Farming for the future: Understanding factors enabling the adoption of diversified farming systems

Diversified farming practices offer a promising pathway to sustainable food production by providing economic, environmental, and social benefits to farmers and society. However, the factors influencing their adoption are poorly understood, hindering the development of effective promotion strategies. This study presents a comprehensive global meta-analysis of 154 peer-reviewed studies analysing factors influencing adoption. We examined the effects of 71 factors across nine key categories—biophysical context, farm management characteristics, farmers’ attitudes, political and institutional context (access to knowledge, land tenure, financial risk management), and five forms of capital (financial, human, natural, physical, and social)—on the adoption of ten diversified practices in 42 countries across five UN regions. Our results reveal that access to knowledge, social capital, and farmers’ attitudes are key enablers of adoption, surpassing financial, physical, human, and natural capital. Specifically, access to extension services, strong social networks, and perceived environmental benefits significantly correlate with adoption. Land ownership, household income, literacy levels, and shallow soils have smaller positive effects. The influence of these factors varies across practices and geographic contexts, highlighting the complex and multifaceted nature of adoption. These findings emphasize the need for holistic agricultural initiatives and policies to promote the adoption of sustainable practices. Strategies that build technical knowledge and social capital and that are tailored to local contexts, sociocultural norms, and market structures, considering farmers' perceptions and attitudes through codesign processes, are more likely to succeed. Adaptive and context-specific strategies are crucial for fostering the widespread adoption of diversified farming practices and a more sustainable agricultural future. • Meta-Analysis of factors influencing the adoption of diversified farming practices. • Knowledge access, social networks, and farmers' attitudes are key adoption drivers. • Land ownership, soil depth, literacy, and income positively corelate with adoption. • The impact of factors varies across different practices and geographical contexts. • Strategies for promoting adoption should be adaptive and context-specific.