Furthering climate-smart farming with the introduction of floating agriculture in Bangladeshi wetlands: Successes and limitations of an innovation transfer.

Although floating farming, a climate-smart practice, is a response to climate change challenges facing agriculture in wetland areas, the adoption of floating agriculture in Bangladesh wetland areas (also known as Haor) is slow. The purpose of our study was to identify the factors that motivate and barriers that inhibit the adoption of floating agriculture in the Haor region in Bangladesh's Kishoreganj district. To achieve our purpose, we used Roger's five-stage innovation-decision theory. We collected data from a sample of 120 Haor rural farmers using a quantitative questionnaire answered via a personal interview. We used a binary logistic regression to identify the factors that predict farmers' motivational actions in adopting floating agriculture. In addition, we rank ordered the data to identify the obstacles that prohibit farmers from implementing floating agriculture. The results demonstrate that education, training related to floating agriculture, credit received, communication behavior, trialability and observability, and complexity in practicing floating agriculture motivate farmers to adopt floating agriculture. The results also show that climatic factors (e.g., high waves and excessive rainfall, aquatic plant scarcity) and non-climatic factors (e.g., inadequate demonstration plots, conflict, and political power abuse) inhibit adoption of floating agriculture. Our study provides suggestions for increasing farmers' adoption of floating agriculture in wetland areas.

Adoption of Farm Management Systems for Cross Compliance - An empirical case in Germany.

In Germany, Farm Management Systems (FMS) have been introduced as a support to farmers' compliance with environmental and other regulations, aiming at the increase of farm level performance and sustainable farming practices. Different kinds of FMS were developed and promulgated with various approaches, determined by each federal state's agricultural advisory system. Knowledge on the FMS' uptake and effectiveness has been lacking so far. The overall aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of the implementation process and selected outcomes of the policy-driven instrumental innovation of FMS. In particular, the objectives are i) to reveal how and with what success the introduction of FMS has been realised in Germany and ii) to analyse and discuss the FMS' adoption in the federal state of Brandenburg. For the first part of the study, we elaborate a situational analysis of the policy implementation through a desk study and expert interviews. In the second part, selected results from a farmers' survey in Brandenburg are presented and a switching regression model is developed to assess the factors responsible for the uptake of FMS and to understand the role of FMS in improving the confidence in complying with Cross Compliance regulations. We found a high degree of diversity among FMS developed in the different federal states. FMS adoption rates varied, but were generally low. Institutional environment seems to have a significant influence as the same FMS had very different adoption rates among federal states. For Brandenburg, our findings show that farmers' confidence to face CC check was increased by the adoption of FMS. However, counterfactual scenario analysis proved that especially farmers who did not adopt FMS would have benefitted most if they had adopted the tool. Our study shows that there is a need for systems supporting farmers in dealing with bureaucratic requirements. Future FMS should be easy to understand, adaptable to individual farmers' needs and be available at low costs. Furthermore, there is a need to design FMS in a participatory way that integrates farmers' expectations.

Transdisciplinary Approaches and Methods in the Context of Food and Nutrition Security.

Since the World Food Summit of 1996, the world has strived to achieve sustainable food production and improved nutrition for all. However, the complexity of food and nutrition security, compounded by a growing population, depleting natural resources, changing consumption patterns, and a multitude of environmental shocks to the ecosystem, make it a "wicked problem." Wicked problems transcend the resources of any single discipline and are the focus of contemporary transdisciplinary work. Transdisciplinary research approaches allow us to gain a better understanding of complex contexts, actions, and decisions that determine socioecological systems, and to develop organizational, social, and technological innovations that fit a given situation. Using the case of urban agriculture, which holds both potential and challenges for healthy nutrition and food systems, the key features of transdisciplinary research approaches are identified. As transdisciplinary research stems from a perceived real-life problem, a differentiated understanding and handling of knowledge diversity is needed. Furthermore, there is the need to build and maintain a research team and depending on the number of actors and the diversity of interests involved, the research has to be conceived as a group working process over a period of time requiring group management and process design skills. Though there is no single recipe for a transdisciplinary research process, we present a framework for such a process with iterative loops and multiple interactions among the various spheres of actors through the 4 phases of problem framing, problem analyses, problem solving, and stimulating change. Transdisciplinary research approaches have many challenges and are demanding in the integration of the research environment and processes. The interaction between stakeholders and the joint learning and reflection processes necessitate mutual understanding. However, the management of these interactions is as vital as pure scientific analysis for tackling real-world challenges.