Smallholder perspectives on agrivoltaics in Nepal: Framing adoption under constraint

IF 6.1 1区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Agricultural Systems Pub Date : 2025-07-21 DOI:10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104453

Shira Bukchin-Peles , Avri Eitan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Context

Agrivoltaic systems (AVS), which combine agricultural production with solar energy generation, are increasingly promoted as a dual-use response to land, energy, and climate pressures. Yet, in low-income, smallholder-dominated settings like Nepal, AVS uptake remains limited. Understanding how farmers perceive and evaluate such technologies is essential for inclusive and feasible implementation.

Objective

This study investigates how smallholder farmers in Nepal initially evaluate and conceptualize the conditions necessary for adopting agrivoltaic systems (AVS). Drawing on a conceptual framework combining Post-Normal Science and the Social-Ecological Systems framework, it analyzes farmer-generated suggestions for enhancing AVS accessibility and examines how these are shaped by household characteristics, structural constraints, and differing perceptions of risk and institutional trust.

Methods

A structured survey was conducted with 265 smallholder farmers in Nepal's Jhapa district. The study included open-ended questions on improving AVS accessibility, a measure of willingness to participate in a pilot project, and socioeconomic indicators. Qualitative responses were thematically coded using a hybrid NLP-assisted and manual process. Correlations were calculated between thematic codes, adoption intent, and household traits.

Results and conclusions

Farmers identified five conditions they consider essential for adopting AVS: affordability, access to training, compatibility with existing cropping systems, institutional support, and usability on small plots. These perspectives varied systematically with farmer characteristics. Willingness to participate in a pilot project was high (91 %) but not uniform. Willingness increased with income, education, and land access, and declined with higher aversion to uncertainty. Rather than a uniform readiness, adoption was framed as a conditional and negotiated process, shaped by structural constraints and perceived institutional credibility.

Significance

This study challenges assumptions of linear or purely incentive-driven technology adoption by foregrounding the contextual, structural, and interpretive conditions under which smallholders consider AVS viable. It shows that adoption is shaped not only by material resources but by farmers' framings of risk, institutional trust, and system compatibility. Effective AVS implementation in smallholder contexts requires alignment with locally defined priorities, production constraints, and governance expectations.

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尼泊尔小农对农业发电的看法：约束下的框架采用

农业光伏系统（AVS）将农业生产与太阳能发电相结合，作为对土地、能源和气候压力的双重用途响应而日益得到推广。然而，在尼泊尔等以小农为主的低收入国家，自动驾驶系统的使用率仍然有限。了解农民如何看待和评估这些技术对于包容性和可行性的实施至关重要。目的本研究调查尼泊尔小农如何初步评估和概念化采用农业光伏系统（AVS）所需的条件。利用结合后常态科学和社会生态系统框架的概念框架，本报告分析了农民提出的提高农用农业系统可及性的建议，并考察了这些建议如何受到家庭特征、结构约束、不同的风险认知和制度信任的影响。方法对尼泊尔Jhapa地区265名小农进行结构化调查。该研究包括关于改善AVS可及性的开放式问题、参与试点项目的意愿以及社会经济指标。使用混合的nlp辅助和手动过程对定性反应进行主题编码。计算了主题代码、收养意图和家庭特征之间的相关性。结果和结论农民确定了他们认为采用AVS必不可少的五个条件：可负担性、获得培训的机会、与现有种植制度的兼容性、机构支持以及小块土地的可用性。这些观点随着农民的特点而系统性地变化。参与试点项目的意愿很高（91%），但并不一致。意愿随收入、教育和土地获取而增加，随对不确定性的厌恶程度增加而下降。采用不是统一的准备，而是一个有条件和谈判的过程，受结构限制和公认的机构信誉的影响。本研究通过突出小农认为自动驾驶系统可行的背景、结构和解释条件，挑战了线性或纯粹激励驱动的技术采用假设。研究表明，农民的采用不仅受到物质资源的影响，还受到农民风险框架、制度信任和制度兼容性的影响。在小农环境中，有效的AVS实施需要与当地定义的优先级、生产限制和治理期望保持一致。

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来源期刊

Agricultural Systems 农林科学-农业综合

CiteScore

13.30

自引率

7.60%

发文量

174

审稿时长

30 days

期刊介绍： Agricultural Systems is an international journal that deals with interactions - among the components of agricultural systems, among hierarchical levels of agricultural systems, between agricultural and other land use systems, and between agricultural systems and their natural, social and economic environments. The scope includes the development and application of systems analysis methodologies in the following areas: Systems approaches in the sustainable intensification of agriculture; pathways for sustainable intensification; crop-livestock integration; farm-level resource allocation; quantification of benefits and trade-offs at farm to landscape levels; integrative, participatory and dynamic modelling approaches for qualitative and quantitative assessments of agricultural systems and decision making; The interactions between agricultural and non-agricultural landscapes; the multiple services of agricultural systems; food security and the environment; Global change and adaptation science; transformational adaptations as driven by changes in climate, policy, values and attitudes influencing the design of farming systems; Development and application of farming systems design tools and methods for impact, scenario and case study analysis; managing the complexities of dynamic agricultural systems; innovation systems and multi stakeholder arrangements that support or promote change and (or) inform policy decisions.