Irish Farmers and Climate Change: The development and application of farmer personas

Combating climate change and reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions has become the main focus of agricultural sectors in recent years. This issue is a massive challenge for many countries such as Ireland who have a large national herd and where agriculture is the country’s largest indigenous industry. Reducing GHG emissions from agriculture requires practice change at farm-level so the design and execution of agricultural supports such as extension services and policy tools which aim to guide farmer behaviour, are of utmost importance to the future of the industry. Issues have arisen in the field of agricultural design for these supports, however, as poor uptake rates and a trend of disengagement has been noted among farmers across Ireland and the EU. One of the key reasons for these design issues is the heterogeneity that exists among the population of farmers which make up agricultural industries and the challenge of catering for their specific needs when developing supports. Going forward, therefore, those involved in policy/extension creation or execution and those who work within Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) must be equipped with representative materials and must understand the specific views and behaviour of farmers; additionally, they must engage more with farmers. This is particularly the case when an urgent issue such as the reduction of farm-level GHG emissions is being addressed. In terms of creating effective materials, accounting for specific farm needs and putting the farmer at the center of the design process, agriculture could benefit from design tools that have proven valuable for other sectors and that is precisely what this thesis shows. With the ultimate thesis objective of developing and applying farmer personas for the exploration of farmer views and behaviour towards the reduction of agricultural GHG emissions in Ireland, empirical data is gathered whereby influences, barriers and context for/explanation of farmer behaviour is explored. With the expansion of a typology analysis into persona creation and through showing the use and value of farmer personas with participatory design and multi-actor approaches, therefore, insightful findings are concluded, and valuable frameworks and principles are presented throughout this thesis. In terms of findings, farmer views on the reduction of GHG emissions at farm-level are concluded, eight representative farmer personas are created and farm specific insights into barriers, influences, farmer decision making and extension method preferences regarding GHG mitigation measure uptake are all examined. In terms of frameworks and principles, a step-by-step process for farmer persona creation and guidelines for the valuable use of farmer personas are respectively proposed. Finally, the farmer persona cards created can easily be shared for future use. The research was informed by embedded understanding of the Irish agricultural sector, which supported participant engagement and contextual insight, while reflexive practices were employed throughout to maintain analytical rigour and neutrality. All encompassing, this thesis performs a multi-disciplinary exploration of the issue as it roots itself in robust farm data and thereafter, completes workshops and interviews with various multi-actors including farmers. Therefore, the challenge of GHG mitigation measure uptake at farm-level is explored from a quantitative and qualitative perspective.