How does gender shape the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices? Evidence from Belgium
(2025) 30th European Society for Rural Sociology Congress — Location: Riga (7.July.2025)
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- Abstract
- CONTEXT Policymakers and researchers increasingly recognize the urgency of ensuring that agriculture reduces its impacts on the environment. Although this has created a rich literature identifying factors shaping the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAP), the influence of gender on the adoption of SAP remains little to no investigated in high-income countries. However, strong gender dynamics in agricultural settings have been shown to influence labor distribution and access to resources. OBJECTIVE This study brings new insights into how gender influences the adoption of SAP: Whether women and men farmers have the same access to resources enabling SAP, whether their gender influences their perception of SAP, and how this influences transition trajectories. METHODS We conducted semi-structured interviews with 29 farmers from a diversity of field crops farms in Wallonia, Belgium, and analyzed the data through a thematic analysis, following the theory of planned behavior. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that gender plays a significant role in SAP adoption. These results are essential because women farmers seem to play an increasingly important role in shaping food systems, notably as farm managers. While confirming the existing literature in the Walloon context, this study provides novel insights into emerging phenomena shaping the future of European agriculture. Women and men farmers in our sample experience different barriers and enablers of SAP adoption. Firstly, social norms draw men farmers towards conventional models and women farmers towards organic models and diversification activities, which enable SAP adoption. Secondly, hunting practices among men farmers appear to be an important enabler of SAP adoption. Lastly, women farmers seem to be more dependent on outsourcing of labor and technical advisory, two major barriers to SAP adoption. Understanding how gender shapes SAP adoption in increasingly feminine agricultural systems is crucial.
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Henrotte, S., & Van den Broeck, G. (2025). How does gender shape the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices? Evidence from Belgium. 30th European Society for Rural Sociology Congress, Riga. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/269725