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Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) aims to address climate change, climate variability, and food security while sustaining productivity. The literature on acceptance and adoption of CSA technologies recognizes the importance of the policy environment in shaping farmers' decisions, particularly the policy mix, including economic, regulatory, and information instruments to stimulate CSA acceptance. Behavioral models have been used to better explain CSA acceptance, however, only a few studies integrate farmers' behavioral drivers and their policy mix appraisal, which in combination, are important determinants for the successful acceptance of CSA. This paper proposes a model that integrates behavioral drivers and policy mix appraisal influencing the acceptance of CSA technologies. We aim to examine how farmers' behavioral drivers and their appraisal of the policy environment influence the acceptance of CSA technologies and practices. We studied the Costa Rican coffee sector and conducted 523 surveys with coffee farmers and two focus groups with experts, extension agents, and cooperatives. An ordered probit model was used to identify factors explaining CSA acceptance. The results indicate that besides the influence of behavioral drivers, policy consistency and comprehensiveness and the type of instrument targeting farmers' behaviors play an important role in explaining CSA acceptance. Our results suggest that a positive appraisal of policy consistency and comprehensiveness are important for increasing farmers' acceptance of CSA and sustainable practices. This deepens earlier thinking on "policy packages" effectiveness by showing that the farmers' appraisal of the overall policy mix influences their decisions to engage with CSA. Our study shows the importance of considering system context effects (policy environment) on farmers' decision-making. Since the integration of behavioral drivers and the appraisal of the policy mix characteristics is relatively underexplored for CSA, our empirical results may help to unravel farmers' decision-making processes. Thus, it can be used for rethinking and adjusting policy interventions toward more balanced and comprehensive policy mixes, as it enables feedback from policy implementation and can further induce policy learning. [Display omitted] • We determine the factors influencing farmers' acceptance of Climate-smart technologies • CSA acceptance results from behavioral predictors, socioeconomic drivers, and policy appraisal • Policy consistency and comprehensiveness are key drivers for increasing farmers' acceptance of CSA • Integrating behavioral drivers and policy appraisal enhances the understanding of system contextual effects on farmers' decisions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural food production is both affected by and contributing to climate change. At the global scale, agri-food systems are responsible for one-third of total greenhouse gas emissions. With progressing climate change, the risks of crop failure increase. Thus, an urgent need is to reduce emissions from food systems while increasing their resilience to climate change. Enormous untapped potentials to achieve these dual goals lie in transforming agri-food systems towards more diverse, plant-based, and regional food production systems. In this paper, we present an innovative approach for identifying climate-adapted alternative food crops that could (1) help to diversify existing cropping systems and thus increase their climate resilience and can be (2) nutritious elements of plant-based regional diets with reduced emissions. The approach builds on the model ecocrop to select food crops that could benefit from regionally projected changes in climate. The model-based analysis is complemented with a literature review to examine the ecocrop results for their plausibility and provide a broader assessment of potentials for cultivation, utilization, and nutritional values of model-selected crops. The approach is applied to Switzerland, where we identify eight alternative crops with the potential to increase climate resilience while contributing to healthy human diets of regional consumers with benefits for climate mitigation (almond, pecan, sesame, durum wheat, quinoa, lentil, lupine, and borage). The literature review indicated that the increasing demand for many of these crops suggests great potential for regional marketing of crop products. The results produced in this study provide an initial guide for researchers and innovative farmers interested in experimenting with alternative crops in Switzerland, thus promoting climate-smart food system transformation from the production side. Using our unbiased bottom-up screening approach, we identified climate-adapted alternative crops that can provide essential nutrients, cover nutritional gaps in Switzerland, diversify existing production systems, and improve sustainability. [Display omitted] • Innovative bottom-up screening approach identifies climate-adapted alternative crops. • Almond, pecan, sesame, durum wheat, quinoa, lentil, lupine, and borage are identified. • Identified crops provide essential nutrients and cover nutritional gaps in Switzerland. • Selected crops can diversify existing production systems to improve sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]