Van den Broeck, GoedeleDelsoir, LouiseLouiseDelsoir2025-07-012025-07-012025-06-1020252025-06-10https://hdl.handle.net/2078.2/43342The excessive pesticide use in modern agricultural systems has led to severe environmental pollution and public health concerns. The outdoor vegetable sector in Flanders illustrates these intensive systems. Despite substantial public investment in voluntary agri-environmental schemes and the emergence of promising private sustainability programs, farmers’ uptake of reduced-pesticide practices remains limited, often due to incentives not tailored to their needs. To tackle this problem, this master thesis explores farmers’ preferences for public and private pesticide-reduction contracts to inform the design of more effective policy and private strategies. This research is the first Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) that directly compares farmers' perceptions and preferences across both public and private institutional frameworks for pesticide use reduction. It also distinguishes itself from previous DCEs by exploring farmers’ acceptance for pesticide-free but non- organic production systems. The econometric analysis revealed a widespread reluctance among farmers to adopt pesticide-reduction contracts. While no clear overall preference for either public or private contracts emerged, farmers' preferences for specific contract attributes varied depending on the institutional origin. Farmers showed a stronger preference for higher payment levels and a greater aversion to long-term commitments under private contracts. They also displayed a preference for low-pesticide over pesticide-free systems within private agreements. Across all contract attributes, payment level and contract duration proved to be the most influential factors shaping farmers' decisions. This research offers valuable insights for both policymakers and private stakeholders. It highlights the necessity of designing contracts with sufficiently high compensation and shorter durations to enhance adoption rates. This study serves as an initial approach within the DCE literature to directly compare public and private contracts for pesticide reduction, providing insights for developing more effective and acceptable initiatives to transition towards less pesticide-dependent agricultural systems.DCEpesticidereductionvegetableFlanderslabelledpublicprivatetext::thesis::master thesis