Food System Dynamics (E-Journals)
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“AgBalance – My Virtual Farm”. A Simulation Game for a Competition of Students and Scientists in Order to gain Insights into the Concept of Tradeoffs in Sustainable Agriculture
Get PDFAgBalance comprises a multi-criteria life cycle based approach in combination with a defined aggregation and summary of single results into a single sustainability score (Frank et al. 2012). AgBalanceTM delivers results that enable farmers, the food industry, politicians and society to objectively evaluate processes in terms of their sustainability profile. In doing so, a vast amount of information on individual factors can be ascertained in addition to overall statements on the sustainability of agricultural practices (e. g. ploughing). AgBalance was finalized in mid of 2011. In September 2011, the methodology was given independent assurance by the global expert agencies such as DNV Business Assurance. AgBalanceTM can be used to map an individual farm or the whole agricultural sector in one region, for example. The focus can either be on the agricultural production system alone or on the processes that have established themselves downstream in the value chain, such as logistics or processing. Measuring sustainability can be a central key to steady improvements towards sustainable agriculture. It is therefore an essential requirement that it succeeds in translating results from complicated life-cycle analyses into farmers’ everyday reality and to derive specific recommendations for action from this. Novel IT solutions are required in order to make use of LCA-based knowledge for a more sustainable crop management on-farm. This is the basic idea of the online game “AgBalance – My Virtual Farm”
Pursuing Added Value in the Irish Agri‐Food Sector: An Application of the Global Value Chain Methodology
Get PDFIn 2015, under its Food Wise 2025 strategy, the Irish government set itself the ambitious target of increasing Ireland’sincome from agri‐food exports to €19 billion within ten years, an 85 per cent increase. This paper analyses the structureof the two main food systems in Ireland; the dairy and beef industries, to examine value chain efficiencies in productionneeded to achieve such a level of growth. This paper, lays bare a reality characterised by significant inefficiencies andsuggests innovations to increase the competitiveness of the industries internationally. Moreover, the paper recognisesthat the ability of stakeholders to add value to primary products in the two main Irish food systems is key to the successof the Food Wise strategy.The methodology that the paper employs to analyse the dynamics of the Irish dairy and beef systems is the GlobalValue Chain (GVC) methodology championed and developed by the Center on Globalization, Governance &Competitiveness at Duke University. Through the disaggregation of the various segments that comprise the foodsystems, the GVC methodology allows for a multidimensional analysis, and for the identification of whererationalisation is required and where value may be added to primary products. The paper presents value chain mapsfor both the Irish dairy and beef systems to compare and contrast the structures, institutions, characteristics andeffectiveness of the two value chains. The comparison illustrates cogently where rationalisation is needed and wherevalue may be added.The paper finds that the Irish dairy system is more fragmented than the systems of other dairy‐producing countries andthat at the farm and processing levels it still requires, despite much rationalisation since the 1980s, substantialconsolidation may still be necessary.Regarding where value may be added to primary products, the paper finds that in the Irish dairy system there remainsan over‐reliance on basic commodity sales and that innovation to open up entirely new markets, both in terms ofproducts, such as in the area of sports nutrition, and geographically, such as middle‐eastern markets, with whitecheese, is required. Regarding the Irish beef system it finds that while there is not as much scope for productdiversification, innovation in branding and standardisation could produce a considerable dividend.Comparing value chain integration, the institutional structure built upon farmer owned cooperatives in the dairy sectorallows for greater coordination and responsiveness to market opportunities. The beef value chain however is much lessintegrated, beset by cross‐value chain competition and low levels of trust, which has implications for future valuegeneration and transformation across the chain
Economics of Goat and Ewe Milk Cheeses with Protected Designation of Origin in Europe
Get PDFWe present an overview of the added-value created by Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) labelling scheme for goat and/or ewe milk cheeses in Europe through literature review. A food product wearing the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) label has an original trait, strictly related to its area of origin, this trait is not reproducible outside this area. A PDO food product is produced and processed and prepared in its area of production and benefits from a long lasting good reputation. The PDO labelling scheme is based upon the peculiar combination of pedoclimatic conditions and local know-how which makes the product unique and original. The PDO label is a guarantee of origin and protects the collective brand name against fraudulent naming of PDO-like products coming from nowhere, such as Feta-like industrial cheese
Urban AgriCulture and Food Systems Dynamics: Urban Gardening and Urban Farming of the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg region, Germany
Get PDFAgricultural activities within the city boundaries have a long history in both developed and developing countries. Especially in developing countries these activities contribute to food security and the mitigation of malnutrition (food grown for home consumption). They generate additional income and contribute to recreation, environmental health as well as social interaction. In this paper, a broad approach of Urban AgriCulture is used, which includes the production of crops in urban and peri-urban areas and ranges in developed countries from allotment gardens (Schrebergarten) over community gardens (Urban Gardening) to semi-entrepreneurial self-harvest farms and fully commercialized agriculture (Urban Farming). Citizens seek to make a shift from traditional to new (sustainable) forms of food supply. From this evolves a demand for urban spaces that can be used agriculturally. The way how these citizens’ initiatives can be supported and their contribution to a resilient and sustainable urban food system increasingly attracts attention. This paper presents an empirical case study on Urban AgriCulture initiatives in the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg region (Germany). Urban AgriCulture is still a niche movement with the potential to contribute more significantly to urban development and constitute a pillar of urban quality of life
Hacking the CAP – Options to redesign the European Agricultural Policy
Get PDFIn 2020 the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union has to be renewed. This raises the question which policy would be optimal for the 3rd decade of the century, seen the changes in agriculture (decline in the number of farmers, effect of ict and other new technologies, concentration in the food chain etc.) and public issues that ask for solutions (climate change, sustainability, need for jobs and growth in rural development, food policy etc.)The history of the CAP has shown that policy changes are often incremental. Some argue that especially in 2020 changes will be small as the term of the policy is out of sync with the budget cycle (important decisions on the CAP are not taken without a decision on the EU’s financial framework) and as the CAP decision will be at the moment that the current commissioners hand over their mandate to their successors. However this should not prevent scholars from coming up with fresh ideas on how the policy could be made more effective and efficient for a resilient agriculture and food and nutrition security in a sustainable environment.To do so, this paper takes the view that the CAP is a bundle of policy instruments to reach several policy objectives, that not necessarily are consistent or have synergies but where trade-offs exist. That means that Tinbergen’s rule applies: achieving the desired values of a certain number of policy targets requires the policy maker to control an equal number of instruments.In our analysis we re-interpret Article 33 of the Treaty of the European Union (that defines the CAP) in current policy objectives and specific targets. We then look for the most effective policy instruments for each of these targets. We discuss synergies between instruments in the execution of the policy. To test the robustness of these policy targets and instruments we stress-test them against three scenario’s for the future of agriculture and the food system: High Tech, Self-Organisation and Collapse. These three scenarios have been published by the EU’s Standing Committee on Agricultural Research’s strategic working group AKIS (Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems).This leads to a redesigned CAP, fit for the 3rd decade of this century, as robust as possible for external scenario’s on agriculture. Finally we discuss the discrepancy between the current CAP and our suggestions for the redesigned CAP
How do Farmers interact with Input Suppliers: Some Evidence from the Dairy Sector in Poland
Get PDFThe extensive and growing literature on food supply chain has been mainly focused on relations between farmers, processing and retail sectors. Various studies have investigated for example the determinants of supply chain relationships (e.g. Dries et al., 2014) and a situation of small-scale producers in the face of rapid supply chain restructuring (e.g. Briones, 2015; Vorley et al., 2007). However, a systematic understanding of how farmers interact with input suppliers is very scarce. In response to this, the paper aims at improving our knowledge about farmers’ relations with input suppliers.The specific example that we examine comes from the Polish dairy sector, which seems to be particularly well suited for investigating relationships within the food value chain. On the one hand, fragmented structure of local farms, and poor income situation of small agricultural holdings are frequently emphasised (Milczarek-Andrzejewska, 2014). On the other hand, Polish dairy and feed sectors have undergone a thorough modernisation (Dries et al., 2011; Piwowar 2013). Rising farmer demand (due to production technology change being necessitated by milk productivity improvement) and increased competition in the feed sector have led to new vertical relations between the farm and feed production segments. Vertical coordination took many forms, including contracting, advisory programs, financial support etc. However, the existing theoretical and empitical literature on vertical spillovers through backward linkages (i.e. from buyers to suppliers) is scarce and focused on manufacturing (Kuijpers, Swinnen, 2016; Jarzębowski, 2013).A study on the relationship between dairy farmers and feed producers means that we examine also the relations between two agri-food chains. These two – dairy and feed – supply chains are vertically connected. The feed supply chain ends at the farm level where the feed is finally used in the milk production process, and where the dairy supply chain starts. Our study allows then to characterize the “boundary” segments of supply chains
Financial Markets and Agricultural Commodities: Volatility Impulse Response Analysis
Get PDFThe recent global food crisis has caused an increase in agricultural market volatility, raising important questions on the determinants of this instability. Many studies have analyzed this issue focusing on main factors affecting price volatility, as past volatility and trends, transmission across prices, oil price volatility, export concentration, stock levels and yields (Balcombe, 2010).Existing empirical literature identifies different drivers of volatility; among them, financialization and speculation are by far one of the most important. Indeed, with the introduction of agricultural commodity as an alternative asset class in investment portfolios, and the consequent increasing integration between commodity markets and major financial markets, there has been a growing convergence of risk-adjusted returns on assets class across markets, and an increase in the risk of volatility spillovers from outside to commodity markets due to portfolio rebalancing of institutional investors (Adams and Gluck, 2015)
Food Scares: Reflections and Reactions
Get PDF2014, a researcher from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health stated in a newspaper interview that she never touched chicken with her bare hands. This interview was the beginning of a media storm, which resulted in a 25% sales drop for chicken within three months. To be able to understand why this interview had such a strong effect, we conducted an explorative case study. Findings from previous studies of food safety behavior indicate that consumers are irrational and that information is not enough to change behavior. Gigerenzer (2015), however, argue in a recent article that the claim that people are hardly educable lacks evidence. He cites Simon (1985) quote that “people are generally quite rational; that is, they usually have reasons for what they do” and claims that teaching people to become risk savvy is a true alternative to nudging.The aim of our study is to shed light on the rationality debate by exploring consumers’ reflections and reactions to the previously mentioned food scare article. Data from five focus-group interviews with Norwegian consumers of chicken were transcribed, content analyzed, and in-vitro coded, before we conducted a multiple correspondence analysis in PAST. We developed a graphical plot of our results, which we visually inspected and interpreted. The findings indicate that consumers do reflect when confronted with food scares. Some question the research behind the news, others wonder how dangerous this food scare is compared to other risks. Consumers are not irrational, even though their emotions co-occur more often with their behavior than their reflections
Accelerating System Development for the Food Chain: A Portfolio of over 30 Projects, Aiming at Impact and Growth
Get PDFSupply of fresh food is of vital importance to feed Europe in a healthy way, while Europe has also an important role in feeding the world. Food products and other perishables such as flowers impose very challenging demands on the management of its supply chains. Food networks are struggling with an integrated usage of information and communication technology (ICT) that enables the heterogeneous stakeholders in the food chain to exchange information in real-time and control workflows based on requirements with respect to quality, costs and schedule. Innovative ICT systems that are addressing such challenges are currently being developed by a large European initiative, called FIWARE. Within this paper, we will discuss a portfolio of 31 projects that are realising solutions for the food chain in close collaboration with supporting business partners. Diverse food related topics are addressed, such as logistics, transport, planning and control, tracking and tracing, information management as well as new ways to realise e-commerce within the chain as well as for consumers.The FIWARE initiative is accelerating startups and supporting SME type technology developers that are realising solutions for real world business cases, which are serving as reference customers and test cases to assure an end-user acceptance and valid business models. This paper discusses the main food chain related topics and innovation potentials that are addressed as well as outlines the related methodological and technological approaches that are used to facilitate the realisation of impact and growth for commercial exploitation
Mergers & Acquisitions in the Food Business: How did the 2002 and 2008/2009 Economic Crises Impact Corporate Valuation?
Get PDFTransaction market multiples are widely used as benchmarks for negotiation between buyers and sellers. This research focuses on financial performance expressed as transaction market multiples of sales, EBITDA and net profit for the 2002-2009 period.The number of transactions declined much more in 2002 than in 2008 and 2009, but the value of transactions displayed the opposite trend. The 2008-2009 economic crisis impacted the valuation of food companies more than the 2002 crisis. Market multiples declined much more in 2009 than in 2002 and 2003.On average, transaction multiples are stable, even though their values on a given year are affected by economic cycles.The EV/EBITDA provides results with smaller spread than EV/ Sales and EV/net profit. The present research shows that valuations of dairy companies are quite close to the average valuations in the food business. But valuations of wines and spirits companies are a lot higher than other food business companies. Transaction market multiples at food subsector level provide more accurate tools to the stakeholders of M&A in order to avoid over-payment and financial distress