Martin-Ortega, J. orcid.org/0000-0003-0002-6772, Wolf, L. J., Tyllianakis, E. et al. (12 more authors) (2024) Transforming the food system: are farmers ready to take phosphorus stewardship action? Environmental Science and Policy, 162. 103930. ISSN 1462-9011
Abstract
Ensuring global food security while halting ecosystem degradation is arguably one of the most fundamental current challenges. As a key component of fertilisers for which there is no substitute, phosphorus plays a central role in this challenge. Food production systems are critically vulnerable to phosphorus supply disruptions and price spikes, while high phosphorus-inefficiencies drive the greatest global threat to waters through diffuse pollution. Transformation to a more phosphorus sustainable and efficient system inevitably necessitates transition at the farm level, leading to the critical question of whether farmers are ready for such transition. This paper examines the relationship between the farmers’ perceived adaptive capacity and farm-level actions that can enable a positive phosphorus transition. We innovatively apply a second-generation psycho-social mobilisation approach to adaptive capacity (based on personal experience, place attachment, competing concerns, household dynamics, and risk attitudes) and establish its relation to an extended framework of phosphorus stewardship action, using Structural Equation Modelling in a UK-wide survey. Our results confirm that the second-generation approach provides a more nuanced approximation to the understanding of farmers’ adaptive capacity than traditional (first-generation) approaches (five capitals: human, natural, physical, financial, and social), allowing a more dynamic understanding and a more robust assessment of adaptive capacity. Beyond our specific results for the UK (which demonstrate relatively high levels of farmers’ readiness to adapt and promising predisposition to do so, if supported), our research illustrates how this framework can be used to identify priority actions to enhance farmers’ uptake of phosphorus stewardship actions more generally.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Adaptive capacity, Diffuse pollution, Fertilisers, Structural equation modelling |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EU - European Union 956454 BBSRC (Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council) BB/R005656/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 18 Oct 2024 10:56 |
Last Modified: | 14 Nov 2024 14:32 |
Published Version: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103930 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:218562 |
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