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All crops need something : The influence of drought experience on the implementation of sustainable water management into agricultural practices among dairy farms in Salland, the Netherlands

Alberts, Anouk (2023) All crops need something : The influence of drought experience on the implementation of sustainable water management into agricultural practices among dairy farms in Salland, the Netherlands.

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Abstract:The Netherlands is predicted to face more severe and frequent droughts due to climate change. Farmers use over 60% of the land in the Netherlands and are highly reliant on water. This thesis investigates how farmers’ decisions to implement sustainable water management practices are influenced by experience with drought. Factors affecting farmers’ decision-making and their relationships with the implementation of sustainable water management practices were identified in a literature review. A qualitative study in the form of semi-structured interviews and document analysis investigated the relationship between the identified factors. The Salland region was selected for the empirical study, as farmers in this region have different experiences with drought due to geomorphological differences within Salland. I found that drought experience impacts several factors important in the farmer decision making process, especially on internal and external adaptive capacity. How former experience impacts these factors is related to former (mal)adaptation by farmers. Furthermore, it was found that experience of more significant droughts resulted in more drought resilient implementation of sustainable water management practices. A final finding showed the inability of the water authority to reduce drought damage to individual farmers negatively affects the farmers' perception of the authority, and that the institutional setting is hindering drought adaptation.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:88 social and public administration
Programme:Public Administration MSc (60020)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/94415
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