Farmers’willingness to accept compensation for livestock and poultry waste resource utilization and its determinants

Ecological compensation is widely considered a policy that encourages farmers to recycle livestock and poultry waste for economic and ecological benefits.Therefore,based on field data from 30 counties(districts)in six cities of Shandong Province,China,this study systematically analyzes farmers'willingness to accept compensation for livestock and poultry waste resource utilization as well as its determinants.It does so using the UTAUT theoretical analysis framework,as well as the contingent valuation method and Heckman two-stage selection model.The results show that,first,72.4%of the farmers in the sample are willing to accept a certain amount of compensation—the expected value of which is RMB 98.02 per month per household—as an incentive to utilize livestock waste.Second,the key determinants of farmers'willingness to accept compensation are marital status,family annual income,concurrent business,farming scale,economic performance expectation,social performance expectation,knowledge reserve,public relations,and technical convenience.Finally,the factors that affect farmers’willingness in terms of the compensation amount are gender,age,family annual income,social performance expectation,subjective norms,and public relations.Therefore,to promote the recycling of livestock and poultry waste,this study proposes policies that promote education and technology popularization in relation to livestock and poultry waste resource utilization,provide subsidies for waste recycling,and strengthen government control and social supervision over the non-standard disposal of such waste.

Farmers’perception of climate change and adaptation strategies in the Dabus watershed,North-West Ethiopia

Introduction:This study is aimed at analyzing farmers’perception and adaptation to climate change in the Dabus watershed.It is based on analysis of data collected from 734 randomly selected farm household heads substantiated with Focus Group Discussions and field observations.Methods:The study employed descriptive methods to assess farmers’perception of climate change,local indicators of climate change and types of adaptation measures exercised to cope up with the risk of the change in climate.The study also employed the Heckman sample selection model to analyze the two-step process of adaptation to climate change which initially requires farmers’perception that climate is changing prior to responding to the changes through adaptation measures.Results:Based on the model result educational attainment,the age of the head of the household,the number of crop failures in the past,changes in temperature and precipitation significantly influenced farmers’perception of climate change in wet lowland parts of the study area.In dry lowland condition,farming experience,climate information,duration of food shortage,and the number of crop failures experienced determined farmers’perception of climate change.Farmers’adaptation decision in both the wet and dry lowland conditions is influenced by household size,the gender of household head,cultivated land size,education,farm experience,non-farm income,income from livestock,climate information,extension advice,farm-home distance and number of parcels.However,the direction of influence and significance level of most of the explanatory variables vary between the two parts of the study area.Conclusions:In line with the results,any intervention that promotes the use of adaptation measures to climate change may account for location-specific factors that determine farmers'perception of climate change and adaptive responses thereof.