The socio‐economics of niche market creation: A social ecology paradigm for the adoption of organic cultivation in Greece

Farmers’ decision to adopt organic cultivation and create niche markets is their response to the changing notions of quality and the gradual abandonment of the productivist logic in agriculture. This decision is analyzed within a multi‐level social ecological context designed to account simultaneously for all facets/parts of the farmer's decision‐making process. Social ecology provides a contextual platform conceptualizing global‐regional‐local relationships within which niche markets for food products are created. Emphasis is placed on farmers’ perception of the “environment” within which they have to decide on their participation in a policy scheme. Elements of the macro (global), meso (national/regional) and micro (farm household) “environmental” levels, affect the farmer's decision to adopt organic cultivation. Accordingly, a decision‐making tree reflecting how farmers perceive that environment and form their decisions is constructed, and statistical models test the impact of factors in the global‐regional‐local levels on this decision‐making process.