Can supply chain's coordination mechanisms include small holders? Insight from an empirical work in Costa Rica.

Small holders' agriculture is currently facing new stakes due to State's withdrawal from agricultural support and to higher market requests for producing agricultural products. Different coordination mechanisms can be observed inside the supply chains involving farmers, farmers' organizations, and others stakeholders. They depend on the nature of the product, the characteristics of the stakeholders involved, the technical specifications related to the transactions, and the institutional environment. Relying on a comparative case study methodology, the paper analyzes the consequences of different coordination mechanisms on inclusion or exclusion of small farmers in the northern region of Costa Rica. Market coordination could be an efficient way to integrate farmers in supply chains in the case of low technical specifications and of existence of adequate selling mechanisms. Hybrid coordination is the main mechanism and facilitates the inclusion of small farmers, depending on the farmers' organizations capacities to negotiate adequate rules. In some situations hybrid coordination with captive relationships could occur but leads to a more or less rapid exclusion process.supply chain, small holders, farmers, contracting, coordination, Costa Rica, Agribusiness,

Global Governance for Environmentally Sustainable Food Systems: Certified Organics in a North – South and South-South Perspective

Challenged to consume with less environmental impact, consumers buy certified organic products to “proxy” environmental governance. The paper explores how far certified organic agriculture is institutionally embedded in Brazil, China, and Egypt. The three case studies illustrate how regulation, including standard-setting and certification processes differ between south and north, in terms of the evolution and nature of certification, as well as stakeholders and agency involved in shaping the regulation. A comparative analysis is presented on south-south differences in this regard along with some possible explanations of these. The paper finally discusses the perspectives in the global success of organic certification and whether it has potential to transform global agriculture towards higher overall levels of sustainability

Open and distance learning for basic education in South Asia: its potential for hard to reach children and children in conflict and disaster areas

This is the main report in a UNICEF funded project which explores the ways in which, across South Asia, various forms of open and distance learning could be developed to better meet the needs of marginalised children and those affected by natural disaster and by conflic

Noyce Foundation 2010 Annual Report

Contains foundation information, message from the executive director, 2010 highlights in the areas of informal science and human capital, grants list, and list of board members, staff, and consultants

Sustainable organic plant breeding: Final report - a vision, choices, consequences and steps

In general, the characteristics of organic varieties - and by extension of organic plant breeding - differ from that of conventional breeding systems and conventional varieties. Realising an organic plant breeding system and subsequently steering it to meet changing demands is no less than a mammoth task. The many actions to be undertaken can be divided into short-term commercial and scientific activities, and longer or long-term commercial and scientific activities. Action must be taken in the short-term to ensure adequate quantities of organically propagated plants and seed. This is vital in consideration of Regulation 2092/91/EC which states that, as of 1 January 2000, all propagating material used in organic production must be of organic origin. Additional measures are needed to accelerate the development of organically propagated varieties. Within the breeding sector, variety groups should be established to streamline communication in the chain. Variety groups should have a large contingent of farmers, as well as representatives from the trade branch and breeders. Members should communicate intensively with each other, share experiences, and participate in trials and variety assessments. Questions, wishes and bottlenecks could be recorded by variety groups and passed on to other parties in the chain. The practical details of the plant health concept which is at the basis of organic breeding must be worked out (operationalised). This will require scientific research, for example on: root development and mineral absorption efficiency weed suppressive capacity in situ versus ex situ maintenance resistance breeding in combination with cultivation measures seed-transmitted diseases adaptive capacity alternatives for growth stimulants, silver nitrate and silver thiosulfate in the cultivation of cucumbers and pickles Such research should be carried out by academic institutions (such as Wageningen University and Research Centre) in collaboration with Louis Bolk Institute, Stichting Zaadgoed and private companies. A platform should be established to make an inventory of problems and priorities and to develop research proposals. Farmers could contribute their ideas to the platform through the variety groups. Conclusion A plant breeding system for organic production should be based on the organic concept of plant health and on the organic position on chain relationships. As the total land area under organic production is still relatively small, it is unlikely that commercial breeders will make large investments to develop organic breeding programmes without financial support from other parties, i.e. the government. In this early stage, it is vital that the government provides generous funding and plays an active enabling role. We hope that the action plan to stimulate organic plant breeding, as requested by Parliament, will dovetail with the activities described above

Strategic Information Disclosure: The Case of Multi-Attribute Products with Heterogeneous Consumers

We examine the incentives for firms to voluntarily disclose otherwise private information about the quality attributes of their products. In particular, we focus on the case of differentiated products with multiple attributes and heterogeneous consumers. We show that there exist certain configurations of consumers’ multi-dimensional preferences under which a firm, no matter whether producing a high- or low-quality product, may choose not to reveal the quality even with zero disclosure costs. The failure of information unraveling arises when providing consumers with more information results in more elastic demand, which triggers more intensive price competition and leads to lower prices and profits for competing firms. As a result, the equilibrium in which disclosure is voluntary may diverge from that in which disclosure is mandatory.

Printed information access, preferences and use by farmers with potential for small-scale organic production, KwaZulu-Natal.

Thesis (M.Agric.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.Printed information access, preferences and use by small-scale farmers in KwaZulu-Natal, who are experimenting with or converting to organic farming, were investigated to establish the need for information on organic production, certification, and marketing. Forty-six resource-poor farmers from four groups at Umbumbulu, Tugela Ferry, KwaMashu and Muden participated in semi-structured group interviews. Guiding questions, information tabulation, ranking and sorting, and voting were used to gather data. Five printed agricultural information materials were evaluated. The findings indicated that the participants trusted and relied on intermediaries for access to innovative, research-based information, and preferred interpersonal communication over other information channels. Printed materials were valued for their permanence, while participants preferred materials in isiZulu as 75% of participants were able to read and write isiZulu or were able to ask family members to read materials in isiZulu. At least one functionally literate farmer was a member of each of the participating farmer groups. Appropriate printed information on organic production, certification and marketing had not reached the participants. Characteristics of printed information materials preferred by participating farmers included: large typeface, photographs, drawings, step-by-step instructions, stories about people and events, context-specific content, the use of plain language in English or preferably isiZulu