Persistence of family farming, learning from its dynamics

Traditionally, the family farm has always been seen as a cornerstone of the agricultural production system. Given social, economic and political evidence (Calus, 2009), this organisational form might still continue to shape agricultural development. However, important changes in social and economic environment (e.g. industrialisation of agriculture, increased risk level and public vision on agriculture) become threats to the traditional model. A SWOT analysis of the family farms indicates the various intrinsic characteristics that make family farms resilient to changing conditions. Even in a changing economic and social landscape these aspects provide them with building blocks for creating new organisational forms or institutional arrangements. This paper shows these building blocks, and is only, prudentially, indicative for possible new institutional arrangements. Creativity may produce numerous outcomes from building blocks. Land tenure is only one example from past and present to show how institutions can deal with a potential threat, such as the large demand for land as production factor. Similar creativity is needed to the exploding capital demand in agriculture. One of the major challenges will be to provide family farms with low-costing capital. Food security and local community viability is the social price for this low cost supply.family farm, corporate farm, peasant, SWOT, Consumer/Household Economics,

An (in)efficiency based measurement of economic resilience

The ecosystem and the economic subsystem are interlinked. In fact, it is the overconsumption of scarce resources or the overproduction of bad outputs at economic system level that causes a great part of the imbalances at the ecosystem level. Some imbalances do not originate at the economic system level, but are due to external factors. Given the possibility of external shocks, respecting static sustainability thresholds is not a guarantee for system sustainability. In a dynamic setting, the concept of resilience is therefore helpful. In this paper we show how this concept can complement the traditional efficiency approach to come to a sustainable value creating economic system.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Using different groups of technological progress as input for sector modeling

This poster aims at describing different groups of technology use within a farm population and at delivering realistic prognoses of their future status as input for sector modeling. This because sector models are in many cases not based on reasonable technological progress estimations or too simplified as normative estimation or seen as mere extrapolation of past evolutions. The classification and utilization of technology groups is done for livestock activities, but illustrated hereafter for the finishing pigs activities. The research is worked out in three phases: • Organizational aspects of tuning information demand and supply; • Identification of technology groups; • Evolution of technology groups. Following techniques are used to identify the technology groups: Stochastic frontier analysis, cluster analysis and others. The results can be used in sector models to measure the impact of induced innovation on different technology groups.technology, sector modeling, induced innovation, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

MATERIALS BALANCE BASED MODELLING OF ENVIRONMENTAL EFFICIENCY

A new method for analysing environmental efficiency, based on the materials balance, is proposed. With this method, an environmental allocative efficiency measure can be defined analogously to the more commonly used economic allocative efficiency. Nutrient surplus in pig fattening, a typical balance indicator, is used to illustrate the concept in a two input one output case. The materials balance based efficiency analysis is elaborated using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Results are compared with those of more common, merely input or output oriented DEA approaches. A main conclusion is that, ignoring the balance feature of environmental issues such as nutrient surplus might be a main reason why traditional integral analyses of economic and environmental efficiency yield contradictory conclusions.Environmental Economics and Policy,

BRANDING REGIONAL IDENTITY AS A DRIVER FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Within the globalizing world, regions and their identities are subjected to great pressure. At present, places are engaged in a process of “territorial competition” in an integrated world economy. The identity of the region can be used as a starting point to brand a region and differentiate it from others. In the regional branding process, the region as a whole becomes a product or brand and offers a “basket” of regional products and services. This paper discusses the possibility of regional identity as a mobilizing force for rural development, by studying best practice examples of regional branding. Using the grounded theory approach, we conducted interviews in three case regions: West Cork (Ireland), Groene Woud (the Netherlands) and Pajottenland (Belgium). The study of these cases led to the formulation of critical success factors on the organization of regional branding.Identity, Region formation, Regional branding, Rural development, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development,

New Developments in Agricultural Policy Modelling and Consequences for Managing the Policy Analysis Systems

Last decade, the importance of multifunctionality and environmental issues in agricultural policies has been growing. This shift in scope of agricultural policy instruments implies an adjustment of the conventional ex-ante policy analysis systems. New requirements on input and output parameters will be needed. The objective of this paper is to show how the input/output management can be improved. Focus is on how the information management by the system can enhance the policy analysis and decision making and facilitate information flow and social support from the stakeholder debate.policy impact analysis, joint production, farmers' behaviour, knowledge flow Organisation, Agricultural and Food Policy, C8, Q18,

Tradable Substitution Rights: Simulation of the Cost-Efficiency of a Nitrogen Reduction in the Pig Finishing Sector

To comply with the European Nitrate Directive, the Flemish manure policy has been elaborated mainly on the base of command and control measures (maximum fertilisation limits etc.). In literature, however, tradable permits are described as a cost efficient and effective instrument. Applied to nutrient emission they might offer an alternative for the current, expensive manure policy. In this publication both policy instruments are compared by means of simulation models. Based on accountacy data from 190 pig finishing farms, it is shown that tradable rights may result in cost savings of over 88%, compared to the most cost efficient command and control model. This result indicates that tradable permits at least need to be considered as a plausible policy instrument for the agricultural sector.tradable permits, agriculture, command and control, nitrogen, linear programming, Livestock Production/Industries, C61, D23, H23, Q58, Q52,

Effectiveness of Nitrate Policy in Flanders (1990-2003): Modular Modelling and Response Analysis

The impact of current nitrate policy measures in Flanders is estimated. A modular modelling system has been developed for comparing response and pressure indicators and for decomposing the response impact of policy measures. Compared to 1990, the internalised manure surplus is reduced to zero, whereas the distance to target of the soil surface balance to the water quality standard dropped only with 58%. Source-linked and sink-related measures each account for about the half of the manure surplus reduction. The impact of abatement technologies is minor. The modular approach helps to unravel the discrepancy between pressure and response and to propose policy alternatives.abatement technology, DPSIR scheme, nitrogen pollution reduction, Agricultural and Food Policy, B41, C51, H21, K32,

The foregone risk premium: a communicative and practical method for the evaluation of risk-return profiles in agriculture

Risk considerations have become increasingly important in nowadays agriculture, due to a variety of reasons. Surprisingly, the practice of formalized risk management is not widespread despite the huge amount of scientific literature on this topic. This discrepancy between risk science and extension is described by many authors. This paper presents a communicative method, rooted in financial economics, to evaluate risk-return profiles in a way that is communicative for individual farmers. The method is derived from the modern portfolio theory, in which individual assets are implicitly compared to the risk-return trade-off of that asset with the highest Sharpe ratio. We use this idea to compare individual risk-return profiles to a particular benchmark. The method can be used for evaluating different risk-return profiles of different farms, different risk management instruments and different production systems. To illustrate the communicative nature of our method, it is applied to evaluate risk-return profiles of conventional versus organic cropping systems.Risk and Uncertainty,

Organic farming and fair trade in developing country as a new agribusiness paradigm: Evidence from Mali

Organic farming and fair trade certified chains have emerged in West-Africa since the 1990s in answer to new alternative markets in developed countries. These chains, involving actors from North and South, are seen as an opportunity to sustainably valorise the small peasants agriculture in Africa and include the smallholders in global markets. Certification and labelling systems accompany these chains in developed countries. The aim of this article is to analyze the challenges for smallholders of this new North- South trade regime established by certificates and labels. This article uses the theory of Global Value Chains as theoretical framework. The empirical framework consists of four cases (organic sesame; organic- fair sesame; fair cotton and organicfair cotton) in Mali and in Belgium and France. It focuses on data that are gathered during our inquiry based on a questionnaire with the chains stakeholders in the south and in the north. The chains upstream inquiry was conducted in Mali with individuals producers, producers organizations, exporters; and the downstream inquiry was conducted in Belgium and France with European importers, distributors and certifications bodies. The results show that the new North- South regime established by organic and fair certificates and labels has a potential impact on the negotiation power and value distribution between chain participants. Lack of adequate local institutions in Southern countries, and increasing complexity of the “cahiers de charges” imposed by the North however may cause exclusion of many smallholders in these new North-South trade networks.organic farming, Fair Trade, smallholders, North-South trade, Certificates, Labels, Global markets, Value chains, certification scheme, local institution, Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,