Purpose: Edible insects are considered as a novel food in western countries, with their introduction to cuisine having to overcome major barriers, such as disgust. The studies related to acceptance of entomophagy have exponentially grown since 2015. However, such studies generally focus on people older than 18 years old. The purpose of this study is to assess the perceptions of youngsters towards edible insects.Design/methodology/approach: A survey associated with an optional tasting session was conducted to record opinion of 151 youngsters in Belgium (9–17-year-olds).Findings: Many respondents are acquainted with entomophagy and had already eaten insect-based food. Most youngsters associated insects as snacks and salty foods, and they agreed to consume processed insects (falafel) during the tasting session. Tasters had to evaluate the falafel, and higher ratings were recorded in male respondents, as highlighted in studies including adults. More negative evaluations would be expected among older respondents if unprocessed insects were served, as they were more willing to consume processed insects than entire insects. Finally, attitudes towards entomophagy evolved positively after the tasting session. Such events are consequently recommended to promote entomophagy across western youngsters.Originality/value: Few studies explored the attitude of western youngsters towards entomophagy. This paper aims to fill this gap by focusing on this young component of the Belgian population.

The industrial sector in Burkina Faso faces two significant energy challenges access to efficient energy sources that are also renewable. Pyrolysis and gasification are emerging as conversion pathways that exploit available agricultural and industrial biomass. Pyrolysis has been adopted successfully, whereas gasification failed without getting beyond the experimental stage. This article assesses potential barriers to the adoption of gasification based on interviews with the stakeholders of the energy sector (users, NGOs, policy makers). We use pyrolysis as a benchmark to point out the barriers to adoption. The hierarchical analysis process (AHP) method was applied to identify the most significant barriers to the adoption of gasification. Twenty-seven barriers were identified and prioritized in two dimensions and five categories “technical”, “economic and financial”, “socio-cultural and organizational”, “political, governmental and institutional”, and “ecological and geographical” barriers. The category of socio-cultural and organizational barriers emerged as the most critical in the adoption of gasification. This category deserves special consideration to go past the pilot installation stage and adopting this technology.

Nowadays, in the North China Plain (NCP), most counties and suburban rural regions are promoting the "coal to gas" program under the situation of strong government support of large and medium-sized centralized biogas production (CBP) projects. This paper is aimed at the CBP projects, focuses on rural residents’ “willingness to use (WTU)”, “willingness to buy (WTB)” and the influencing factors for WTU/WTB. Through the analysis of rural residents from Hebei and Shandong provinces that belong to NCP in this survey, we find that 85% of respondents support the CBP program and the WTB is 63.15 CNY/year per capita, which is much lower than the cost of rural CBP in existing survey regions. The participation of rural residents is not only a manifestation of personal and family characteristics; understanding of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and household energy practices are more important. These non-economic factors seriously affect WTU/WTB. Hence, it is necessary to appropriately increase the government revenue to such projects, strengthen government guidance and publicity, improve the environmental knowledge and attitude of rural residents and guide residents’ practice. Based on a fully understanding of residents’ consumption decision mechanism, we establish a financial support mechanism due to the demand response, adopt a correct calculation for financial support, such as a reasonable subsidy rate, and seek the greatest commonality of cost, financial support, and demand.

Agricultural white pollution is a pressing concern in China. However, the efficiency and rationality of the government’s subsidies for mulch film management remain ambiguous. To formulate reasonable policies for mulch film management and optimize fiscal resource allocation, the study employs cost–benefit analysis to evaluate the economic performance of mulch film management. Two environmentally friendly measures being primarily proposed in China, namely the application of thicker mulch film (hereinafter referred to as thicker film) and the substitution of biodegradable mulch film (hereinafter referred to as biodegradable film), are selected for analysis, with conventional mulch film (hereinafter referred to as conventional film) serving as the benchmark for comparison. Primary data obtained through field surveys, supplemented by secondary data from national statistics, industry reports, and literature reviews, are used for the study. Results show that thicker film application is cost-effective, with a net benefit of CNY 3208.8/ha (USD 449.2/ha; 1 CNY = 0.14 USD), which is CNY 253.8/ha (USD 35.5/ha) higher than that of conventional film. The net benefit for biodegradable film application is lower than that for conventional film, at CNY 2244.6/ha (USD 314.2/ha). The results reveal the significant potential of promoting the use of thicker film due to its recycling and economic advantages. Findings imply that the further promotion of its use lies in improving farmers’ cognition and optimizing subsidy dimensions to allocate government financial resources more effectively. On the contrary, biodegradable film utilization is unprofitable and relies on continuous external subsidies. The government can optimize the subsidy standard based on the cost–benefit performance of different mulch films applied and provide incentives to promote cost reductions and efficiency increases. Further analysis indicates that sustainable mulch film management entails developing mechanisms to internalize the external benefits of management and innovating a new governance landscape.

A package of innovations was disseminated in urban agriculture and created real opportunities for employment, income, and the supply of vegetables of high nutritional quality. However, ten years later, farmers are working for a daily income of less than United State Dollars 1.25, and critical exceedances of heavy metal content standards in crops are recorded. Survey data collected from 202 farmers were used to identify, via the Logit model, the factors influencing the sustained adoption of the of two contrasting innovations of the package. The results of the exploratory survey of 537 farmers showed that 2.42% owned a motor pump, while the in-depth survey revealed that 25.2% of the 202 respondents were using motor pumps at the time of the survey. A total of 74.8% watered with buckets and watering cans. The high cost of the motor pump makes it inaccessible to farmers. Some tried to circumvent this constraint, which led to group purchases. Integrated soil fertility management was used by 58.4% of respondents. In total, 41.6% applied only chemical fertilizers. However, Integrated soil fertility management has been hampered by farmers’ difficulties in accessing organic matter. The results of the Logit model revealed that no socio-demographic factors were significant for sustained adoption of the motor pump. They were relevant, rather, for integrated soil fertility management, where a single factor (mutual aid) appeared to play a role, albeit a moderate one. Economic factors such as land tenure status and diversification of income sources were significant for a sustained adoption of the motor pump. In contrast, no economic factors were significant for a sustained adoption of the integrated soil fertility management. Institutional factors such as access to credit and membership in an association were significant for sustained adoption of the two of innovations studied. A series of avenues to follow to improve the productivity of farms is proposed. We suggest an in-depth study of the mutual aid practiced by 86.1% of the farmers. The results of this study can be taken into account in research and policy aimed at improving adoption of innovative techniques that are beneficial to farmers in developing countries.