Organic Food and Farming: Between Market Subordination and Retailer Growth Prospects

The paper is based on research conducted for DARCOF II (Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming, www.darcof.dk). The aim of the research project is to analyze the future development of the Danish organic food sector through focusing on two agro-commodities: vegetables and pork. Emphasis is placed on identification of economic forces within the supply chains. The main conclusions of the paper - being the results from the organic vegetable chain are that the rules and regulations, and the development of alternative transaction processes in organic food and farming have so far been founded on social counter reactions to the mechanisms of a free market economy that result in the marginalization of farmers, animals welfare and the environment. However, organic farming is also part of the same free market economy, and therefore will inevitably encounter some of the same problems currently facing conventional farmers - declining prices, concentration of production and shift in bargaining power to the retailers. Logically, this situation will lead eventually to increasing conflicts between organic values and their subordination to free market forces, i.e. conventionalization. In the same time retailers are in search for new products, and new ways of creating outlets that can enhance or boost their image in an increasing international competitive environment. The organic products have a well-respected brand of trust and quality, and thereby a very strong position to create new possibilities of gaining store space and growth among supermarkets and discounters. A report of the results is in printing.political economy, institutional economics, supply chain management, organic food & farming, farmers' treadmill, retail bargain power, Industrial Organization, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Retailer globalization

Presentation on retailers who have gone global, the different strategies they have pursued and the drivers and motivations for the major retailer chains for going global

Fra Babylons Hængende Haver til Landbrugshøjhuse

The historical development of Urban Farming from the Gardens of Babylon to the talk of producing food in Modern farmscrabers. Included is the birth of the concept Urban Ecology and how it is implemented in present day Urban Design, and related to the worlds fast population growth and urbanization putting pressure on resources such as land and water

Farmscrapers - fra horisontalt til vertikalt bylandbrug

The historical development of Urban Farming from the Gardens of Babylon to the talk of producing food in Modern farmscrabers. Included is the birth of the concept Urban Ecology and how it is implemented in present day Urban Design, and related to the worlds fast population growth and urbanization putteing pressure on resources such as land and water

Growing bargain power of supermarkets presses organic vegetable producers

In the analyses of growing retail bargain power the organic vegetable chain in Denmark has been used as a case study focusing on two commodities: organic carrots and organic iceberg salads. These two were chosen to see if the differences in the length of durability between the two commodities would have an impact on the way contracts were made between producers and retailers/supermarkets. Both commodities, however, were bargained on a similar basis which is covered by the main outline given in this paper

Nye forskningsmodeller og et anderledes helhedssyn

De økologiske fødevarekæder er i nogle sammenhænge organiseret som et alternativ til den traditionelle agroindustrielle fødevarekæde, mens de i andre sammenhænge følger den traditionelle kæde fra "jord til bord". Hvorfor gør de det? Og hvilke forskelle og ligheder findes der i organiseringen af de økologiske fødevarekæder inden for mælkeprodukter, grøntsager og kød (fjerkræ, svin, får og kvæg)? Artiklen beskriver nogle af de nye modeltilgange, som SAMSON forskningsprojektet arbejder ud fra i et forsøg på at forklare nogle af disse forskelle og ligheder

Organic farming - an opportunity for Developing countries?

Within the academics of development policy organic farming is often regarded as a production for the rich, due to the fact that a major part of the organic production in the South goes to the wealthy North. However, the organic sector in developing countries are generally dominated by entrepreneurs with a high knowledge on the requirements for supplying global commodity chains to the North as well as all the obstacles in the South for obtaining such a position. Rather than being viewed as a niche production for the rich. the organic sector should be regarded as a potential locomotive for agricultural development in the South

Analysis of Organic Supply Chains - A theoretical framework

This working paper contains a new theoretical approach for analyzing organic supply chains. It is structured at three levels: - the farm/household level - the supply chain - the institutional frame The theoretical frame explains how the economic mechanism in a competetive market economy creates societal conflicts and concentration of production and capital in relation to farming. The theory also explains how and why organic farming can be viewed as a social counterreaction to these conflicts and processes of power concentration

The organization of Organic vegetable supply chains in China - Flexible property rights and different regimes of smallholder inclusion

This paper analyses to what extent Chinese smallholders are included and benefit from converting their land to organic vegetable production supplying chains under two different property rights regimes destined for either export or domestic sales. Two case areas were chosen for investigation: 1) the Shanghai metropolis where organic vegetable production goes solely for domestic consumption an 2) the rural area around Taian city in the province of Shandong where the organic vegetable production is destined for export only. In the Shanghai metropolis small holders are not included at all in the organic vegetable production. Due to better off-farm employment the local county has instead mediated a land transfer of their property right and land use to organic farm enterprises, giving new jobs to migrant workers and local women. In the Shandong case the village cooperative act as a contractor between an organic processing industry and the many smallholders in the village. The small holders are in this way included with the organic vegetable chain and connected to growing global organic market. Both examples illustrates how the Chinese political system on the one hand tries to manage the need for rural migration, and the other hand tries to secure a better livelihood for those whom migration is not an option.Agribusiness,