D5.2: Results of ENFASYS experiments and best practices for experimental research on interventions for SFs

Summary

This deliverable presents the results of a large-scale behavioural experiment conducted across ten ENFASYS case studies, aimed at identifying how farmers respond to policy and market interventions designed to accelerate the transition towards sustainable farming systems within the European Union. The work bridges systemic and behavioural analysis by linking System Dynamics Models (SDMs) with Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs), enabling policy-relevant insights that are both empirically grounded and aligned with broader transition pathways.
The DCEs were co-designed with case study coordinators through a structured and participatory methodology that operationalised systemic leverage points as behavioural attributes. This novel approach translated system-level variables, such as income stability, administrative burden, training, market collaboration, contract duration, and supply-chain infrastructure, into specific Discrete Choice Experiment attributes and behavioural surveys tested among more than 1,300 farmers across Europe. Data were collected through a harmonised, GDPR-compliant CATI survey process, and analysed adopting a Latent Class Multinomial Logit model, allowing preference heterogeneity to be linked to farmer characteristics and context-specific policy strategies.
Across the three transition pathways, Low Input Agriculture (LIA), Extensification of Livestock Systems (ELS), and Sustainable Consumption and Direct Selling (SCDS), results reveal a common set of demand signals. Farmers strongly value financial incentives that mitigate income risks, flexible and low-burden contractual arrangements, and measurable environmental or animal welfare outcomes. The relevance of training or advisory support is context-specific: while some groups perceive mandatory training as a burden, others value intensive learning as a mean to reduce uncertainty. Similarly, collaborative tools such as private commercial agreements or shared logistics infrastructure tend to support adoption but rarely act as stand-alone drivers.
The findings challenge one-size-fits-all programme design and instead highlight a need for differentiated and modular incentive structures that can appeal to multiple farmer segments. Policy strategies should therefore provide a predictable “stability track” for risk-averse farmers, emphasising income security and low engagement costs, and an “opportunity track” for profit- or innovation-oriented farmers, offering higher-return, flexible and performance-based incentives. Across all pathways, streamlined procedures, shorter contracts with renewal options, and transparent monitoring of environmental or welfare outcomes emerge as key enablers of uptake.
By producing behavioural evidence fit for future integration into systemic modelling, this deliverable offers a replicable method for aligning farmer preferences with transition strategies, and provides actionable insights for the design of policies that are behaviourally realistic, environmentally ambitious, and socially acceptable. These results will directly inform the SDM-based scenario testing in ENFASYS Task 5.4 and contribute to the refinement of transformative pathways within Task 4.3, ensuring that future policy scenarios are grounded in how farmers actually choose.