Food System Dynamics (E-Journals)
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The Metadistrict as the Territorial Strategy for Revitalizing the Rural Economy
Get PDFThe purpose of this proposal is to explore a new concept of 'Metadistrict' to be applied in a region of Southern Italy – Apulia - in order to analyze the impact that the activation of a special network between different sector chains and several integrated projects may have for revitalizing the local economy. The Metadistrict model stems from the LAGs and the IPFs frameworks and it may represent a crucial driver of the rural economy through the realization of sector circuits connected to the concept of multi-functionality in agriculture, that is Network of the Territorial Multi-functionality (NTM). It was formalized through a simplified model based on Matrix Organization. The adoption of the Metadistrict perspective as the territorial strategy may play a key role to revitalize the primary sector through the increase of economic and productive opportunities due to the implementation of a common and shared strategy and organization
Sustainable Products and Consumers’ Brand Choice
Get PDFWithin this study selected empirical results out of a 3 year project concerning the analysis of Austrian panel data are presented. Raw data coming from the most important Austrian consumer tracking panel was analyzed with respect to consumers’ variety seeking and brand choice behavior. It is analyzed if consumers tend to switch to “sustainable” (here: organic) products and brands more frequently compared to brand switches between conventional products and brands (significant interrelation between sustainability and consumers’ brand choice). After a brief introduction into a specific variety seeking model operationalizing consumers’ brand switching tendency, a descriptive analysis of the analyzed data set, and analytical outcomes concerning “sustainability” and “brand switching” are presented
Contract Farming: Inclusion of Small Scale Farmers in the Brazilian Biodiesel Production Chain
Get PDFContract farming is a key element for the Brazilian Biodiesel Program, which aim to promote social inclusion of small scale farmers. The relationship between the industry and the farmers is regulated by a certification called Social Fuel Seal. The seal allows to the biodiesel producers favorable financing schemes, tax exemptions and, especially, the right to participate in specific auctions to sell the biodiesel. By the other side, the basic requirements are: i) acquisition of a minimum percentage of raw material from small scale farmers, ii) enter into contract with the farmers, iii) ensure technical assistance and training to the farmers. The Brazilian biodiesel program, in only five year, has obtained positive results. Although the inclusion of 109 thousand small scale farmers represents a small percentage, having in mind the total number of small scale farmers in Brazil (4,5 million), it is a very expressive figure comparing with 40 thousand sugar cane producers involved in the 40 years old ethanol program. The main challenge of the program is to increase the number of small scale farmers supplying the biodiesel industry with oilseed, especially in the Northeast and North regions of Brazil. The creation of a captive market for small scale oilseed farmers occurs under the regulatory framework of the Social Fuel Seal, which demands a mediated agreement between farmers and the industry. The formalization of a contract can be an important factor helping to organize the oilseed production chain, as the coordination of the production chain, including also the by-products, is a key factor
Revealed Comparative Advantage and Competitiveness in Pear
Get PDFThis article focuses on the study of the comparative advantages and competitiveness in the global pear market. First, it will outline a clear distinction between these two concepts, followed by analysis. This paper provides a new index of competitiveness developed by our research based on the insights offered by a wide range of studies on this subject. The aim is to achieve a new line of analysis to improve and expand the possibilities of present day studies
Sophistication and Performance of Italian Agri‐food Exports
Get PDFNonprice competition is increasingly important in world food markets. Recently, the expression ‘export sophistication’ has been introduced in the economic literature to refer to a wide set of attributes that increase product value. An index has been proposed to measure sophistication in an indirect way through the per capita GDP of exporting countries (Lall et al., 2006; Haussmann et al., 2007).The paper applies the sophistication measure to the Italian food export sector, moving from an analysis of trends and performance of Italian food exports. An original way to disentangle different components in the temporal variation of the sophistication index is also proposed.Results show that the sophistication index offers original insights on recent trends in world food exports and with respect to Italian core food exports
How to Defend Market Shares against Foreign Competitors: The Case of Organic Apples in Germany
Get PDFWhile generally the share of imports is increasing in the German organic fruit and vegetable market, the situations seems to be better in the case of organic apples, and the share of domestic produce is comparably high at about 55 %. This contribution answers the question on the reasons and the success factors within the organic apple supply chain. The focus of the research is laid on the relationship quality and on collaboration activities. In order to create a better understanding of the supply chain some information on production, imports and main distribution channels is provided. Structured interviews were conducted with selected actors of the supply chain. Success factors of the organic apple supply chain turned out to be the high relationship quality between actors which results in intense collaboration. Actors at all levels of the supply chain are highly committed and describe their business relations as satisfying and trustful. However, part of the success is also related to the pronounced retailers and consumer preferences for domestic apples
Cluster Initiatives in Poland as a Factor of Economic Development
Get PDFThe cooperation of regional actors from science and business practices within a cluster affects both the competitiveness and innovativeness of companies and regions. The economic benefits achieved by companies participating in a cluster are varied and depend on the individual's experience, human and intellectual capital, organizational efficiency, etc. However, clusters are an important mechanism for stimulating innovation, and therefore in the knowledge-based economy, it is important to form such structures.As part of this publication, assumptions regarding a creation and development of a regional cluster and its positive impact on the economy, both local and regional, which indirectly contribute to economic growth, will be presented
Adaptation in Food Networks: Theoretical Frame Work and Empirical Evidences
Get PDFThe objective of the paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the governance of the food networks focusing on two related aspect: the integration among the agents and the adaptation in the face of emerging disturbances. The paper aims at addressing the problem on what are the role of the adaptation processes in the implementation of sustainable strategies in Food Networks. Adaptation is a central problem of economic organisations (Williamson, 1985, 1991), and its conceptualisation is integrated within complementary theoretical perspectives. Among them, the adaptation theory asks whether integration or non-integration better facilitates ‘adaptive, sequential decision making’ in the sense of Williamson (Gibbon, 2005, p. 205). According to Gibbons (2005) the adaptive, sequential decision-making is modelled in terms of contracting the ex ante allocation of critical decisions rights across firms boundaries to the party who is expected to maximize the total surplus of the relationship. After having elaborated and presented the theoretical framework, the paper illustrates and discusses six cases of governance agreement. Three cases concern with agreement arranged at the Italian National level, three cases regard regional level Food Networks. Beyond the differences in the institutional environments, the cases also differ because of the degree of integration. The field research was carried out by documents analysis and interviews. The paper contributes to the literature by corroborating the theoretical hypothesis (Gibbons, 2005; Wu, 2006) and providing empirical information about the management of Food Networks in the face of emerging disturbances in critical fields: sustainability, quality systems and innovation
Innovation and Development Support – Experiences from Food Networks in Canada and New Zealand
Get PDFA common feature among networks is the focus on innovation but, the approach to driving innovation and handling the innovation procedure differs widely between networks. The formal social networks aim at building personal relationships among members and transfer industry-relevant knowledge to the forum. The formal networks designed with an objective of supporting innovation fund in many cases R&D work, support interdisciplinary collaboration, and provide activities that drive business development. This paper discusses how different networks can promote learning and innovation among their members, however, remembering that the network can only provide a framework – the learning and innovation is up to the members themselves to obtain
Innovative Logistics Concepts in the Floriculture Sector
Get PDFToday most flowers physically pass through the auction houses on their fixed routes from (inter)national growers to (inter)national customers. Physical presence is necessary to allow for physical inspection, quality control and break-bulk activities. Several developments, such as new markets in Eastern Europe and increased virtualization, stimulate the chain to become an efficient florticultural hub-network, in which cut flowers, plants and other products are delivered to customers taking different (direct) routes and using different logistics concepts. The Dutch sector aims to (continue to) be the (virtual) florticultural trading hub of Europe, and has therefore started a 4-year new project called DAVINC3I. The project’s objective is to strengthen the international leading competitive position of the Dutch floriculture sector in a global, virtualized trade network by researching (1) the opportunities for new logistics coordination, consolidation and collaboration concepts in extended international tradeparc networks, and (2) the possibilities for making chain information directly and real-time available and usable to support decision making of all partners in the horticultural network. The aim of this paper is to discuss current floriculture sector developments in supply and demand and identify the main logistics bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement. Based on literature reviews and expert knowledge the research (logistics) challenges that arise from the market developments are revealed