Direct payments coupled to labour force – socio-economic consequences to organic farming –

Discussion Labour input on organic farms in Switzerland and Germany is on average 20% higher than on comparable conventional farms (Offermann and Nieberg 2000). Therefore, it is not surprising, that policy-makers expect positive impacts both on organic farming development and on rural employment by modifying the current direct payment approach. However, Dabbert et al. (2002) expect only minor effects to agricultural employment due to the small size of the sub-sector. The supporters of modified payment schemes argue, that coupling direct payments to labour force might lead to a fairer allocation of subsidies. ‘Fairer allocation’ in this context means reallocation of payments from large farms with low labour input per hectare to small family farms where labour input per hectare is higher. The opponents on the other side point out that structural change would slow down

Farmer Consumer Partnerships: WP 5 Report on the results of Consumer Choice Experiments

Within the European-funded research project CORE Organic Farmer Consumer Partnership, we tested selected OrganicPlus arguments displayed on organic egg packages in consumer choice experiments in the five study countries of Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The focus was on investigating consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay for the selected OrganicPlus arguments: “from the respective country”, “from the respective region”, “highest animal welfare standards” and “fair prices for our organic farmers: 20cents extra”. Furthermore, the objective was to determine causal relationships between the preferences observed and the relevant characteristics of the consumers by means of a questionnaire-based survey. The data was analysed with multinomial logit models. As hypothesised, organic egg packages displaying OrganicPlus arguments were more preferred by organic consumers than organic eggs without OrganicPlus arguments. However, consumer preferences varied between the arguments and between countries. The argument, “from the respective region” was the most preferred argument in all countries, except in Austria, where it was ranked after “highest animal welfare standards” and “from the respective country”. The argument “highest animal welfare standards” was the most preferred argument in Austria, while it was ranked after the argument “from the respective region” in Germany and Switzerland. The argument “fair prices for our organic farmers: 20 pence/20 cents/50 Rappen extra” was significantly preferred among German and Swiss consumers, although the argument was less relevant than “from the respective region” and “highest animal welfare standards”. The willingness to pay for OrganicPlus arguments varied considerably between the countries, however, it was highest for “from the respective region” in most study countries. Causal relationships were found between consumers’ attitudes and their preferences for some of the OrganicPlus arguments. Besides this, socio-demographic characteristics, purchase patterns related to organic food as well as consumers’ social commitment all had an impact on consumers’ preferences for OrganicPlus arguments

Organic farming policy networks in Europe: context, actors and variation

Despite most having developed under the umbrella of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), national-level organic farming policy networks in Europe vary. The aim of this paper is to explore the reasons for this variation. Quantitative network analyses were carried out in five 'old' and five 'new' EU member states and in Switzerland. To examine the patterns of influence on these eleven policy networks, the cases are compared in two stages. First, we examine the factors co-varying with the size and density of the networks and then we apply a most similar system - most different outcome research design. We identify the political environment as the main factor affecting size and density of organic farming policy networks in Europe. The distribution of power between organic farming organizations and agricultural ministries is influenced by state involvement and by the resources available to organic farming policy actors

The influence of policy networks on policy output. A comparison of organic farming policy in the Czech Republic and Poland

Although, at the time of accession to the EU, organic farming policies formally were equally developed in the Czech Republic and Poland, a closer investigation reveals some variation. This paper takes a policy network perspective to explore the policy differences between these two countries. Common network themes are used to link networks with policy output. It is argued that the capacity of the organic sector and its structural organization, its cohesion, and the relationship between organic interest groups and the government affect the political discourse, and, in consequence, how organic farming policy is elaborated

The trade-off between scope and precision in sustainability assessments of food systems

With sustainability becoming an increasingly important issue, several tools have been developed, promising to assess sustainability of farms and farming systems. However, looking closer at the scope, the level of assessment and the precision of indicators used for impact assessment we discern considerable differences between the sustainability impact assessment tools at hand. The aim of this paper is therefore to classify and analyse six different sustainability impact assessment tools with respect to the assessment level, the scope and the precision. From our analysis we can conclude that there is a trade-off between scope and precision of these tools. Thus one-size-fits-all solutions with respect to tool selection are rarely feasible. Furthermore, as the indicator selection determines the assessment results, different and inconsistent indicators could lead to contradicting and not comparable assessment results. To overcome this shortcoming, sustainability impact assessments should disclose the methodological approach as well as the indictor sets use and aim for harmonisation of assumptions

Förderung [des ökologischen Landbaus]

Warum wird der Öko-Landbau überhaupt gefördert? Dafür gibt es im Wesentlichen vier Gründe: 1. Der Öko-Landbau hat mehr positive Umwelteffekte als der konventionelle Landbau. 2. Der Öko-Markt eröffnet Landwirten Einkommens-Chancen. 3. Die Entwicklung des ländlichen Raums kann durch den Öko-Landbau positiv beeinflusst werden: durch ein positives Image z.B. für den Tourismus und durch kleinere regionale Unternehmen, denen der Absatz und die Verarbeitung von Öko-Produkten eine Einkommensperspektive bietet. 4. Aufgrund der geringeren Erträge lassen sich durch den Öko-Landbau die Agrar-Überschüsse abbauen

Organic Farming - An efficient and integrated system approach responding to pressing challenges

- One strict and easily understandable rule in organic farming such as the ban of synthetic fertilisers often results in a number of environmental benefits. - Organic farming support helps to minimise costs for farm support while increasing its environmental effects. - Cost effectiveness of organic farming support can result from consistency of the policy measure, the system approach of organic farming and resulting synergetic environmental effects, as well as increased market values and lower transaction costs

The societal demand for multifunctionality – priorities from the perspective of regional stakeholders

In order to foster a multifunctional agriculture that is adapted to the societal demand, the preferences of the regional population for functions provided by agriculture have to be identified. This demand, however, is difficult to measure economically, since multifunctionality is partly concerned with public goods. Our study aimed at identifying the societal demand for economic, ecological and sociocultural functions of agriculture and the underlying reasons within the framework of multifunctionality. Therefore, methods which can measure several functions at the same time and which include also qualitative information in addition to revealing Willingness-to-pay (WTP) values were regarded as most appropriate. For our research question, we opted for an indirect method, based on stated, collective preferences of regional representatives and experts for rural development (e.g. mayors from towns located in the case studies, representative from tourist or environmental organisations, experts from agricultural or regional administrative bodies, coordinators of Leader projects and researchers). We applied Stakeholder Delphi Approach: The first step aimed at seizing the whole range of relevant views on the issue by individual face-to-face interviews, while the second step condensed this information to a prioritisation of functions using a budget game approach. The results of the interviews were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. Prioritisations and budget allocations were interpreted with descriptive statistics. Assuming that there are regional differences concerning the societal demand, this study was implemented in four case studies: River Gudenå (Denmark), Ostprignitz-Ruppin (OPR) (Germany), Mugello, (Italy), and Kościan (Poland). First, each case study was analysed separately, then a cross-country comparison was carried out. The results of this research indicate that there is a considerable societal demand for multifunctional agriculture in all cases studied. However, the roles the stakeholders attributed to regional agriculture varied between the case studies. In most of the case studies, the stakeholders opted for a relatively balanced demand allocation in terms of economic, ecological, and socio-cultural functions, whereas the stakeholders in OPR put a slight emphasis on economic functions. While the stakeholders of the OPR case study gave absolute priority to the provision of jobs, the stakeholders in the Danish case study were strongly concerned about the elimination of negative effects of agriculture such as smells and nitrate in drinking water. In both cases a significant share of the demand was allocated towards para agricultural activities, such as agri-tourism and the provision of renewable energies, whereas functions directly related to food production attained a relatively small proportion of the demand. The case study “Kościan” in Poland suggests, in contrast, a strong societal demand for food-production related functions, such as regional food supply and quality food production, while an improvement of the rural infrastructure was also highly prioritised. In the case of Mugello (Italy) two clusters of agricultural functions were identified: A high societal demand was stated both for the functions related to food production and landscape related functions, including the maintenance of a hydro-ecological equilibrium. We conclude that despite the regional differences concerning the importance of multifunctional services of agriculture, there is a strong demand for multifunctional agriculture as a whole. These results have to be interpreted with care, given the explorative character of the study. We faced a variety of methodological challenges. Particularly, the relatively small sample per case study and the limited information flow to the involved stakeholders needs to be addressed in future studies. Nevertheless, our results give valuable insights into the demand structure and its underlying reasons for the complex matter of multifunctionality. Thus, on the basis of our results we are able to provide policy recommendations for a future Model of European Agriculture backed by the preferences prevailing in society. Furthermore, we give suggestions for further research concerning the societal demand for the functions of agriculture