A multi-stakeholder participatory study identifies the priorities for the sustainability of the small ruminants farming sector in Europe

The European small ruminants (i.e. sheep and goats) farming sector (ESRS) provides economic, social and environmental benefits to society, but is also one of the most vulnerable livestock sectors in Europe. This sector has diverse livestock species, breeds, production systems and products, which makes difficult to have a clear vision of its challenges through using conventional analyses. A multi-stakeholder and multi-step approach, including 90 surveys, was used to identify and assess the main challenges for the sustainability of the ESRS to prioritize actions. These challenges and actions were identified by ESRS experts including farmers, cooperatives, breeding associations, advisers and researchers of six EU countries and Turkey. From the 30 identified challenges, the most relevant were economy-related challenges such as ‘uncertainty of meat and milk prices’, ‘volatility of commodity prices’, ‘low farm income’, ‘high subsidy dependency’ and ‘uncertainty in future changes in subsidies’ resulting in ‘a sector not attractive to young farmers’. Most of these challenges were beyond the farmer''s control and perceived as difficult to address. Challenges were prioritized using an index, calculated by multiplying the relevance and the feasibility to address measures. The identified challenges had a similar priority index across the whole sector with small differences across livestock species (sheep vs goats), type of products (meat vs dairy) and intensification levels (intensive vs semi-intensive vs extensive). The priorities were different, however, between socio-geographical regions (Southern vs Central Europe). Some of the top prioritized challenges were linked to aspects related to the production systems (‘low promotion of local breeds’ and ‘slow adaptability of high producing breeds’) and market practices (‘unfair trade/lack of traceability’). The majority of the priority challenges, however, were associated with a deficient knowledge or training at farm level (‘poor business management training’, ‘lack of professionalization’, ‘slow adoption of innovations’), academia (‘researchers do not address real problems’) and society as a whole (‘low consumer education in local products’, ‘low social knowledge about farming’, ‘poor recognition of farming public services’). Thus, improved collaboration among the different stakeholders across the food chain with special implication of farmers, associations of producers, academia and governments is needed to facilitate knowledge exchange and capacity building. These actions can contribute to make ESRS economically more sustainable and to adapt the production systems and policy to the current and future societal needs in a more region-contextualized framework

Agricultural policies in Bulgaria in post Second World War years

This paper analyzes evolution, implementation and impacts of state agricultural policies in Bulgaria during post Second World War years now. Firstly, it presents agricultural policies development during 1950s and 1960s (post war nationalization, cooperation of peasants, central planning and price control, support to agriculture) and its impacts on farming modernization and improvement of peasants welfare. Second, it analyzes reforms in 1970s and 1980s (concentration of farming in large agro-industrial complexes, experimentations with “economic” mechanisms of governance) and their effects on agriculture. Third, it evaluates policies during post-communist transition and EU integration, and their consequences for agricultural development.State agricultural policies, impacts on agriculture, Post Second World War, Communist system, post-communist transition, Bulgaria

Linking farmers to markets through valorisation of local resources: the case for intellectual property rights of indigenous resources

Agribusiness,

Linking farmers to markets through valorisation of local resources:the case for intellectual property rights of indigenous resources

This is the scientific report from a research programme which explored the current lack of a suitable public system for protecting GIs in Southern Africa. In contrast to the European Union, the current South African legal framework only provides for the protection of GIs as collective and, in certain circumstances, as certification trademarks. The lack of a public system through which to valorize GIs was identified as excluding resource poor farmers (but also commercial larger scale farmers) from a potentially useful tool for improving their market access. The need for a public system of protection also emanates from the significance of the wild resources found in South Africa and Namibia, which are often the only source of income for resource poor communities and which is threatened by bio‐piracy. It thus appeared important to assess the merits of developing an institutional framework for protecting GIs in Southern Africa and to evaluate the needs for a sui generis legal system. Secondly, an analysis was done of the local dynamics based on specific agro‐food products. Two central questions were therefore addressed in this study: "How can local communities successfully protect their resources and differentiate their production through GIs?" and "What is the nature and extent of the required institutional and legal framework to achieve this objective?”.Geographical indications; indigenous resources; intellectual property rights; collectivae action; Southern Africa

Innovaatioiden vaikutus monimuotoisuudeltaan merkittävillä High Nature Value maatalousalueilla : sosiaalistaloudellisia ja ympäristönsuojelullisia näkökulmia

Luonnonarvoiltaan merkittävät High Nature Value (HNV) maatalousalueet ovat vähentyneet maailmanlaajuisesti maatalouden modernisaation myötä. Luonnon monimuotoisuus on riippuvaista näistä alueista, sillä ne ylläpitävät habitaatteja lukuisille uhanalaisille lajeille. Esim. 30% Euroopan perhoslajien populaatioista on laskussa, ja suurin osa niistä elää HNV tai vastaavilla maatalousalueilla. EU:n maatalouspolitiikka suosii perinteistä, intensiivistä maataloutta, jonka vuoksi laaja-alainen HNV maatalous ei pärjää kilpailussa sen kanssa. Alhaisen tuottavuuden ja haastavien olosuhteiden takia HNV maatalousmaita jää hylätyksi, tai HNV järjestelmät korvataan intensiivisillä menetelmillä. Osallistavat maataloudelliset innovaatioprosessit tarjoavat ratkaisuja HNV maatalousalueiden ahdinkoon. Näissä prosesseissa tuodaan yhteen eri toimijoita – maanviljelijöitä, yrittäjiä, kansalaisjärjestöjen, kuntien ja valtioiden edustajia – etsimään paikallisesti perusteltuja ratkaisuja alueiden ongelmiin. Vuosina 2016-2019 toiminut HNV-Link projekti identifioi, kehitti ja edisti innovaatioita kymmenellä Eurooppalaisella HNV alueella. Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastelen projektin seitsemän toiminta-alueen innovaatioiden menestystä sosiaalis-taloudellisen elinvoimaisuuden sekä ympäristön hyvinvoinnin kannalta. Aineistoni on sekä määrällistä että laadullista. Käytän mixed-methods lähestymistapaa, jossa tilastollinen analyysi ja laadullinen sisältöanalyysi tukevat toisiaan. Tein kyselyn toiminta-alueiden koordinaattoreille, jossa he vastasivat millainen vaikutus innovaatioilla on ollut alueen sosiaaliseen, taloudelliseen ja ympäristön hyvinvointiin. Täydennän kyselyä projektin 2016-2017 keräämällä aineistolla. Suoritan laadullisen sisältöanalyysin projektin keräämille innovaatioiden kuvauksille Atlas.ti ohjelmalla ja tilastollisen analyysin IMB SPSS tilasto-ohjelmalla ei-parametrisin menetelmin. Vertailin innovaatioiden sosiaalis-taloudellisten ja ympäristönsuojelullisten vaikutusten, HNV suojelun ensisijaisen tavoitteen, innovaatiokuvausten ympäristönsuojelullisten aiheiden tunnistamisen sekä kulttuurillisten alueiden suhdetta. Innovaatiot olivat menestyksekkäitä niin sosiaalis-taloudellisesi kuin ympäristölle. Taloudellisen ja ympäristöllisen menestyksen välillä oli mahdollinen synergia, mikä viittaa siihen, että taloudellinen menestys alueilla edistää HNV piirteiden säilymistä alueella. Innovaatioilla, joiden erityinen tavoite oli HNV suojelu, oli positiivisempi vaikutus ympäristölle kuin niillä, joilla tavoite ei ollut ensisijainen. Innovaatioiden kuvauksissa, joissa ympäristönsuojelulliset teemat tulivat eniten esille, oli hieman positiivisempi vaikutus ympäristöön. Ero oli kuitenkin niin heikko, että kokonaisuudessaan niissä ei ole onnistuttu kommunikoimaan koordinaattoreiden raportoimia seurauksia ympäristölle. Kulttuurillisten alueiden sisällä ei ilmennyt yhteneviä kaavoja, joka voi johtua alueiden samankaltaisuudesta tai pienestä otoksesta. Tulokset korostavat innovaatioiden ennalta arvaamatonta luonnetta, sekä prosessien holistisen ymmärryksen sekä pitkäaikaisen seurannan tärkeyttä.High Nature Value (HNV) farming systems hold significant natural values but have decreased drastically during the process of agricultural modernization. Biodiversity in Europe is dependent on these extensively farmed areas because they maintain habitats for many endangered species; e.g. 30% of Europe's butterfly species have declining populations and most live in natural and semi-natural habitats. European common agricultural policy (CAP) favour conventional agriculture, leading HNV agriculture in a foul position. HNV areas are often abandoned or replaced with intensive farming practices. Participatory agricultural innovation processes offer solutions to the distress of HNV farmlands. In these processes different actors – such as farmers, entrepreneurs, advisors, NGO and municipality representatives – are brought together to find localized solutions to the challenges of the area. HNV-Link project was active during years 2016-2019 identifying, developing and improving innovations in ten European HNV farming areas. In this thesis I examine the success of innovations in seven Learning Areas (LA) in terms of socio-economic viability, environmental conservation and cultural region. The data in this thesis is both quantitative and qualitative. I use mixed methods- approach where the statistical analysis and qualitative content analysis support each other. I carried out a survey for the LA coordinators where they responded how was the impact of the innovations to social, economic and environmental wellbeing. I complement the survey with data gathered by the project in 2016-2017. I conduct a qualitative content analysis to innovation fiches using Atlas.ti programme and a statistical analysis with IMB SPSS statistics programme with non-parametric tests. I compare the relation of socio-economic and environmental impact of the innovations, explicit aim of HNV conservation, recognition of environmental topics in the fiches and cultural region. Innovations were successful both socio-economically and environmentally. There was a possible synergy between economic and environmental impacts, which indicates economic viability of the LA’s improving HNV conservation. Innovations with explicit HNV conservation objective had more positive environmental impact than the ones without. Innovations with high recognition of environmental themes in fiches had slightly more positive environmental impact, but the difference was so weak that they fail to express the environmental outcomes reported in the survey. Congruent patterns didn’t occur inside cultural regions which might be due to the similarities of the areas or small sample size. The results display the inherent unpredictability of innovation processes, and the importance of holistic understanding and long-term monitoring of them

Natural resources conservation management and strategies in agriculture

This paper suggests a holistic framework for assessment and improvement of management strategies for conservation of natural resources in agriculture. First, it incorporates an interdisciplinary approach (combining Economics, Organization, Law, Sociology, Ecology, Technology, Behavioral and Political Sciences) and presents a modern framework for assessing environmental management and strategies in agriculture including: specification of specific “managerial needs” and spectrum of feasible governance modes (institutional environment; private, collective, market, and public modes) of natural resources conservation at different level of decision-making (individual, farm, eco-system, local, regional, national, transnational, and global); specification of critical socio-economic, natural, technological, behavioral etc. factors of managerial choice, and feasible spectrum of (private, collective, public, international) managerial strategies; assessment of efficiency of diverse management strategies in terms of their potential to protect diverse eco-rights and investments, assure socially desirable level of environmental protection and improvement, minimize overall (implementing, third-party, transaction etc.) costs, coordinate and stimulate eco-activities, meet preferences and reconcile conflicts of individuals etc. Second, it presents evolution and assesses the efficiency of diverse management forms and strategies for conservation of natural resources in Bulgarian agriculture during post-communist transformation and EU integration (institutional, market, private, and public), and evaluates the impacts of EU CAP on environmental sustainability of farms of different juridical type, size, specialization and location. Finally, it suggests recommendations for improvement of public policies, strategies and modes of intervention, and private and collective strategies and actions for effective environmental protection

Modeling Economic, Social and Environmental Implications of a Free Trade Agreement Between the European Union and The Russian Federation

The EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which entered into force in 1997 foresees the possible establishment of a free trade area (FTA) between the parties. The aim of our study is to evaluate the possible economic, social and environmental impact of such a free trade agreement between the European Union and Russia. The results of the analysis indicate that an EU-Russia FTA will be beneficial to the Russian Federation and the EU27. Some sectors are expected to contract in the medium term, but their importance in total output is small. Over the long run, the majority of sectors in Russia are expected to expand, while only a few sectors in the EU27 are expected to register negligible decreases in output. We estimate that welfare losses from the environmental damages would be very small for Russia (possibly even smaller due to the implementation of greener technologies), and negligible for the EU. Despite some significant negative medium-term social implications in selected sectors in Russia, the overall increase in economic activity and wages, coupled with likely domestic policies aiming at easing the impact of transitional unemployment, are expected to allow for the overall reduction in poverty rates. Overall, the results show that significant welfare gains (2.24% of GDP for Russia) would accrue from the deep FTA scenario involving a significant reduction of NTBs along with additional flanking measures, particularly on competition, IPR protection and corruption, which would help re-branding of Russia as a safe and attractive investment location. Also a number of countries such as Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden are expected to see their welfare increase by around 0.5% of GDP.free trade agreement, WTO accession, European Union, Russian Federation, labor market, environment, NTBs, CGE