Abstract
This work aims to study the interaction effect of farm characteristics and social dynamics on the conversion to organic farming with an agent-based model. In the model, an agent’s decision on the conversion to organic farming is based on the comparison between the satisfaction with its current situation and the potential satisfaction with an alternative farming strategy. A farmer agent’s satisfaction is modeled with the Theory of Reasoned Action. It is computed by comparing the agent’s outcomes over time and comparing its outcomes against those of other agents to whom it lends great credibility (‘important others’). We initialize the model with the Agricultural Census’ data about the farm characteristics in 27 French “cantons”. The analysis of the simulations shows that farm characteristics are very important to predict the conversion. However, their distribution in the population can also strongly influence the simulation results due to social dynamics. Indeed the interaction between farms having similar or different characteristics can decrease or increase the adoption rate compared to what can be inferred only from farm characteristics.
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We acknowledge funding from the Scientific Research Foundation of Jiangxi University of Science and Technology (Grant No. JXXJBS19012).
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Xu, Q., Huet, S., Li, W. (2020). Farm Characteristics, Social Dynamics and Dairy Farmers’ Conversions to Organic Farming. In: Li, K., Li, W., Wang, H., Liu, Y. (eds) Artificial Intelligence Algorithms and Applications. ISICA 2019. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1205. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5577-0_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5577-0_17
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