, an antifragile system with ample stocks and optionality may evolve over time.

Autonomy Adaptive Capacity Smallholder Farmers CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA POLICIES SMALLHOLDERS AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

Systematic Literature Review on Smart Specialization: Future Prospects and Opportunities

Beatriz Rosas Michael Demmler (2023, [Artículo])

"Smart specialisation (SS) has been the new cohesion policy in the European Union during the last two periods. The present study aims to analyse the most relevant existing state-of-the-art literature on smart specialisation through a systematic and bibliometric review. Using the Web of Science bibliographic database, we analysed the content of 207 articles under the TCCM methodology and constructed a network of citations in order to summarize theories, characteristics, context and methods presented in existing studies on the topic. Our results show the theoretical and methodological gaps of the past, such as Entrepreneurial Discovery Process and SS indicators. These remain to the present day. The context analysis showed that the scope of smart specialisation extended beyond the frontiers of the European Union, given how it has been adopted by other countries as well. These results suggest the importance of developing a more robust theoretical, conceptual and methodological framework. Consequently, the guides need to be more accurate and should be continuously updated. Our results are valuable for the EDP actors and have policymaking implications".

Especialización inteligente Estrategias de innovación regional Revisión de literatura sistemática Métodos de especialización inteligente Smart specialization Smart specialization methods CIENCIAS SOCIALES CIENCIAS SOCIALES