Register now After registration you will be able to apply for this opportunity online.
This opportunity is not published. No applications will be accepted.
How to incentivize the adoption of climate change mitigation measures in Swiss agriculture
Calculation of effectiveness and efficiency of different policy measures that incentive the adaptation of climate change mitigation measures on Swiss farms.
**Background**
Agricultural production contributes substantially to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. In Switzerland, 12.4 % of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions stems from agriculture according to the categorization of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Thus, agriculture is an important player in climate mitigation efforts and Swiss farmers must contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to reach the national targets. However, even if policies support the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on farms, there are economic and behavioral factors that hinder the adoption of mitigation measures.
In this context, agent-based models are critical tools for the understanding of farmer’s behavior in re-sponse to changing economic or market conditions. In the AECP group, we developed the agent-based model FARMIND (FARM Interaction and Decision-making). This approach allows to consider the diversity in farmers’ decision-making with respect to the adoption of climate change mitigation measures (Huber et al., 2022). The model had been parameterized with data from a case study region in the Zürcher Weinland (Kreft et al., 2021; Kreft et al., 2020) and is currently used in two different projects to assess and compare different policy options aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture.
In this thesis, the impact of policy incentives on specific measures (e.g., longer lactation in dairy production or the substitution of concentrates with the own production of legumes) is evaluated.
**Research questions**
• How do different policy incentives affect the uptake of climate change mitigation measures on Swiss farms?
• What are the most effective and efficient policy options?
• What is the effect of farmers economic and behavioral heterogeneity on the effectiveness and efficiency of the different policy options?
**Methods and Data**
The candidate will first choose a specific climate change reduction measure and document its’ implementation in the agent-based model FARMIND. The candidate will then conduct a sensitivity analysis based on an existing code structure in R. She/he will document the results and derive policy implications for Swiss agricultural policy development.
**Related projects and literature**
AgroCOncept: https://aecp.ethz.ch/research/AgroCO2ncept.html
Huber, R., Xiong, H., Keller, K., Finger, R., 2022. Bridging behavioural factors and standard bio-economic modelling in an agent-based modelling framework. Journal of Agricultural Economics 73(1) 35-63.
Kreft, C.S., Angst, M., Huber, R., Finger, R., 2021. Social network data of Swiss farmers related to agricultural climate change mitigation. Data in Brief 35 106898.
Kreft, C.S., Huber, R., Wüpper, D.J., Finger, R., 2020. Data on farmers’ adoption of climate change mitigation measures, individual characteristics, risk attitudes and social influences in a region of Switzerland. Data in Brief 30 105410.
**Background** Agricultural production contributes substantially to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. In Switzerland, 12.4 % of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions stems from agriculture according to the categorization of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Thus, agriculture is an important player in climate mitigation efforts and Swiss farmers must contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to reach the national targets. However, even if policies support the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on farms, there are economic and behavioral factors that hinder the adoption of mitigation measures. In this context, agent-based models are critical tools for the understanding of farmer’s behavior in re-sponse to changing economic or market conditions. In the AECP group, we developed the agent-based model FARMIND (FARM Interaction and Decision-making). This approach allows to consider the diversity in farmers’ decision-making with respect to the adoption of climate change mitigation measures (Huber et al., 2022). The model had been parameterized with data from a case study region in the Zürcher Weinland (Kreft et al., 2021; Kreft et al., 2020) and is currently used in two different projects to assess and compare different policy options aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. In this thesis, the impact of policy incentives on specific measures (e.g., longer lactation in dairy production or the substitution of concentrates with the own production of legumes) is evaluated.
**Research questions** • How do different policy incentives affect the uptake of climate change mitigation measures on Swiss farms? • What are the most effective and efficient policy options? • What is the effect of farmers economic and behavioral heterogeneity on the effectiveness and efficiency of the different policy options?
**Methods and Data** The candidate will first choose a specific climate change reduction measure and document its’ implementation in the agent-based model FARMIND. The candidate will then conduct a sensitivity analysis based on an existing code structure in R. She/he will document the results and derive policy implications for Swiss agricultural policy development.
**Related projects and literature** AgroCOncept: https://aecp.ethz.ch/research/AgroCO2ncept.html
Huber, R., Xiong, H., Keller, K., Finger, R., 2022. Bridging behavioural factors and standard bio-economic modelling in an agent-based modelling framework. Journal of Agricultural Economics 73(1) 35-63. Kreft, C.S., Angst, M., Huber, R., Finger, R., 2021. Social network data of Swiss farmers related to agricultural climate change mitigation. Data in Brief 35 106898. Kreft, C.S., Huber, R., Wüpper, D.J., Finger, R., 2020. Data on farmers’ adoption of climate change mitigation measures, individual characteristics, risk attitudes and social influences in a region of Switzerland. Data in Brief 30 105410.
Calculation of effectiveness and efficiency of different policy measures that incentive the adaptation of climate change mitigation measures on Swiss farms.
Calculation of effectiveness and efficiency of different policy measures that incentive the adaptation of climate change mitigation measures on Swiss farms.