Market orientation and regional development: Strategic and Structural issues for the agribusiness sector in Balkans

In the countries of South Eastern Europe, within the European Union, there are regions where the agri-food sector plays a vital role in socioeconomic terms.The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between the market orientation concept and the Regional development. It explains the structure of the market from the perspective of small- and medium-sized agri-food producer organizations and discusses marketing strategy implications. Based on an extensive literature search the paper by focusing on key components of the market orientation concept such as, organizational culture, innovation, customer orientation, marketing co-ordination, coalitions and collaborations, explores their impact on regional development.Market orientation, innovation, collaboration, agri-food, regional development

Towards an appropriate comprehension of innovation sources in agrifood cooperatives

The existing typologies of innovation sources rely on classification criterions which are excessively generalist and developed under the consideration of private owned organisations. The present paper seeks to shed light on the special structural and operative features of agrifood cooperatives demanding a more comprehensive classification of innovation sources. A sample from the agrifood cooperative industry was selected as the scenario of the empirical research. Findings reveal a classification proposal of innovation sources into four differentiated groups (managers, technology, market and normative context) with regard to the management orientation of change (strategic vs. technical/legal) and the strength motivating the innovation (internal vs. external).Agrifood cooperatives, innovation sources, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q13.,

Cooperatives, Regulation and Competition in Norwegian Agriculture

Over production is a persistent and costly problem in Norwegian agriculture. Support to agricultural production implicitly yields incentives to produce too much, i.e., causing market prices to fall below the target level, and thereby increasing the need for subsidies and additional market interventions. In order to restrict supplies, farmers are allowed to coordinate through marketing cooperatives. The paper argues that this coordination is likely to be insufficient in markets where the cooperative competes with an investor-owned wholesaler. Interventions in the market in order to remove excess supplies may induce further incentives to increase production. Levying a tax on all production in order to cover market regulation costs, moves the solution in the right direction but is impotent in restoring the target (second-best) level of production.Cooperatives, regulation, over production, duopoly, Agribusiness, Q13, L21, D43,

Centralized versus individual: Governance of farmer professional cooperatives in China

Based on a national representative survey conducted in 2009, this study shows that the decision-making within Farmer Professional Cooperatives (FPCs) in China is decentralized to individual farmers. However, there is a trend that the decision rights of farming are decomposed to marketing, production and input procuring. While the rights for production and input procuring stay with family farmers, marketing rights tend to be collectivized. Compared to FPCs having external initiating sources, FPCs initiated by farmers are more inclined to introduce centralized decision-making. The governance structure of FPCs in transition China presents hybrid forms of both hierarchy and family farming. --Farmer,Cooperatives,Governance,China

Performance of traditional cooperatives: the Portuguese Douro wine cooperatives

Globalization is challenging the very core of cooperative governance and ownership decision, especially in Southern European countries, like Portugal, where a large number of producers are organized in traditional and Mediterranean-style agricultural cooperatives. This paper analyses the effects of governance and control variables related with size over two alternative indicators of performance: revenues transferred to members/patrons and capital structure. The results suggest that these cooperatives have difficulties being sustainable in the more competitive global wine markets, if they follow, essentially, a practice of maximum patronage refund, reducing their capacity to improve leverage and to finance more profitable, but risky, long run investments.Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Q13, D22, L25,

De-commoditizing Ethiopian coffees after the establishment of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange : an empirical investigation of smallholder coffee producers in Ethiopia

The repercussions of reforming an agricultural market are mainly observed at the most vulnerable segment of the value chain, namely, the producers. In the current commodity market created with trade through the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), coffee is less traceable to its producers. Only cooperatives that sell certified coffee through the unions they belong to, are allowed to bypass the more commodified ECX market. This study aims to investigate if small-scale coffee producers in southwestern Ethiopia that sell coffee through the certified cooperative are better off. It is assumed that the coffee sales through, and membership of, a cooperative, allows farmers to improve their coffee production as well as to improve other aspects of their livelihood. A sustainable livelihood approach was used as the inspiration for the welfare indicators that needed to be considered, data collected amongst members and non-members of certified cooperatives, and a propensity score model to investigate the impact of cooperative membership on the livelihood indicators. Results suggest that members of certified cooperatives indeed receive, on average, better prices. Yet, no evidence was found that indicates that the higher price is translated into better household income. Furthermore, coffee plantation productivity of those members who were interviewed was lower than that of the non-members. This finding could explain the failure to find an overall effect. Since the majority of the producers' income emanate from coffee, a sustainable way of enhancing the productivity of the coffee could revitalize the welfare of the coffee producers

"Co-Operative Identity" - A Theoretical Concept for Dynamic Analysis of Practical Co-Operation: The Dutch Case

The "concept of the co-operative identity" (consisting from the definition, aims and functions of cooperatives and the so-termed co-operative principles) serves as a general theoretical background for the economic analysis of agricultural co-operation. The development of Dutch dairy co-operatives is used as a case study example, which suitably illustrates and represents the processes taking place in the European Union. Some suggestions for further research on the co-operative identity according to each country and different branches and sectors in order to see the substance of co-operation from different economic and non-economic aspects are proposed.agriculture, co-operative, identity, principles, strategy, Agribusiness, Q13, L14, L22,

The Marketing Structure in Agribusiness during the Transition in Bulgaria

Bulgaria is moving toward a food processing and marketing system which resembles that of Western Europe and the U.S. Large grocery chains from Germany, Austrai and Turkey are building supermarkets and hypermarkets in Bulgaria’s larger cities. However, income in Bulgaria remains much lower than in Western Europe and most Bulgarian consumers cannot afford to shop in the new stores yet. Neighborhood markets, which serve average Bulgarians, are expanding their product selections and remain the primary shopping venue. Food processing plants in Bulgaria are being upgraded to meet EU standards. Farmers are getting more efficient as land is consolidated. On the whole, the agriculture and agribusiness sectors in Bulgaria are improving.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/40124/3/wp738.pd

Indian Agriculture: Managing Growth with Equity

International Development, Q13, Q17, Q18,

INCREASING COORDINATION IN THE PLANT AND PLANT PRODUCT PROCESSING AND HANDLING SECTOR

Agribusiness, Food Economy, Industry Analysis, Five Forces, Food Processing, Agribusiness, L10, L16, L66, Q13,