Food System Dynamics (E-Journals)
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Learning to Learn: A Case for the Heterogeneous Expectations Hypothesis in Industrialized Markets
Get PDFA cobweb model is developed where the heterogeneous expectation hypothesis is examined. An agent’s heterogeneous expectation involves the development of a “higher ordered learning” process in which agents over time develop expectations that are consistent with rational expectations. In addition, as cob web models are production based systems, an agents’ heterogeneous expectations are influenced by a specialization of activities. The case of the industrialization of the U.S. hog-pork industry is used to illustrate the influence of these features on the equilibrium and non-equilibrium properties of a modified cob-web model
Quality Labels in the Food Sector: What do Consumers Want to Know and where are they Looking for Information?
Get PDFThis study analyzes consumers’ information needs concerning quality labels in the food sector. We analyzed that by using one of the most well-known quality labels for food products in Austria as our research object (the quality label of the organization AgrarMarkt Austria, the so-called AMA Seal). Apparently, there is a lack of consumer-oriented information. Up to now, the type of information consumers of AMA sealed products demand is more or less unknown. Therefore, the objectives of this study were (1) to identify consumers’ actual use of information and (2) their information needs about quality labels to provide needs-based consumer information
Acceptance of a Sustainability Standard: Evidence from an Empirical Study of Future-Oriented Dairy Farmers
Get PDFAs a major agricultural subsector, milk production plays an important role in the EU 28. Political decisions such as the aboli-tion of the milk quota system in 2015, highly volatile milk prices and fierce international competition have led to challenges for both farmers and dairies and a need to improve competitiveness. The concept of sustainability in the form of a produc-tion standard can be seen as a means for both dairy farmers and dairies to gain competitive advantages and meet stake-holders’ demands. Farmers’ acceptance of a sustainability standard is an important factor for its successful implementation. Therefore, future-oriented farmers are an important target group for dairies. This study investigates future-oriented dairy farmers’ acceptance of a comprehensive sustainability standard and, based on their responses, categorizes farmers into three different clusters: ‘halfhearted sustainability proponents’, ‘highly dedicated sustainability proponents’ and ‘profit-oriented sustainability refusers’. Further analysis provides insights into the determinants of farmers’ acceptance of a sus-tainability standard. The results of this study provide manifold starting points for deriving managerial implications for dair-ies and the implementation of sustainability standards
Quality Management in Broiler and Pork Supply Chains Aimed at Reducing Risks of Antimicrobial Resistance: an Elicitation Workshop
Get PDFDevelopment of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered to be one of the main human health problems. Livestock production, particularly hog and broiler production, are regarded as sources of human exposure to resistant pathogens. It is envisaged that the issue of AMR will be on the agenda of both policy makers at various levels (e.g. supra-national (EU), national and production organisations) and researchers. In the last decade a large range of (potential) exposure and/or risk reducing measures have become available or are envisaged. Examples are:− On-farm: reduction of usage of antimicrobial agents, more robust animals, therapeutic alternatives to antimicrobials and increased bio-security;− Beyond-farm: various cleansing and disinfection measures, cross-contamination reducing logistics within the entire chain, various types of meat processing ways which reduce the prevalence of pathogens and further contamination.Chain-wide implementation of (sets of these) measures is complex and involves simultaneous consideration of various issues, such as: the potential to reduce microbial exposure to humans, the (economic) impact on livestock production, (cost-)effectivity technology and acceptance by the general public, asymmetry of effects and costs between chain participants, the risk of counteracting risk-reduction downstream the chain, legal and institutional thresholds, compliance and governance. Quantitative risk-based economic analysis of (sets of) measures throughout the supply chain can support decision making in this regard. Such analysis should be comprehensive and focused on optimal (i.e. low risks and low additional costs) and coherent sets of measures.Given the complexity of the matters, a conceptual framework was developed to facilitate subsequent quantitative analysis. This framework describes qualitatively all possible factors and aspects that influence both human exposure to pathogens and economic performance. Two levels are considered: (1) the on-farm level and (2) the beyond-farm level up to consumer. Moreover, the issue of (economics of) (non-) compliance is included. Furthermore, the framework includes a rather complete list of risk reducing measures and their direct and indirect relations with human exposure and production costs.Because (1) the range of potential measures, and (2) the range of various criteria each (set of) measures can be characterized by and on which they can have positive or negative impacts on, analysing all options together is quite laborious. Therefore, it makes sense to elicit a set of promising measures for subsequent quantitative analysis
Importance of Coordinated Interactions of Multiple Stakeholders for Developing Products with Health Claims
Get PDFDuring the development of products with health claims the collaboration and interaction of several disciplines and independent partners is necessary such as the production, quality, marketing, legal functions of the company, the external providers of the knowledge on the constituent having the claimed physiological effect, the clinics carrying out the human intervention studies, statisticians, laboratories providing testing services, etc. This results in a higher dependency from each other and less flexibility compared to the development of a conventional product where mostly in-company functions work together. Therefore systematic coordination of the multiple interactions, careful design of the product and its development process is particularly important
Spatial Integration of Milk Markets in Uganda
Get PDFThis paper examines whether milk prices within Kampala are cointegrated with those in other major towns of Uganda. Theperiod of estimation is from July 2005 to March 2015. We use retail monthly prices for raw milk. We obtained the datasetfrom Uganda Bureau of Statistics. Using Engel Granger’s two‐step error correction approach, we examine the relationshipthat exists between prices for raw milk in Kampala and the regional markets. Our analysis provides evidence of a long‐runcointegration relationship between Kampala and Gulu, Mbarara and Masaka milk markets. On the contrary, we failed toreject the null hypothesis of no cointegration between Kampala and Arua, Jinja and Mbale milk markets. Regarding theGranger causality tests, the results reveal that causality mainly originates from the milk supply towns. This implies that milkprices in Uganda are supply driven. The speed of adjustment of the model is 50%, i.e. half of the disequilibrium in thesystem is corrected in one month time period. These results have important implications for the dairy sector in Uganda. Thepaper discusses these implications
Towards a Sustainable Meat Production with Precision Livestock Farming
Get PDFIn future years, modern farmers will be under greater pressure to care for a large number of animals in order to remain economically viable. There is a growing global awareness of welfare conditions in animal production and a tendency towards more intensive production, resulting in a need for better genetics and a more precise way to monitor them. The challenge and the success of intensive farming will lie in how precisely we can steer the animals towards their genetic potential. Sensors have the potential to replace the eyes, ears and nose of the farmer by continuously assessing different key indicators throughout the production process, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The continuous automated monitoring of varying needs of individual living farm animals at every moment and anywhere is called Precision Livestock Farming (PLF). The aim of this paper is to describe how PLF-systems are used within the EU-PLF project to work towards an automated assessment of sustainability on farm level, by continuous monitoring of animal behaviour. The roadmap towards a sustainable meat production, viewed from a technologist’s point of view, is described hereafter in four steps. This phase comprises an implementation of PLF tools, where the basic inputs are measured and monitored in function of time. In a next step, a more complete control of the production process is pursued. In this step, the animal is used as a sensor to gather evidence on the animals’ bio response to its environment and management by the farmer. The final step towards the management of the meat production is through the monitoring of emissions and resource efficiency. PLF-technology and continuous monitoring of animal bio responses will improve the understanding of the production process. This will allow the farmer to manage his process by exception. Production data collection and sharing will enhance the transparency throughout the production chain and help the consumer make educated decisions
Building a Competitive and Sustainable Horticulture Business Model for “tHuismerk”
Get PDFThe greenhouse horticulture sector in the Netherlands is experiencing serious competitive issues. A combination of factors such as excess production, insufficient local demand, declining exports and retail price pressure has made it impossible for growers to make any profits. In response to this situation, a group of 10 green house vegetable (tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants and bell peppers) growers has agreed to join hands and work towards creating a new business model. To formalize this cooperation they have agreed to work on creating a joint brand and named it “tHuismerk” At this stage they need help in developing a differentiating and profitable business model for “tHuismerk”.To assist in this, the authors have developed a theoretical framework and have explained how the components of the theoretical framework can be used to develop an executable business model. The application of this framework is presented in the context of a real case study.Participating students are tasked with developing the business model using this background information and the theoretical framework presented in this paper. Four concrete questions have been provided to provide guidance
On the Normalized Herfindahl-Hirschman Index: A Technical Note
Get PDFWe compare the application of two different normalization procedures for the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index. We show that structural differences exist between the two indices and derive the conditions for which these differences are more or less substantial
Pros and Cons of Introducing a Mandatory Country of Origin Labelling for Dairy Products in Germany
Get PDFIn Germany, different voluntary labelling schemes are in place to describe the origin of dairy products covering varying degrees of binding conditions, for example, brands with geographical information privately defined combined with relatively vague obligations, private label initiatives (e.g., Regionalfenster)1In contrast to other products, like most meats, fruit and vegetables, provision of information on the country of origin or place of provenance is not mandatory for milk and milk as an ingredient. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers identifies the need to explore the possibility to extend mandatory origin labelling for selected foodstuff categories, i.e. dairy. Thus the EU issued a study aiming to evaluate cost and benefits of introducing a mandatory country of origin labelling (MCOOL) for dairy products (EU Commission, 2015). The study intended to analyse a range of issues covering the need of consumers to be informed, the feasibility of providing mandatory indication of the country of origin or place of provenance, and, an analysis of the measures’ economic implications, including the aspects concerning the common market and likely impacts on international trade