Food System Dynamics (E-Journals)
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Proceedings in System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks 2018
No full textProceedings of the 12th International Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks, February 05 - 09, 2018, Igls/Innsbruck, AustriaEndorsed by EAAE - European Association of Agric. EconomistsIFAMA - Intern. Food and Agribusiness Management AssociationCIGR - International Association of Agricultural EngineersINFITA - Intern. Network for IT in Agric., Food and the Environmen
Land rights protection in the pulp and paper production system
Get PDFThis article explores how the quality of institutions influences the strategic choice of agents in the pulp and paper production system based on the forest plantation sector. In order to proceed with the study, we employ the Economic Analysis of Property Rights (Barzel, 1982, 1989, 2002) as foundation, and test the proposition: in federative states where the institutional environment is fragile and therefore the State has a high cost to enforce property rights, private mechanisms stand out in the protection of property rights. According to Dixit (2009, p. 8), “if the government does not protect property rights, at least not as well as owners require, many private arrangements arise to satisfy the owners' needs”. The analysis of three business cases of companies with plantations in more than one federative unit revealed the broad range of private mechanisms in place to cope with insecure land rights. In addition to countrywide strategies, in the federative units where government fails to be a good property rights steward, we found geographically specific initiatives being used. Another finding was the identification of variables that are able to evaluate the quality of institutions and employed in the companies´ decision-making process for the selection of land rights protection strategies. Findings altogether are empirical evidence of how the quality of institutions influences the strategic choice of land rights protection in the forest plantation sector in Brazil
An Analytical Approach to Support Urban Agriculture Policies Development: Case Study of Barcelona
Get PDFThe increasing impact due to urban population’s food supply causes a series of negative externalities related to food production, transformation and transportation. FAO and other institutions are trying to integrate traditional models of food supply with alternative ones like Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (UPA). Defining the drivers that motivate the participation in different types of UPA could be useful to plan more participated and effective UPA development policies. Barcelona (Spain) hosts a number of cases representing different declinations that UPA can assume. This work aims at describing the differences in terms of motivations to enter the various typologies of Urban Agriculture (UA) in Barcelona. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews to 4 groups of users representing 3 of the most widespread models of UA initiatives in Barcelona (Allotment Gardens, Community Gardens, Pla Buits.)The results showed that participation in UA is mainly motivated by relational aspects and knowledge exchange and differences exist among the various UA models. Political reasons are mostly influencing the Community Gardeners while Pla Buits users’ mains motivations are related to socialising and Allotment gardeners are mainly motivated by environmental aspects. Differences in the participants’ demographic characteristics also emerged. Better targeted public policies contents and communication strategies for UPA development can thus be derived by the results obtained; to this end, recommendations have been provided. Further research should broaden the range of case studies and the sample size, in order to provide a more effective and comprehensive tool for tailoring UPA developing strategies to different contexts
Applying System Analysis and System Dynamics Modelling In Complex Research Projects - The Case Of VALUMICS
Get PDFVALUMICS is a Horizon 2020 project funded by the European Commission (2017-2021). The project structure is highly integrated and transdisciplinary, building on the expertise of over 30 specialists in various fields of research including knowledge integration through systems analysis and system dynamics modelling, food science, supply chain management, life cycle assessment, logistics, economics and social science. The aim of the project is to analyze the dynamics of food supply systems using a structural analysis including system analysis and perform system simulations using system dynamics. The VALUMICS research approach and the project design are explained and it is justified why system analysis is needed to obtain an understanding of the complex connections and interactions of the distinct parts of food systems. Patterns will be recognized and thus causes and effects of complex relations within the selected food supply system and networks will be identified. This understanding of the functioning of the system can in turn be used to identify policy interventions
Public Images of Dairy Farms among Urban Dwellers in Bogotá, Colombia
Get PDFThis study explores the public images of dairy farms among urban dwellers in Bogotá, Colombia. For the study, d esigned as an explorative case study, 30 participants were interviewed using a triangulated research method including a word association task, a drawing exercise, and a semi -structured interview. Public images reflected traditional dairy farms and were constructed through personal experiences with peasants and traditional manors.Product choice was based on health and hygiene, associated with modern dairy farms. Yet, modernization was argued to threaten animal welfare, the environment, and peasant livelihoods. To ensure socio-cultural sustainability, traditional production systems need to be better integrated into the modernization process
Highlighting a Key Question for the Common Agricultural Policy: Adoption of Agriculture System Types
Get PDFOne of the key questions that concerns policy makers, related to the long term planning of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), is the form of agriculture that farmers intend to follow in the future. In order to highlight that question, a sample of producers from the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace in Greece were surveyed and analyzed in order to identify and assess the factors that influence farmers’ adoption of organic, conventional or integrated agriculture systems. The paper methodologically applies double-valued logistic regressions, one for each form of agriculture, to the selected sample. Results indicate that producers' training and high awareness of CAPpolicies are positively correlated with the future adoption of organic farming systems, while the adoption of integrated agriculture depends on producers’ age as well as their positive or negative opinions regarding the conventional agricultural system
From Cocoa Producers to Chocolatiers? Developing an Entrepreneurial Model for Small‐scale Producers in Honduras
Get PDFPurpose ‐ The cocoa value chain exemplifies the imbalances often seen in the global trade of commodities. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the likeliness of cocoa growers to become entrepreneurs and chocolatiers and to reflex about the impact this would have in their socioeconomic context.Design/Methodology/Approach – This research studies the possibility of entrepreneurial endeavors using the concepts of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) developed by Ajzen (1991). This way, a quantitative model based on the findings from Liñán and Chen (2009) was created, in which the Personal Attitude (PA), Subjective Norm (SN), and Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) along with other personal and social variables ‐in this case the Readiness to be an Entrepreneur (RE)‐ affect directly the Entrepreneurial Intention (EI).Findings – Findings suggest that 75% of the farmers showed Entrepreneurial Intention and other entrepreneurial characteristics such as knowledge of the market, technology and regulatory framework. The existence of an organization of social capital in the same village, run by the wives of the farmers, alsoadds to the entrepreneurial intention of the village, since the main goal is to add value and produce chocolate.Originality/Value – This research provides insight of the mindset shared by Honduran cocoa growers about performing in the chocolate industry. At the same time provides a raw image of the living conditions these individuals face and how their view of the chocolate industry is affected by their need to escape poverty
Agriculture in Nigeria’s Economic Diversification Process: A Study of a Poultry Outgrower Scheme
Get PDFNigeria’s current economic plan targets diversification through leveraging the power of the private sector in order to enable and fast‐track business investments and job creation. This paper reports a study of a model of a poultry outgrower scheme ‐ Akwa Prime, used in catalysing private investments in the poultry sector of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The scheme shares the potential of combined strength of the state and that of the private sector in stimulating increased production and integrating of small livestock farmers to the national economy. The study’s specific objectives were to examine the extent of smallholder farmer involvement in contract negotiations including price setting; the role of the key participants, particularly the regulatory function of the state in an out‐growerscheme construct; and the impact of the scheme on socioeconomic improvement of smallholder farmers. Thisresearch was conducted with 42 smallholder independent broiler poultry farmers who are registered members of the Akwa Prime outgrower scheme and receiving a range of input support and good production practices aimed at optimization. Findings show a positive impact of the scheme on small independent poultry farmers’ productivity, profitability and survival. Contract negotiations and key participants role were fully documented. Participating farmers were found to have high income and stocking density while the cost of day old chicks and other production inputs provided by the scheme accounted for 99.1% (R2=.991) of the variation in farmers income. This positivechange on the bottom line of small independent poultry farmers indicate the prospects for greater deployment of out‐grower model to stimulate agriculture productivity and growth. However, despite some benefits there were major bottlenecks including compromised role of the state, imposed buyback price on farmers and late offtaking of the finished stock. The implication of this finding is that small poultry farmers left alone with their independent business choices may not stimulate much diversification driven by agriculture
The Role of Inter‐Organisational Relations and Networks in Agribusiness: The Case for the Polish Fruit and Vegetable Industry
Get PDFThis paper contributes to the ongoing discussions on the benefits of inter‐organisational networks (IONs) in agribusiness. It is based on the field of inter‐organisational relations (IORs) and network approaches that are applied in the framework of the Activities‐Resources‐Actors (ARA) model. The aim of this paper is to recognise and evaluate the distinguishing features of network relationships, which lead to better defined networks in agribusiness. Polish fruit and vegetable producers, processors and traders were investigated in this study. The study reveals that the main objectives of network relationships are to increase profits, this is linked to the optimisation of supplies and provisions, the building of communities and relationships and sustainable development. The outcomes of network relationships have been recognised as the non‐transactional exchange of knowledge and information, mutual adaptations, adjustments and standardisations. They are led by strong transactional relationships in the supply chain, which are based on pricing conditions, terms of payments, formal contracts and cooperation. This study distinguishes five categories of inter‐organisational network relationships they are: very strong operational, strong sustainable, moderate social, weak innovative and very weak shared resources. The paper concludes that the studied networks are characterised by strong activity and actor ties and weak resources bonds. Specifically the lack of shared resources might negatively influence the networks innovation and sustainability in the future
Nutraceutic Food: Testing The Consumer’s WTP for Sunflower PUFA Oil
Get PDFNutraceutical foods are supposed to procure medical or health benefits beyond the effects of nutrients compounds alone. However, few of them are accompanied by convincing health claims, as the response to nutraceutical components varies from subject to subject, depends on the concentration of bioactive components and their efficacy must be tested in repeated clinical trials. Many medical studies have proved the non-substitutable roles of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids (PUFA) in many biological and regulatory patterns. The purpose of this research is to test the consumers’ attitude to sunflower PUFA oil and their willingness to pay (WTP) a premium price for the quality of this nutraceutical food. The inference is based on the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) able to capture the complexity of credence quality of this nutraceutical oil to influence the customer decisions. A survey with “ad hoc” questionnaire using CASI technique was submitted to a sample of consumers located in the northeast region FVG in Italy. The results confirmed the two above hypotheses and suggested to frame the communication strategy according with claim regulation to strengthen the customization for PUFA sunflower oil