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Abstract
The 2014-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform defines new
rules for farmers including maintenance of the ecological focus area (EFA). Sustainability
is also a requirement to meet consumer expectations and a competitive advantage
for firms. This paper aims to evaluate the farmers’ intention to implement sustainable
practices related to the EFA measure and to the private sustainability schemes
proposed by the food industry. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was applied
on a sample of durum wheat producers to analyse intentions 1) to maintain 7% of the
arable land as an EFA, and 2) to implement the private sustainability scheme. Structural
equation modelling was applied to test for the relative importance of intention
determinants. The farmers’ attitude and past behaviour positively affect intentions to
implement the EFA, while perceived behavioural control and attitudes predict intentions
to adopt the private sustainability scheme. These results suggest possible interventions
that public authorities and supply chain leaders might implement to stimulate
farmers’ sustainable behaviours.