Drivers of the adoption of organic farming in Brazil: a combinatorial analysis

The general objective of this study is to identify the combinations of eco-innovation drivers associated with Brazilian municipalities in which a large proportion of farms report that they engage in organic farming. To this end, a theoretical review identified 11 drivers, which were classified as internal and external to the farms. The data were obtained from the 2017 agricultural census, published by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Qualitative comparative analysis was used to identify the combinations of drivers associated with organic farming. The results showed that no single driver can be considered necessary. Nonetheless, two combinations of internal drivers and three combinations of external drivers were found to be sufficient to explain the existence of a large proportion of properties engaged in organic farming. These findings contribute to the literature on eco-innovation in agriculture and to the monitoring of public policies.