Organic Certification, Sustainable Farming and Return on Investment: Empirical Evidence from Ghana

Diese Dissertation analysiert die Wirtschaftlichkeit und Umweltverträglichkeit von kontrolliert biologischer kleinbäuerlicher Landwirtschaft in Afrika. Am Beispiel von exportorientiertem Ananasanbau in Ghana analysieren wir, ob zertifizierte Biolandwirtschaft diese beiden Ansprüche erfüllen kann. Aus einer Preistransmissionsanalyse können schließen, dass die Kernnachfrage nach Bioprodukten schneller steigt als das Angebot und damit Potential zur Erweiterung der Produktion bei gegebenen Preisrelationen vorhanden ist. Die Analyse des Return on Investment zeigt, dass diese Investitionen wirtschaftlich sinnvoll sind. Außerdem dient die Zertifizierung als Katalysator für die stärkere Nutzung von agrar-ökologischen Anbaumethoden. Der Gebrauch dieser Methoden ist zwar in der Regel profitabel, aber immer noch sehr geringen Ausmaßes. Das gefährdet die Nachhaltigkeit des kleinbäuerlichen biologischen Anbaus in Afrika. Daher sollte deren verstärkter Einsatz aktiver unterstützt werden

Global Protein Demand, Marine Fish Production and Trade Flows in the World of 2050

Economic drivers of change, such as changes in demand and fishing technology, are as important for the future state of fish stocks as factors influencing ecological processes (Quaas et al. 2016) . Fish and seafood (FaS) are among the most globalized commodities, and markets will continue to globalize in the coming decades. Constantly improving fishing technology may lead to increasing fishing pressure unless management effectiveness is significantly improved. To take world-market interactions into account, we quantify a global demand system for wild-caught FaS, resolved at the large marine ecosystem (LME) scale, using FAO Fishstat data. Demand for domestically caught FaS and FaS imports further depends on population size, per-capita incomes, and supply of other protein-rich food (as substitutes for FaS). Based on scenarios for population and income developments, we use the estimated demand system to derive scenarios of future FaS demand. We feed these scenarios into a global bio-economic model to study the effects of FaS consumption levels allocated by globalized markets on catches and stock development. The fisheries model provides biomass development scenarios per functional group taking into account predator-prey interactions in a stylized fashion. We analyze the effect of improving fisheries management, and the scope of expanding the supply of farmed fish for relieving the pressure on wild capture fisheries. Preliminary results suggest that this scope is limited, as farmed FaS is only an imperfect substitute for wild capture fisheries, in particular for the more wealthy consumers, who are likely to grow in number in the coming decades.Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held July 11-15, 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC), Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Sequential Delivery of Host-Induced Virulence Effectors by Appressoria and Intracellular Hyphae of the Phytopathogen Colletotrichum higginsianum

Phytopathogens secrete effector proteins to manipulate their hosts for effective colonization. Hemibiotrophic fungi must maintain host viability during initial biotrophic growth and elicit host death for subsequent necrotrophic growth. To identify effectors mediating these opposing processes, we deeply sequenced the transcriptome of Colletotrichum higginsianum infecting Arabidopsis. Most effector genes are host-induced and expressed in consecutive waves associated with pathogenic transitions, indicating distinct effector suites are deployed at each stage. Using fluorescent protein tagging and transmission electron microscopy-immunogold labelling, we found effectors localised to stage-specific compartments at the host-pathogen interface. In particular, we show effectors are focally secreted from appressorial penetration pores before host invasion, revealing new levels of functional complexity for this fungal organ. Furthermore, we demonstrate that antagonistic effectors either induce or suppress plant cell death. Based on these results we conclude that hemibiotrophy in Colletotrichum is orchestrated through the coordinated expression of antagonistic effectors supporting either cell viability or cell death

Knowing Where Organic Markets Move Next – An Analysis of Developing Countries in the Pineapple Market [Dataset]

As consumers’ demand for organic products grows, selling organic products potentially opens up profitable market participation options for farmers in developing countries. This paper studies two aspects of profitability for the producers. It uses hedonic demand theory and empirical analysis to examine the relation between conventional and organic markets using the strongly growing pineapple market as an example. This analysis confirms a nonlinear dependence of the organic market on the conventional one and a non-declining premium. The author concludes that there is a larger potential of the organic market and hence the number of farmers in developing countries who can potentially benefit from growing organic products

The relevance of business practices in linking smallholders and large agro-businesses in Sub-Sahara Africa

Smallholders often have to certify according to international standards and produce under contract for large agro-businesses to access export markets. While mostly positive effects for the farmers have been found for contracts and certifications, often these effects do not persist because contracts fail and certifications are not renewed. We suggest that individual firm behavior is crucial for the long-term success of farmeragro-business relationships. In this article, we use data of 386 smallholders in the pineapple export sector in Ghana, analyze them quantitatively and enrich it by a detailed case study of a large-scale agro-business in Ghana. The results show that, in an environment with weak contract enforcement, certification is an agent of change in farmer-agro-business relations and that building trust and aligning expectations of farmers and firms largely determine success. We conclude that individual firm behavior matters more than taken into account in previous research. Our case study shows that three ‘R’ – reliability, reputation and respect – constitute the basis for contract relationships that benefit all