Climate change and agriculture in Burkina Faso

The impacts of climate change (CC) are expected to be higher in developing countries (e.g. Sub-Saharan Africa). However, these impacts will depend on agriculture development and resilience. Therefore, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the multifaceted relationships between CC and agriculture in Burkina Faso (BF). A search performed in March 2020 on the Web of Science yielded 1,820 documents and 217 of them were included in the systematic review. The paper provides an overview on both bibliometrics (e.g. journals, authors, institutions) and topics addressed in the literature viz. agriculture subsectors, climate trends in BF, agriculture and CC mitigation (e.g. agriculture-related emissions, soil carbon sequestration), impacts of CC on agriculture (e.g. natural resources, crop suitability, yields, food security) as well as adaptation strategies. BF is experiencing CC as evidenced by warming and an increase in the occurrence of climate extremes. The literature focuses on crops, while animal husbandry and, especially, fisheries are often overlooked. Moreover, most of the documents deal with CC adaptation by the Burkinabe farmers, pastoralists and rural populations. Analysed adaptation options include conservation agriculture and climate-smart agriculture, irrigation, crop diversification, intensification, livelihoods diversification and migration. However, the focus is mainly on agricultural and individual responses, while livelihoods strategies such as diversification and migration are less frequently addressed. Further research is needed on the dual relation between agriculture and CC to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Research results are crucial to inform policies aimed at CC mitigation and/or adaptation in rural BF

Transition towards sustainability in agriculture and food systems: Role of information and communication technologies

Food sustainability transitions refer to transformation processes necessary to move towards sustainable food systems. Digitization is one of the most important ongoing transformation processes in global agriculture and food chains. The review paper explores the contribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to transition towards sustainability along the food chain (production, processing, distribution, consumption). A particular attention is devoted to precision agriculture as a food production model that integrates many ICTs. ICTs can contribute to agro-food sustainability transition by increasing resource productivity, reducing inefficiencies, decreasing management costs, and improving food chain coordination. The paper also explores some drawbacks of ICTs as well as the factors limiting their uptake in agriculture. Keywords: Sustainability transitions, ICT, Agriculture digitization, Food supply chain, Food processing, Distribution, Consumptio

Exploring the Serbian consumer attitude towards agro-food products with ethical values: organic, fair-trade and typical/traditional products

The new Millennium has seen a renewed and intensified interest in issues of business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR). This has been partly driven by a wave of concern about conduct and governance of business and partly reflects a growing interest amongst consumers, policy makers and businesses, in forms of production and consumption that are more sustainable and more ethically oriented. This is typified by growth in demand of products encompassing ethical values such as organic and Fair Trade products. However, research knowledge base about consumers and their behaviour and attitude from an ethical perspective is relatively weak. Consumer attitude to foods is mainly influenced by concerns (e.g. food safety, human health, environmental impact) and commodity attributes (e.g. quality, taste, freshness and packaging). The objective of this paper is to get an insight on Serbian consumer attitude towards agro-food products with ethical values (AFPEV) namely organic, Fair Trade and typical/traditional products. This paper is based on the literature and an online self-administered questionnaire, carried out from December 2010 through June 2011 with 104 Serbian adult consumers, dealing with understanding of and knowledge about AFP and relationships with ethical values; AFPEV buying frequency; main criteria and reasons for buying AFPEV; opinion about AFPEV price and consumer willingness to pay; potential impacts on animal health and welfare as well environmental, economic social and civic impacts of buying AFPEV; purchasing channels; and main sources of information about AFPEV. Serbian consumers have a good knowledge about AFPEV that are bought by 98% of the sample. Most of the respondents relate ethical values to the respect of environment (73.5%) and organic production (49.0%). The main reasons for buying AFPEV are quality (35%), organic certification (17%), and taste (15%). Price seems less important. The main sources of information about AFPEV are mass media, newspapers and magazines (summing up 46%). However, the majority of Serbian consumers prefer to get information directly from the supply chain actors mainly sellers and/or producers. AFPEV are bought mainly from the specialized shops (34%) and supermarkets (26%) to achieve personal satisfaction, for health, safety, natural resources conservation, and environment protection. Consumers do not always buy sustainable products as consequences of environmental concern or to benefit the community or due to personal beliefs but mainly to give priority to health. Ethical factors are important in some cases, but they may be overstated. Results indicated that most Serbian consumers perceived that AFPEV as healthier and portray a positive attitude towards AFPEV thus showing a high willingness to pay higher prices. Serbian consumers seem to have a positive attitude towards organic, fair trade and typical products due to the sustainable benefits that they can bring about. Therefore, institutional and domestic market conditions should be improved for insuring long-term market development and information campaigns should be organised to increase Serbian consumers’ awareness and consciousness and to strengthen their positive attitude towards AFPEV

TERRITORIAL GOVERNANCE IN RURAL BOSNIA: THE ROLE OF LOCAL INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS IN SARAJEVO\uad OMANIJA REGION

Rural economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is getting more diversified and it is slowly moving out from the traditional dependency on the agricultural sector. Although national and municipal budgets are still mainly focused on direct support to production, the number of organizations engaged in rural governance is rapidly growing and their role in policy design and delivery is getting increasingly important. The aim of this paper is to analyze the network and the coordination capacity of local agro-rural organisations operating in Sarajevo-Romanija region (SRr, BiH) and the level of inclusion of local community members' in these organizations. A set of policies and instruments to improve local institutions coordination is also proposed and discussed. Methodologically the paper is based on an extended desk research, on a number of interviews with sectoral experts and local administrators and on a field survey focusing on 35 households in seven municipalities of SRr

COMPREHENSIVE MODELING OF AFFECTING FACTORS ON THE ADOPTION OF CONSERVATION PRACTICES AMONG PADDY FARMERS IN NORTH OF IRAN

Peer reviewe

Impacts of the Russia-Ukraine War on Global Food Security: Towards More Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems?

As a conflict between two major agricultural powers, the Russia-Ukraine war has various negative socioeconomic impacts that are now being felt internationally and might worsen, notably, for global food security. If the war deepens, the food crisis will worsen, posing a challenge to many countries, especially those that rely on food imports, such as those in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Simultaneously, the war came at a bad time for global food markets because food prices were already high due to disruptions in the supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, strong global demand, and poor harvests in some countries. Understanding how conflict-related disruptions in global food and fertilizer markets might affect price and availability is critical for understanding the overall impact on global food security. Further, four months into the war, its implications for food security suggest that this review is timely, urgent, and highly needed. Accordingly, this paper aims to investigate the Russia-Ukraine war's direct and indirect impact on global food security. The paper highlights that the war resulted in immediate and far-reaching cascading consequences on global food security: Ukrainian exports have stopped, conscription and population displacement have caused labor shortages, access to fertilizers is restricted, and future harvests are uncertain. First, Ukraine's export capacity has been hampered. Secondly, conscription and population displacement caused labor shortages. Thirdly, access to vital agricultural products such as fertilizers is also constrained. The war may delay spring planting and winter crop harvesting. Further, the war has indirect and cascading effects. Indeed, rising fertilizer costs may reduce their use and crop yields. Moreover, as seen during the 2007-2008 food crisis, export restrictions and speculation are driving up international prices and worsening the situation. Furthermore, the war triggered a panic buying movement at country and individual levels. Finally, the war may jeopardize the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 2 (Zero hunger), and DG 12 (Responsible consumption and production). However, the consequences of the war on food security are being exacerbated by a variety of underlying rigidities, vulnerabilities, and inefficiencies in global food systems. Accordingly, the transition toward healthy, equitable, and ecologically sustainable food systems must be strengthened by adopting urgent and long-term reforms and policies.The publication of this article was funded by the Qatar National Library

TERRITORIAL GOVERNANCE IN RURAL BOSNIA: THE ROLE OF LOCAL INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS IN SARAJEVO­ OMANIJA REGION

Rural economy in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is getting more diversified and it is slowly moving out from the traditional dependency on the agricultural sector. Although national and municipal budgets are still mainly focused on direct support to production, the number of organizations engaged in rural governance is rapidly growing and their role in policy design and delivery is getting increasingly important. The aim of this paper is to analyze the network and the coordination capacity of local agro-rural organisations operating in Sarajevo-Romanija region (SRr, BiH) and the level of inclusion of local community members’ in these organizations. A set of policies and instruments to improve local institutions coordination is also proposed and discussed. Methodologically the paper is based on an extended desk research, on a number of interviews with sectoral experts and local administrators and on a field survey focusing on 35 households in seven municipalities of SRr

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security and food consumption: Preliminary insights from the gulf cooperation council region

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, measures to contain it—such as home confinement, social isolation, closure of businesses and educational institutions, and remote work—have affected everyday life. Further, some voices were worried about these measures’ psychological, social, and economic impacts on food-related activities and practices. These impacts are presumably context-specific and differ from one region to another. In this regard, the example of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, a group of high-income and food-secure countries, is particularly intriguing. This narrative review aims to explore the psychological and socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food-related activities (e.g., food procurement, preparation, and consumption) in the GCC area. The review suggests that while the changes in lifestyle brought on by the lockdown/quarantine measures generated concern, boredom, sadness, stress, and anxiety also in the GCC region, the impacts of these negative emotions on food-related activities have been rather limited. Indeed, the pandemic impacted the consumer-food interaction but did not boost panic buying and hoarding in the region. Furthermore, the high purchasing power of the population mitigated the economic impacts of the pandemic and its adverse effects on food and nutrition security in the region.The publication of this article was funded by the Qatar National Library Open Access Program

ADOPTION OF WATER AND SOIL CONSERVATION PRACTICES: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS AND ATTITUDINAL COMPONENTS

Agricultural production requires two main resources; water, as a source of life, and soil, as a living environment. Water and soil conservation is a critical issue in areas facing water and soil resource constraints. The purpose of this review paper is to provide an overview on the theoretical frameworks used in the analysis of the adoption of water and soil conservation practices. Different models and frameworks have been used in the analysis of the acceptance and/or adoption of new technologies and practices; these include Technology acceptance model, Motivational model, Theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior, Innovation diffusion theory and the Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. The Icek Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) has been used as a conceptual framework in many studies on the factors affecting the adoption of water and soil conservation practices. The TPB allows examining the impact of individual factors (i.e. attitude), social norms (cf. subjective norms) and situational factors (i.e. perceived behavioral control) on the adoption of practices. It posits that if a person assesses the suggested behavior as positive (cf. attitude) and if he/she thinks that others want them to perform the behavior (cf. subjective norm), these result in a higher intention and motivation to do so. However, the TPB has some limitations such as not considering environmental/contextual and economic factors that may affect the individual's intention to perform a behavior. Therefore, despite the widespread use of the TPB model, the paper concludes that the UTAUT seems a better model in understanding the dynamics of acceptance and adoption of water and soil conservation practices