Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils?
The need to provide appropriate information, technical advice and facilitation to support farmers in transitioning towards healthy soils is increasingly clear, and the role of the Agricultural Advisory Services (AAS) in this is critical. However, the transformation of AAS (plurality, commercialisati...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10835/13630 |
| _version_ | 1789406531256582144 |
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| author | Ingram, Julie Mills, Jane Black, Jasmine E. Chivers, Charlotte-Anne Aznar Sánchez, José Ángel Elsen, Annemie Frac, Magdalena López Felices, Belén Mayer-Gruner, Paula Skaalsveen, Kamilla Stolte, Jannes Tits, Mia |
| author_facet | Ingram, Julie Mills, Jane Black, Jasmine E. Chivers, Charlotte-Anne Aznar Sánchez, José Ángel Elsen, Annemie Frac, Magdalena López Felices, Belén Mayer-Gruner, Paula Skaalsveen, Kamilla Stolte, Jannes Tits, Mia |
| author_sort | Ingram, Julie |
| collection | DSpace |
| description | The need to provide appropriate information, technical advice and facilitation to support farmers in transitioning towards healthy soils is increasingly clear, and the role of the Agricultural Advisory Services (AAS) in this is critical. However, the transformation of AAS (plurality, commercialisation, fragmentation, decentralisation) brings new challenges for delivering advice to support soil health management. This paper asks: To what extent do agricultural advisory services have the capacity to support the transition to healthy soils across Europe? Using the ‘best fit’ framework, analytical characteristics of the AAS relevant to the research question (governance structures, management, organisational and individual capacities) were identified. Analysis of 18 semi-structured expert interviews across 6 case study countries in Europe, selected to represent a range of contexts, was undertaken. Capacities to provide soil health management (SHM) advice are constrained by funding arrangements, limited adviser training and professional development, adviser motivations and professional cultures, all determined by institutional conditions. This has resulted in a narrowing down of access and content of soil advice and a reduced capacity to support the transition in farming to healthy soils. The extent to which emerging policy and market drivers incentivise enhanced capacities in AAS is an important area for future research. |
| format | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| id | oai:repositorio.ual.es:10835-13630 |
| institution | Universidad de Cuenca |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oai:repositorio.ual.es:10835-136302023-11-03T10:08:02Z Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils? Ingram, Julie Mills, Jane Black, Jasmine E. Chivers, Charlotte-Anne Aznar Sánchez, José Ángel Elsen, Annemie Frac, Magdalena López Felices, Belén Mayer-Gruner, Paula Skaalsveen, Kamilla Stolte, Jannes Tits, Mia agricultural advisory services soil health governance agricultural advisers sustainable soil management soil policy advice The need to provide appropriate information, technical advice and facilitation to support farmers in transitioning towards healthy soils is increasingly clear, and the role of the Agricultural Advisory Services (AAS) in this is critical. However, the transformation of AAS (plurality, commercialisation, fragmentation, decentralisation) brings new challenges for delivering advice to support soil health management. This paper asks: To what extent do agricultural advisory services have the capacity to support the transition to healthy soils across Europe? Using the ‘best fit’ framework, analytical characteristics of the AAS relevant to the research question (governance structures, management, organisational and individual capacities) were identified. Analysis of 18 semi-structured expert interviews across 6 case study countries in Europe, selected to represent a range of contexts, was undertaken. Capacities to provide soil health management (SHM) advice are constrained by funding arrangements, limited adviser training and professional development, adviser motivations and professional cultures, all determined by institutional conditions. This has resulted in a narrowing down of access and content of soil advice and a reduced capacity to support the transition in farming to healthy soils. The extent to which emerging policy and market drivers incentivise enhanced capacities in AAS is an important area for future research. 2022-04-20T15:48:16Z 2022-04-20T15:48:16Z 2022-04-19 info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2073-445X http://hdl.handle.net/10835/13630 10.3390/land11050599 en https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/5/599 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess MDPI |
| spellingShingle | agricultural advisory services soil health governance agricultural advisers sustainable soil management soil policy advice Ingram, Julie Mills, Jane Black, Jasmine E. Chivers, Charlotte-Anne Aznar Sánchez, José Ángel Elsen, Annemie Frac, Magdalena López Felices, Belén Mayer-Gruner, Paula Skaalsveen, Kamilla Stolte, Jannes Tits, Mia Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils? |
| title | Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils? |
| title_full | Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils? |
| title_fullStr | Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils? |
| title_short | Do Agricultural Advisory Services in Europe Have the Capacity to Support the Transition to Healthy Soils? |
| title_sort | do agricultural advisory services in europe have the capacity to support the transition to healthy soils? |
| topic | agricultural advisory services soil health governance agricultural advisers sustainable soil management soil policy advice |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10835/13630 |
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