63,658 research outputs found
Sustainability and UK food policy 2000-2011
No full textA report on food, farming, sustainable consumption and production.Publisher PD
Foundations for Farming Website
No full textMetadata only recordThis website provides information on the activities and outcomes of Foundations for Farming, an international NGO dedicated to promoting Conservation Agriculture as a means of poverty reduction and food security. The organization currently works in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Malawi, hosting training sessions and facilitating the dissemination of Conservation Agriculture ideologies and practices
Organic Farming Policies and the Growth of the Organic Sector in Denmark and the UK: A Comparative Analysis
Get PDFThere has been little systematic analysis of the extent to which organic farming policies have influenced growth in the organic sector. Analyses of organic farming policy instruments, for the most part, provide extensive and detailed reviews of instruments applied either in a single country or across countries. Hence, there is a great need to examine systematically whether there is a relationship between the introduction of organic farming policies and the growth of the organic food sector, and whether particular designs of organic farming policies are more effective than others. In this paper, we take the first step in the endeavour of analysing the effects of organic farming by undertaking an econometric analysis of the relationship between organic farming policies in Denmark and the UK and their effects on the number of farmers and growers converting to organic production.organic farming, policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management,
Farming smarter, not harder: securing our agricultural economy
Get PDFIn the context of rising global demand, resource scarcity, and environmental pressures, this report considers the future of Australian agriculture.
Global populations are growing and food prices are skyrocketing. This creates new market opportunities for Australian agriculture. But Australia has fragile and vulnerable soils, which are being degraded at an unsustainable rate.
If we continue with ‘business as usual’, we will keep losing soils faster than they can be replaced. Acting now to improve soil condition could increase agricultural production by up to 2.1 billion per year. It could also help farmers cut costs on fertiliser and water use.
“Winners of the food boom will be countries with less fossil fuel intensive agriculture, more reliable production, and access to healthy land and soils” said the report’s lead author Laura Eadie. “How we manage our land and soils will be key to whether Australia sees more of the upsides or downsides of rising global food demand.”
Farming Smarter, Not Harder finds that Australian agriculture can build a lasting competitive advantage through innovation that raises agricultural productivity, reduces fuel and fertiliser dependence, and preserves the environment and resources it draws on. To achieve this, Australia needs to:
Invest in knowledge: increase government investment in research and development by up to 7% a year; increase funding for extension programs; implement the Productivity Commission’s recommendation to set up Rural Research Australia; fund the national soil health strategy with an endowment sufficient to support ongoing research and monitoring for at least 20 years.
Stop chopping and changing support for regional natural resource management:
Federal and State governments should commit to a 10-year agreement to provide stable longterm funding for regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) bodies, including specific funding to monitor long-term trends in natural resource condition.
Enable accountable community governance of land and soil management: To enable farming communities to protect themselves from free-riding, they should be supported to develop stewardship standards based on a shared understanding of what it takes to maintain productive agricultural landscapes over the long term.
Align financial incentives with the long-term needs of sustainable farming communities: In addition to the drought policy reforms announced on October 26, drought assistance policies should support farming communities to take a lead in preparations for more frequent and severe droughts, and should be linked to community stewardship standards.
“Recent projections indicate the potential doubling of exports by 2050, according to the National Food Plan and ANZ-commissioned Greener Pastures report. Our work looks at how to support farmers dealing with the practical challenges of seizing this opportunity, in the context of soil degradation and rising input costs”, said Laura Eadie.
The case to increase research funding and foster innovative farming is made even stronger by the likely impacts of climate change. Without action to adapt to more variable and extreme weather, by 2050 Australia could lose 6.5 billion per year in wheat, beef, mutton, lamb and dairy production.
The report profiles leading farmers who are already seeing the benefits of innovations in sustainable farming. It proposes simple measures to support them and the agricultural communities that depend on healthy farming landscapes.
Download Farming Smarter, Not Harder report in full
[Australia\u27s newly appointed Advocate for Soil Health, Michael Jeffery, also chairs the non-profit organisation Soils for Life which is already actively encouraging wider adoption of smarter farming. The Soils for Life report Innovations for Regenerative Landscape Management showcases a range of case studies of these farming innovations in practise, and the positive economic, environmental and social outcomes they are achieving. Read the case studies, learn more about the challenges landscape degradation will bring and what we can do about it at www.soilsforlife.org.au.
Organic Farming: Status, Issues and Prospects – A Review
Get PDFThis review paper attempts to bring together different issues in the light of recent developments in organic farming. The after effects of green revolution have encouraged the farmers to take up organic farming. This paper has reviewed the global and Indian scenario with reference to organic farming. In India, the cultivated land under certification is 2.8 Mha only. The key issues emerging in organic farming include yield reduction in conversion to organic farm, soil fertility enhancement, integration of livestock, certification constraints, ecology, marketing and policy support. The potential for organic farming, especially in the dryland regions has been discussed. It has been argued that organic farming is productive and sustainable, but there is a need for strong support to it in the form of subsidies, agricultural extension services and research.Agricultural and Food Policy,
Integrating Small Scale Farmers into Bread Wheat Marketing Chain through Contract Farming in Ethiopia
Get PDFThe treatment effect censored regression model results of this study showed that educational level, value of agricultural equipment and number of oxen owned affected the participation decisions of the farmers in bread wheat contract farming significantly. The most important factors that determine gross margin obtained from bread wheat production were contract farming experience, the number of oxen owned and participation in contract farming. However, technical efficiency differences and management practices followed were not the reasons for differences in gross margin between the participant and non-participant farmers.Contract farming participation, Gross margin and Treatment effect model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,
Agreement entered into between SIS Farming (Pty) LTD (SIS) and Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU)
Get PDFAgreement entered into between SIS Farming (Pty) LTD (SIS) and Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU)
VERTICAL INTEGRATION IN AGRICULTURE AND CONTRACT FARMING
Get PDFIt has been widely argued recently that agriculture is undergoing a process of vertical integration with allied industries. One of the worldwide ways of vertical integration in agriculture is contract farming. Contract farming is a continually evolving process. Worldwide applications of contract farming have shown that the terms of contracts are shaped by their own conditions and varied from product to product. Also, each country has its own experiences. Contract farming has many advantages for both producers/growers and integrators, besides some inherent disadvantages and failures regarding its implementation. Some measures, however, could be taken to outweigh these advantages for both sides. In this study, first of all, a brief history is presented along with an explanation of contract farming concepts. Secondly, the reasons behind contract farming are discussed. And, successes and failures of contract farming are analyzed based on several research works and articles. Finally a simplified model is presented for the success of private contractual arrangements in the light of evidence taken from the experiences on the world.Vertical integration, contract farming, out-grower schemes, Agribusiness,
Importance of organic farming research in Sweden for innovations and increased sustainability in agriculture
No full textOrganic farming is known to be a knowledge intensive production system and there is a strong need for new knowledge and innovations to achieve increased sustainability. Furthermore, many of the research goals defined in national and international research strategies for organic agriculture are addressing questions relating to the development of more sustainable food and farming systems in general. Organic systems can thus be seen as a fore-runner and an innovation system to sustainable food and farming (TP Organics, 2009; EPOK, 2013)
Quality labels as drivers of periurban livestock farming resilience
No full textThe purpose of this study is to analyse the contribution of local food certifications in maintaining and developing the farming system in periurban areas. The case study is the periurban area of Pisa, a medium-sized Italian city, representative of urban sprawl and Mediterranean farming systems. The methodology combines quantitative and qualitative analysis. 12-years statistical data on the evolution of the livestock system were compared with interviews to the local food chain’s actor, to assess the evolution of “Carne Bovina di Pisa”, a private label promoted by the local livestock producers’ association. While statistical data have revealed a constant decreasing of livestock producers in the area, results from interviews have shown that this project has allowed to maintain livestock in the periurban farms, where farmers especially engaged in short food supply chains. Nevertheless, despite the initial enthusiasm of both farmers and consumers toward the product, several factors have hampered the evolution of such project and so the evolution of the farming system. These factors are especially connected to the distribution and marketing of supermarkets. By the one side supermarkets can mobilise bigger quantities of product, and allow a greater visibility of the project, by the other side they have difficulties in the adaptation to traditional and artisanal product processing. The constant capacity of intermediary actors to mediate between different actors, may support the resilience of such projects. For this reason, actions of coordination are needed to guarantee the sustainability of the certified food chains
- …
