Rethinking Organic Farming in the Post‐Socialist Context: Lessons from Bulgaria

On the basis of an in‐depth qualitative study, this article discusses the case of Bulgaria as an example of a new EU Member State that implemented EU organic farming policies in a top‐down process during EU accession. We explore the difficulties in transposing a concept originating in Western Europe to post‐Socialist countries, and particularly ask what this transposing of an alien concept means for long‐term development of the organic sector. We found that the top‐down agenda‐setting for organic farming in Bulgaria resulted in inefficient policies that inhibited an orientation of producers towards the market's needs. Tacit assumptions underlying the concept of organic farming in Western Europe, such as the relevance of social capital could not be sustained in Bulgaria, which added to the challenges of policy implementation. To increase policy efficiency, we recommend a policy process that involves the expertise of all organic sector actors, including organic operators, but also policymakers, organic organisations, consumers and academic experts. Expertise and knowledge requirements are diverse, touching policy, market, collective action and practice‐oriented skills. Integrating these skills could maximise success in finding the best solution for implementing – and adjusting – a foreign concept meaningfully in a particular local context.     

The future of Russia’s agriculture and food industry between global opportunities and technological restrictions

This paper reports on the result of a major foresight exercise commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation on the prospective developments of the agriculture and food industry up to the year 2030. The exercise identified economic, technological, social and ecological trends that will greatly influence both supply and demand in the industry. The findings provide a decision base for policy-makers to improve the technology base and to ease the reliance on technology imports. The country’s agricultural producers have been struggling with the introduction of new technologies, and customers are showing conservative demand patterns. Previous research showed that technology transfer into Russian agricultural enterprises suffers from a low knowledge level especially in receiving organizations. The country’s own S&T system requires support both for technology development and technology transfer, especially for breeding of best-suited plants and animals for local circumstances. Furthermore, consumer behaviour could be influenced towards higher demand, for example, organic food or ethical husbandry.     

Knowledge Intensity and Knowledge Bases in Internationalization Patterns of SMEs in the Food Sector

This article seeks to enhance understanding of the link between knowledge resources and internationalization patterns of small and medium-size enterprises in the food sector. Knowledge resources are described using the concepts of knowledge intensity and knowledge bases. The study is exploratory and is based on 6 Italian case studies. Four research questions (RQs) are formulated and several considerations are provided. The originality of this article consists of suggesting a framework by combining knowledge intensity and knowledge bases dimensions. Such concepts have not been previously combined and applied in the internationalization literature, neither in general nor about the food sector.     

Market intermediaries,storage and policy reforms

Intermediaries play a crucial role in the functioning of agricultural and food markets in developing countries through linking production, imports and storage with consumption. We analyse how competition in the intermediary sector and alternative forms of intermediaries determine the incentives for storage and market outcomes more generally. We apply this framework to the Egyptian wheat sector as an illustrative case study, a country where food security is a priority, where both forms of intermediaries co-exist and undertake storage but where issues of reforms to the role of intermediaries have been raised. Through stochastic simulation, we analyse two changes in government policy: first, the effects of changing the policy instruments with both types of intermediaries undertaking storage; second, relating to market reforms where the private sector replaces the storage function of the parastatal. These issues have wider significance for addressing the interaction between food security and a wide range of policy reforms including de-regulation of parastatals in developing countries.     

Measuring Distortions to Agricultural Incentives for Value Chain Analysis: Evidence from Indian Value Chains

We extend the nominal rate of protection (NRP) methodology to a value chain framework. We develop our methodology for three types of value chains: a new value chain created by policy, a value chain in which a by‐product is created in the processing of a commodity, and a value chain in which processing of a commodity generates new product(s). We consider two cases of value chains: when the commodity is tradable and when it is non‐tradable. The proposed indicator, value chain NRP, allows policy‐makers to see an aggregate measure of all policy impacts on all the commodities and products in the value chain, normalised at the farm level. We apply the methodology to selected value chains in India. Our results indicate that farmers are subsidised, but at different rates. Both sugarcane producers and sugar producers are protected, but sugar producers are protected at higher rates. Producers of downstream products such as ethanol and molasses are taxed, whereas the crushing industry is subsidised. We observe that there is increasing protection along the value chain from commodity to product for the oilseeds sector, whereas the picture is less clear for the sugarcane value chain.     

Policies Supporting Organic Food and Farming in the EU: Assessment and Development by Stakeholders in 11 European Countries

There is no single ‘best way’ of policy development. Bottom-up approaches to policy design and a broad debate among stakeholders facilitate policy learning and innovation. A novel approach of a bottom-up policy design process involving stakeholders is introduced. The first results obtained by implementing this methodology are presented. The outcomes of a large international effort for a development of policies for organic food and farming, which took place in Maj 2004 in Europe, are analyzed: the synthesized results from 11 European countries (AT, CH, CZ, DE, DK, EE, GB, HU, IT, PL, SI) on the current situation of policies related to the organic food market in Europe are highlighted and policy recommendations for the development of the organic food and farming sector are formulated. Specifically, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of policies related to the organic food market are identified and policy instruments used to address these aspects are developed.     

On the Segregation of Genetically Modified,Conventional and Organic Products in European Agriculture: A Multi‐market Equilibrium Analysis

Evaluating the possible benefits of the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops must address the issue of consumer resistance as well as the complex regulation that has ensued. In the European Union (EU), this regulation envisions the co‐existence of GM food with conventional and quality‐enhanced products, mandates the labelling and traceability of GM products and allows only a stringent adventitious presence of GM content in other products. All these elements are brought together within a partial equilibrium model of the EU agricultural food sector. The model comprises conventional, GM and organic food. Demand is modelled in a novel fashion, whereby organic and conventional products are treated as horizontally differentiated but GM products are vertically differentiated (weakly inferior) relative to conventional ones. Supply accounts explicitly for the land constraint at the sector level and for the need for additional resources to produce organic food. Model calibration and simulation allow insights into the qualitative and quantitative effects of the large‐scale introduction of GM products in the EU market. We find that the introduction of GM food reduces overall EU welfare, mostly because of the associated need for costly segregation of non‐GM products, but the producers of quality‐enhanced products actually benefit.     

Markets and welfare effects of food fraud

This study develops a theoretical framework of heterogeneous consumers and producers and imperfectly competitive food companies to analyse the system‐wide market and welfare effects of food fraud in the form of food adulteration and mislabelling. The results show that, while the price impacts of food fraud are product‐specific with the equilibrium prices of high‐quality and low‐quality products moving in different directions, the equilibrium quantities depend on the relative magnitude of the demand and supply effects of food fraud. Regarding the welfare effects of food fraud, they are shown to be highly asymmetric across different consumers and producers. In addition to enabling the disaggregation of the welfare effects of food fraud, the explicit consideration of agent heterogeneity, asymmetries in the probability of fraud detection and the endogeneity of the producer quality choices also enables the derivation of a key result of this study; contrary to what is traditionally believed, both low‐quality and high‐quality producers can have economic incentives to commit fraud. The group that is more likely to cheat is determined by the social attitudes towards fraudulent behaviour, the enforcement policy parameters and the relative magnitude of the demand and supply effects of food fraud. A comparison of the market effects of mislabelling and food adulteration reveals that, while the equilibrium quantity of the high‐quality product is higher in the presence of mislabelling, producers are more likely to mislabel than adulterate their products.     

A postmortem of forest policy dynamics of Nepal

Evolution of public policy is governed by various factors of political change, institutional realignment, and global environmental discourse. Improved understanding of these factors is a prerequisite for policy-makers to solve forestry related socio-economic and environmental issues. In this study, we assessed the policy and institutional shifts in Nepal’s forest policy regime through discursive institutionalism framework. We conducted a literature review, including Nepal’s forest policy documents that were developed after 1950, and undertook an in-depth interview with twenty-five people representing five stakeholders groups. Based on specific features and objectives of the policies, we classified and discussed four different evolving periods of forestry sector: (1) strict protection period (1950–1975); (2) resource creation for crisis management period (1975–1986); (3) participatory forestry period (1986–2008); and (4) period of broad-based global normative discourse (2008 onwards). Our results showed that framing of ideas and discourse, and its interacting environment (dialectic space and discursive sphere) have determined institutionalization and deinstitutionalization of the country’s forest policy. In addition, Nepal’s forest policy pathways were shaped by a shift in 1) domestic political systems, 2) global environmental discourse and institution, and 3) the process of paradigmatic change and transformation. We conclude that policy durability and discursive shift in public policy are governed by how policy making-institutions embrace public aspirations and consider socio-political context of the country while framing policy discourse. We argue that articulation of discourses into discursive spheres and its ways of deliberation for discursive practices largely defines the trajectories- institutionalization and deinstitutionalization of public policy.     

How did post-2000 agricultural policy changes in Turkey affect farmers? – A focus group evaluation

The aim of this study is to provide an analysis on how producers have been affected by the decisions made in 2000 in the agricultural sector. Data collected from the focus group discussions was compared to the agricultural policy effects on Antalya Burdur and Isparta provinces. The participants were primarily selected from a list of state institutions and organizations, and included representatives from cooperatives and producer organizations that are engaged in the agricultural sector and/or bring service to rural areas. The discussion revealed that small-scale farmers were unable to use the support provided by the policies; as a consequence, many of them were unable to cultivate their land and had to migrate. In general, the participants stated that significant social and economic changes did occur in rural areas, however they emphasized that these changes were to the detriment of small-scale farmers and instead favored farmers operating on large scale.     

Fragmentation or creative diversity? Options in the provision of land management advisory services

Rural land managers need access to sound advice and information to respond to pressures from environmental regulations, declining farm incomes, changing patterns in international trade and new institutional arrangements within the domestic food chain. Governments have cut back their provision of advisory services but need more than ever to influence land managers’ decisions to achieve a growing array of policy objectives. The paper develops a conceptual framework for analysing advisory services and concludes, through a review of sixteen case studies, that the needs of both governments and land managers can be met by a diverse mixture of private and public sector provision.     

The Implications for Agricultural Statistics of Changes in the System of National Accounts

Recent changes to the internationally-agreed system of national accounts carry implications for the aggregate production accounts for agriculture in the EU, notably a shift away from using the ‘national farm’ concept. They have also encouraged the development, within the national accounts framework, of accounts for the agricultural households subsector. These changes not only impose new tasks on producers of agricultural statistics but also provide new material which is likely, in some instances, to challenge policy-makers, economists and other users to revise their thinking about the nature of this industry and the problems that are faced.     

The New Century of Multi-Agriculturalism

Two large issues face American agriculture in the 21st century. Commodity policy has erred by placing excessive regulations on prices and production levels, creating rent-seeking opportunities for some farm producers. Escaping the lingering adverse consequences of these market regulations remains a challenge, both at home and abroad. A new challenge will be to avoid an onerous reregulation of agriculture according to production methods, creating new rent-seeking opportunities. Diverse farm enterprises can prosper in the future if informed consumer choice is preserved within free and competitive food markets, but finding a policy framework to foster this desirable multi-agriculturalism will prove daunting.     

A continuing evolution in U.S. agricultural and food policy - The 1990 Act

This paper reports the results of a study of the economic content and the decision-making process of the recently adopted U.S. 1990 agricultural and food policy. It is the most comprehensive policy of its type. It represents the broadest participation of private individuals and interests groups, and will affect the economy of not only the United States, but also the ***economies of trading countries around the world. The study examines the economic conditions leading up to the policy, a theoretical foundation of public policy determinants, the role of economic analysis in that policy development, the provisions of the Act compared with the previous policy, and its extensive economic implications. Results of the study support features of a conceptual framework for economic policy of a participatory government. The study also reveals the unique policy process of the United States and the provisions of its price and income policy for the food and agricultural sector. Finally, this article identifies the interrelations between the 1990 policy and on-going GATT negotiations, the emerging importance of environmental and food quality issues in agricultural and food policy, and sources for further study of this Act.     

Contracting Institutions,Agro‐food Trade and Product Quality

The agro‐food sector has experienced a profound transformation of contractual arrangements along the value chain, coinciding with important technological innovations and product quality upgrading. Our understanding of the impact that this transformation has had on trade flows in the agricultural sector is very limited. In particular, we have limited knowledge about the extent to which the patterns in agro‐food trade have been driven by the quality of contractual institutions. Using existing measures which capture the sensitivity of agro‐food products to contractual imperfections, we show that countries with better contract enforcement specialise in the production of food which requires higher level of relationship‐specific investments. We also find that countries with better contracting institutions and producing contract‐intensive goods specialise in exporting high quality foods. In addition, we show that the quality of contracting institutions might importantly affect the process of product quality upgrading.     

What drives opposition to high-voltage transmission lines?

This paper critically reviews theoretical and empirical research from planning, social psychology, and political science relevant to the siting of high-voltage transmission lines (HVTLs). Siting of new HVTLs is important to reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases from the electricity sector as well as meeting demands for reliable power. We synthesize existing research by developing a meso-level framework that integrates and extends existing individual-level theories to better account for the nested impact of social interactions and institutional variables on siting outcomes. We apply our framework to a HVTL case in California where community based opposition was effective due to the perceived high risk of the project and where trust in institutions was low. Statutory p for using existing right-of-ways, land use attributes, and political lobbying were also important in explaining the HVTL siting outcome.     

Agricultural Policy in the 21st Century: Economics and Politics

This paper provides a framework for thinking about agricultural policy, why and how it is introduced, and how it changes over time. This framework suggests that agricultural policy will be influenced by both concerns for efficiency and lobbying. While agricultural policy will not always be effective, it will be relatively stable, at least in terms of its broad outlines. Underlying this broad stability, however, will be considerable small‐scale change as program and policy details shift in response to a changing environment. When policy changes in a major way, which it almost always will, the shift will be abrupt—a punctuation. These abrupt changes come as attention is eventually paid to areas and/or issues that are increasingly understood to be not working. While there is considerable room for economic analysis in the policy process, it will not be the main driver; this role belongs to politics—the ability to change the discourse around a policy issue in such a way that different evaluations and interpretations of the policy and its impact are created. Based on the analysis in this paper, it is argued that supply management is more likely to see significant change than business risk management programs, since more attention seems to be currently directed at the former issue. It is also argued that although proponents of local food, organic production, and urban agriculture have had some success at getting attention focused on these issues, this success will not translate into any major policy changes, in part because markets for these products are developing and appear to be working reasonably well.     

Establishing a Framework for an Information System

Many decision errors arise out of a failure to understand the nature and structure of the information system that supports policy decisions, public or private. For a information system to be reliable and accurate three subsystems, data collection, inquiry (or analysis) and policy decision, must share the same base of concepts, measurable proxies porn the real world to represent those concepts, and compatible measurement techniques and processing designs in the data used. All information systems must be closely adapted to the specific context of the decisions they are intended to support.
Rapid globalization of markets and the parallel revolution in information technologies and supporting information infrastructure, institutions and human capital are transforming the agri-food sector. The food system is moving away from mass markets driven by the production of standardized commodities toward many smaller, diverse, and customized niche markets driven by consumer preferences for specific food characteristics. Concentration, vertical coordination and integration are growing, particularly in the livestock sector, and especially hogs. Information technologies now permit firms to discover and track consumer preferences while the new biotechnologies make it possible to create the characteristics in products that consumers desire in niche markets. Information has itself become an important commodity.     

Descriptive Analysis of Saskatchewan Organic Producers

A total of 69 Saskatchewan organic producers were surveyed in the spring of 1991. Although Saskatchewan organic farming represents a move toward an alternative conventional system of agriculture it is not a complete reversal from conventional practices. Saskatchewan organic farmers are experimenting with highly integrated systems which incorporate green manure crops and soil testing and require high management and marketing skills. In a study of then-goals and objectives using fuzzy sets, environment and healthy food were ranked above farm survival. This leads to the conclusion that most organic farmers do not adopt organic practices based on purely economic criteria but on higher goals within their own hierarchy.     

The Evolution and Implications of the U.S. Food Security Act of 1985

The Food Security Act of 1985 sets the United States (U.S.) policy course for the five years, 1986–1990, in the areas of farm product prices and farmer incomes, agricultural production, food aid, and trade in agricultural products. It is clearly an evolution of past policy, deeply rooted in the institutional processes of participatory policymaking. The Act will have important implications for not only domestic producers, consumers, agribusinesses, and taxpayers, but alto product agricultural exporters and importers around the world. Just as it was substantially, affected by the current loss of export markets and the economic crisis in the U.S. agricultural sector, its implementation and impacts will be affected in the future by the unpredictable weather, macroeconomic conditions around the world, and international trading policies. This article examines the development of the policy embodied in the Act and analyzes its primary economic implications. Although most provisions of the U.S. agricultural price and income policy that had evolved over the past half century were continued, important changes were made. The resulting policy closely mirrored the preferences revealed from research concerning farmers and leaders of national agricultural and food interest groups. Primary changes from the previous 1981 Act were: lengthening the duration to five years; substantial lowering of the minimum price support levels; permitting a gradual decline in the minimum target prices; providing for a whole dairy herd buyout program; establishing export enhancement initiatives through credit, promotion, and export payment-in-kind (PIK); and initiating major efforts to increase farmland conservation and withdrawal of fragile lands from production. Likely implications of the new Act include: (1) lower product prices for agricultural producers around the world, and also farmer incomes if there is no income protection from national policies; (2) a similar but a less proportionate impact on consumers; (3) a substantial burden on the U.S. Treasury, and possibly those of the other nations as well, depending upon the type of policies followed; and (4) likely intensification in the immediate future of the economic conflicts and negotiations between major agricultural trading nations of the world. Research played a vital role in the development of the U.S. 1985 Act. Given the turbulent, uncertain, and important nature of the agricultural and food sector in the world, research is challenged to provide more and better knowledge for future policymaking.