A discrete choice experiment-based framework for designing farmer-centric voluntary carbon credit programs: A policy...

Smallholder agriculture both contributes to and remains highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change; however, the participation in India's voluntary carbon credit (VCC) programs, which aim to mitigate these effects by sequestering CO₂ in agricultural soils, remains limited. Given their early stage of development, both the implementation and scholarly assessment of VCC programs are still emerging in the Indian context. This study is the first to examine the willingness of Indian smallholder farmers to engage in these programs. To fill the existing micro-level evidence gap and emphasize effective pathways, this study conducted a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) survey of 100 smallholder farmers in Buxar, Bihar, India. The conditional logit results indicate that farmers strongly prefer upfront financial incentives and targeted training support, while the latent class analysis reveals three distinct farmer segments, highlighting considerable heterogeneity in program attribute preferences. Farmer-centered frameworks that address local needs and promote collective action are likely to be the most effective in encouraging widespread participation in VCC programs. These findings indicate that VCC programs should prioritize upfront incentives rather than post-adoption payments and incorporate structured training modules to reduce informational barriers and implementation risks. Such design attributes offer actionable insights for policymakers, development organizations, and carbon market stakeholders aiming to promote climate-smart agriculture in India.