1,721,030 research outputs found
Foreword Special Issue in '‘Short food supply chains in Europe: Evidence from the SKIN project’
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Investigating food losses and waste issue from a network perspective
No full textIn recent years, the negligent behaviour, wasteful management of resources, and simultaneously huge levels of undernourishment have been making the food loss and waste (FLW) issue more and more pressing: the seriousness of the problem stands out when also considering the consequent greenhouse gas emissions deriving from an useless production that remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years. The causes of food loss and waste can certainly be traced in the lack of proceduralisation along the agri-food chains and of knowledge transfer among stakeholders. A shared and proceduralised strategy that improves the effectiveness of the entire supply chain can certainly be a good starting point. Not-shared policies and strategies and missing proficient management of resources can be the possible causes. Several policy and research initiatives are in progress all over the world, but miscommunication and lack of knowledge seems to be the issue to be dealt with. Therefore, building a chain-oriented communication and innovative relational approach can represent a good strategy in order to reduce and to improve the FLW concerns. The aim of this paper is to propose a new methodological approach that analyses the FLW issue from a network perspective within the relationship between agri-food chain spatial proximity and relational networks. Social ties play a significant role in agricultural knowledge exchange, particular in countries very suited to agriculture and depending on rural structure. The assumption is that the chain works as a not oriented ‘path’ graph, that is weakly connected, or weak: it is expected that ‘missing networks’ or isolate nodes are characterized by a greater amount of FLW. Changing the agri-food chain in an oriented clique characterized by strong communication and relationship makes it possible to assign right position and role to different chain’s actors thus finding a new equilibrium aimed at decreasing FLW
Private capital in the rural development programme: the case of the Apulia Region, Southern Italy
No full textThis study analyses the role of private capital in modernising agricultural holdings, as implemented by the Rural Development Programme (RDP). Specifically the authors refer to the Measure 121 (Axes I) of the RDP 2007–
2013, as decided by the Apulia Region; the main aim of this measure, in accordance with Art. 20(b)(i) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1698/2005, is the modernisation of agricultural holdings through grants to be invested in
farm machinery and equipment. The aim of this work is to verify how private capital (cofinancing) that an agricultural holding is willing to invest in influences the amount of public aid received. Leveraging the generalised
propensity score (GPS) method, a doseresponse function is estimated based on a dataset of Apulia farms. The results highlight the influence of private capital in increasing the probability of firms being granted public aid
Sustainable use of water resources in Italy in the perspective of the CAP 2021-2027
No full textHistorically, the water resources management has been foreign to the CAP. The theme begins to be present in the 2007-2013 programming period, within the Rural Development Programs (Axis II) and limited to the qualitative protection of water. Even the EU Water Framework Directive focused, in 2000, only on the qualitative state of water. In the Communication of the Commission on Water Deficiency of 2007, the theme of a water price policy was introduced to encourage the efficient use of the resource (De Filippis, Zucaro, 2019). In the 2014-2020 programming period, the protection of water resources is one of the priority challenges for sustainable development, both in terms of quality (protection from pollution) and quantity (more efficient use of the resource). In Italy, the sustainable use of water has become a strategic priority of the 21 regional RDPs and the National RDP (De Filippis, Zucaro, 2019). In this context, the rational use of water resources is a strategic tool to pursue the economic and environmental sustainability of the agri-food sector. Therefore, this work aims to analyze the withdrawal of water in the primary sector in Italy and the conditions that influence the value of the water resource, evaluating the impacts on the water resource management deriving from the CAP reform proposal. Italy is among the most water-rich countries with an annual availability of 155 billion m3, equal to a per-capita volume of 2,700 m3. The estimated water footprint in Italy, referring to production or the total volume of water used in Italy for the production of goods and services, is about 70 billion m3 of water per year. Agriculture is the economic sector that uses greater volumes of water, equal to 85% of the total. The remaining 15% is divided between industrial production (8%) and domestic use (7%). The estimated water footprint in Italy, referring to withdrawals or the total volume of fresh water used to produce the goods and services (in Italy and abroad) consumed in Italy, is about 132 billion m3 of water a year. Food consumption (both agricultural products and products of animal origin) contributes to 89% of the total daily water footprint of Italians (La Sala, 2019). The distribution of the Italian water network, with an extension of over 210,000 km, is very fragmented and the water losses deriving from the water network stand at an average value of 40% and are concentrated in the southern regions (Co.Vi.R.I., 2005; ISTAT, 2015). Italy is the second European country in terms of irrigated area, equal to 2.4 million hectares (ISTAT, 2010). The propensity to use irrigation potential (irrigated area / irrigable area) and the propensity to irrigation (irrigated UAA / total UAA) are respectively 65.6% and 19.3% (ISTAT, 2010). In Italy, about 35% of the water supply used by farms comes from groundwater. As regards the economic aspects connected to the use of irrigation water in agriculture and in the agri-food sector, the determination of the water value is an indispensable element for an efficient allocation of the resource connected to the minimization of the lower gain deriving from alternative uses of one insufficient resource stock to cover the entire demand. Agriculture for irrigation purposes is the first user of water resources and important impacts derive from it: quality of production and induced (industry, employment); environmental benefits; landscape; development of rural areas; food safety (La Sala, 2019). The theme of the impact and result indicators is not secondary in the management and, therefore, in the determination of the total economic value of the water (understood as the sum of the values of use and non-use), especially in view of the CAP 2021- 2027. The proposals on the new CAP confirm the structure on two pillars and report 3 general objectives that are articulated in 9 specific objectives that identify a less agricultural and more environmental and territorial CAP. In this framework, the water resources management increases its importance compared to the past, being explicitly mentioned in the specific objective 6 “Efficient management of natural resources such as water, soil and air” (De Filippis, Zucaro, 2019). But the challenges of the future CAP are above all in its governance, with important new features both in the New Delivery Model, that is a more focused and result-oriented support model, in terms of targets to be reached and indicators with which to evaluate achievement, both in the further widening of the margins of autonomy of the Member States, explicitly called upon to draft a national strategic plan, including both pillars, with which to apply the CAP in a flexible way, adapting it to its own national needs. Based on these analyzes, the conclusions of the work illustrate the opportunity to improve the water resources management within the two pillars of the new CAP
Rural development in the area of Pollino: integrated design of an "atypical" Chain. In: 118th EAAE Seminar "Rural development: governance, policy design and delivery" (Con CD-ROM). Bled, 25-27/08/2010, LJUBLJANA: Slovene Association of Agricultural Economists, ISBN: 978-961-6204-51-4
No full textThe agro-food sector is moving increasingly towards new forms of organization much more articulate and with a higher degree of coordination, whether in the form of vertical and horizontal integration both within the bargaining between players of different levels of the chain. The trend is, therefore, those released by the recent actions of the Agricultural Policy characterized by the introduction of appropriate financial instruments to the development of chain: first Integrated Projects to Chain.
To this aim, an objective of this research is to study and analyze the relationship between the definition of the sector, as theorized by the economy agro-food, defining and examining the various theoretical and methodological approaches to the issue - from Malassis to a Porter - and agro-food chain as well as expected of agricultural policy interventions, starting with its Supply Chain Contracts of Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture 01/08/2003 "Policies, rules and procedures for the implementation of contracts for supply chain" to Integrated Program of Chain under the Rural Development Program (RDP) from 2007 to 2013 by region.
The research, thus, will compare and evaluate the differences between theory and practice of supply chain analysis, to interpret the dynamics of vertical and horizontal coordination among agents and define the issues that most affect the ability of professionals to give added value to produced goods and to gain a competitive advantage.
Thus, starting from the identification of the value chain of economic processes, the actors involved, its mechanisms of regulation and competitive strategies in the value chain, we want to arrive at a concept of an organizational pattern for rural development at local level able to integrate vertically and horizontally actors of local development.
The report will cover the methodological innovation to establish a chain called "atypical": the agro-territorial chain of Pollino.
This chain is located in the local production system Pollino - Lagonegrese, being recognized by the Basilicata Region in accordance with Regional Law 1/2001, which includes 27 municipalities, all in the province of Potenza, located in the south western region of Basilicata.
The agro-territorial chain of Pollino goes beyond the classical approach to the sector, emphasizing multiproduct aggregation, belonging to different sectors, or a multitude of marginal producers, whose interests may not be represented within specific sectors traditionally understood, which point on the great specialist products and concentration of financial resources.
It is a chain multisector or intersector that is focussing on the quality and territorial identity of the productions for which the major factor of integration and competitive advantage is in the strong relationship between companies and territory and in the social value and economic implications of agriculture protected area.
Thus, having identified the needs, the vertical and horizontal relationships, the different legal profiles in the chain, the survey aims to understand how, through the agency theory and model for "Main - Agent", the relationship between actors in the chain can be improved in order to determine the increase in value added and competitive advantage, adding the theory of social welfare and public goods, which characterizes the spatial dimension. Indeed, the methodological novelty of this work will consist to the innovation of the classic concept of chain, typical of the agrarian economy, with the theories of social well-being, which in this context, represent agricultural diversification and rural development.
In summary, designing a new pattern of chain that combines productivity theories, traditional economy contract, with those of social well-being and environmental economics: multifunctionality and biodiversity improved to the needs of revenue and efficiency of companies of different phases of classical chain
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