COHERENCE BETWEEN STRATEGIES AND TOOLS IN ITALIAN RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS 2007-2013: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

In the years to come Rural Development Policies will be an increasingly important part of EU Cohesion Policies. In particular, Convergence Regions with a high percentage of rural areas and a major development gap will be the most affected by this scenario. The objectives of this paper are twofold. The first is to analyze Italian Rural Development Programs in order to investigate how the Italian regional authorities have interpreted the potential role of the new RD programs and identified the specific strategies to be pursued. The second objective is to evaluate the coherence between strategies and tools indicated in the different programs. The financial plans will be compared in order to detect the possible different strategic approaches existing among regions characterized by different situations and development levels of the agricultural sector and the rural economy. For developing the analysis we will adopt the menu approach (Terluin, Venema, 2004). We will analyze three main steps which have to be taken in applying this method: (1) identification of rural development priorities; (2) selection of rural development measures to determine rural development priorities; and (3) allocation of finance to take such rural development measures. Following this approach, the 21 Italian Rural Development Programs will be compared. The first results show that the different regions selected quite a large number of rural development measures from the potential menu. Moreover, the different importance given to the agricultural and rural sectors in selecting various measures is never clear-cut.RDP, Policy Coherence, Italian RDP, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q10, Q18,

L'efficacia del PSR della Campania per la diffusione dell'agricoltura biologica attraverso un'analisi aziendale

Scopo del lavoro è quello di pervenire ad una valutazione della sostenibilità economica di lungo termine dell’agricoltura biologica in Campania, mettendo in risalto l’importanza avuta dagli aiuti previsti dalle politiche agricole comunitarie e quindi le possibili conseguenze di un loro eventuale ridimensionamento. Nello specifico si intendono verificare: • le variazioni determinate nei costi di produzione aziendali e nei redditi agricoli dal passaggio all’agricoltura biologica; • la diversa importanza rivestita dai sussidi previsti dalle misure agroambientali e dal premium price nel determinare la convenienza delle produzioni biologiche; In altri termini, l’intento è capire se i sussidi per le produzioni biologiche riescono a compensare gli agricoltori: a) per le perdite di reddito arrecate dalla riduzione della produzione e/o dall’aumento dei costi di produzione; b) per il ruolo che essi svolgono nel miglioramento dell’ambiente; o se non sono, invece, necessarie altre condizioni per il successo dell’agricoltura biologica, investita di un forte ruolo di salvaguardia e valorizzazione delle risorse naturali al di là dell’obbiettivo, già di per sé importante, di produzione di alimenti salubri e di qualità

The role of modern retailers to ensure quality in the food sector: the case of organic strawberry consumption in Italy

Major changes have occurred in the agri-food sector, generating new and more complex concepts of food quality. One of the most significant indicators of these changes is market restructuring, in terms of rapid concentration among retailers, the dominance of chain stores and their imposition of cost and quality constraints. Retailers currently play a more important role in ensuring food product quality and safety than public authorities. To analyze this new aspect in the food sector, we carried out a survey on organic strawberry consumption in Italy. This segment of the organic sector is particularly interesting because the conventional strawberry may be considered an unsafe product due to the large use of chemical inputs in the production process. Nevertheless, the demand for organic strawberries demand is fairly low. We attempted to investigate such concerns through a questionnaire-based survey submitted to a representative sample of 318 Italian households. The questionnaire was structured into three areas of information to collect data related to consumer preferences for different characteristics of organic strawberries and psychometric and socio-economic variables. The data were analyzed using a Logit model to derive a demand estimate for organic strawberries. Our first results indicate the presence of a major role played by modern retailers and consumer lifestyles to drive the final demand of high-quality and safe food products.food quality and food safety, organic strawberry consumption, modern retail, Logit model., Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Rifiuti e agricoltura in Campania, una calamità “innaturale”

L’“emergenza rifiuti in Campania” è da qualche tempo ormai agli “onori” della cronaca. Le ragioni di ciò sono numerose, ma forse la più semplice è che tale problema è giustamente considerato, allo stesso tempo, grave, assurdo e inspiegabile. Grave per le conseguenze che esso può avere per la società e l’economia dei territori e dei settori produttivi interessati; assurdo perché originato da eventi, tutti sotto il controllo umano, facilmente e banalmente preventivabili; inspiegabile perché, in un paese e in un continente che vengono normalmente considerati fra quelli più avanzati del mondo, non è facile darsi ragione delle cause che lo hanno determinato. Il settore agroalimentare della Campania, ossia di una delle aree più produttive d’Europa, è talmente coinvolto da questo problema da meritare ancora un minimo di attenzione per valutare, sia pure in via approssimativa, la natura delle sue origini e la portata delle sue possibili conseguenze. Nell’articolo vengono, pertanto, affrontati alcuni particolari aspetti che il problema riveste per le sole agricolture interessate, scorporandoli da quelli più ampi e gravi dell’intero sistema socio-economico. La discussione sarà limitata al solo settore agroalimentare nel tentativo di rendere più semplice la valutazione delle specifiche ricadute che lo interessano. Tuttavia, essa sarà. preceduta da una breve e generale descrizione dei fatti che hanno portato alla situazione che si intende discutere

Quality dimensions and consumer preferences: A choice experiment in the Italian extra-virgin olive oil market

This paper investigates consumer preferences for extra-virgin olive oil in Italy. In order to segment the Italian extra-virgin olive oil market, the information obtained from a nationwide survey was analysed by using a randomised parameter logit regression and implementing a cluster analysis on the estimates of consumers’ willingness to pay for origin of olives, production method and sensory attributes. Our results show that information on origin, both in terms of the adoption of PDO or PGI certification and labelling of the origin, production method and organoleptic characteristics crucially affect consumer preferences for olive oil. Market segmentation shows there are consumers who are particularly sensitive to origin and organic certification as well as labelling clarity

Evaluating italian attitude and behaviour toward Fair Trade products

In the context of food consumption, several issues have been widely discussed in reference to a large array of attributes and product types used as evidence of growing consumer feeling toward ethical issues linked to moral and social consciousness. Animal welfare, fair prices for farmers, social aspects of production, and preservation of cultural features, are some of the product attributes for which consumer behaviour has been analyzed in the context of ethical consumerism. This paper aims at providing insights into consumer motivational systems and their relations with fair trade product purchasing behaviour. In order to pursue this goal, the effectiveness of two alternative approaches, proposed in the literature and tested in Belgium and Germany, were formally assessed in Italy. The two sets of scales were tested for predicting purchasing behaviour by using a sample of Italian consumers

Fair Trade Attitudes and Consumer Behavior in Italy: a comparative analysis of two attitudinal scales

This paper aims to provide insights into consumer motivational systems and their relations with fair trade product purchasing behavior. In order to pursue this goal, the effectiveness of two alternative approaches, proposed in the literature and tested in Belgium and Germany, were formally assessed in Italy. The two sets of scales were tested for predicting purchasing behavior by using a sample of Italian consumers. Although both sets of scales showed good internal reliability and statistical evidence of behavioral predictive validity, one of the two sets under assessment is able to depict actual behavior in much greater depth than the other

Antecedents of Intention and Behavior Towards Fair Trade Products: A Study on Values and Attitudes in Italy

The current study investigates the significance and power of direct and indirect effects of values and attitudes on intention to buy fair trade products and on self-reported behaviors. Drawing on previous research, we selected three attitudinal measures – Consciousness for Fair Consumption, Environmental Concern, Moral Reasoning – and two categories of human values, Power and Universalism. Through a web-based survey conducted in Italy we collected data analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Results showed that Universalism exerted a positive indirect effect on buying fair traded products while Power exerted a negative effect. Therefore, according to Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991), the intention was the only direct antecedent of behavior

Consumers (Dis)Preference for Bitterness in Extra Virgin Olive Oil: A Field Experiment

Globally, bitterness in food is not a preferred attribute by consumers, for several reasons. In the case of Extra Virgin Olive Oil its presence is fundamental as it is a healthiness indicator, being strictly linked to the antioxidant content. The current study aimed to assess the extent of Italian consumers’ preferences for bitterness taste of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Real choices made by shoppers at the store shelf of a hypermarket were recorded and then compared with the selected Extra Virgin Olive Oil sensory profiles evaluated by a professional panel. Findings reveal that bitterness exerts a negative willingness to pay equal to -1.18 €/liter. Furthermore, consumers tend to overestimate the perception of Extra Virgin Olive Oil bitterness compared to sensory experts. Results provide new evidences of consumer preferences for sweet sensory profile of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and bitter aversion

Evaluating italian attitude and behaviour toward Fair Trade products

In the context of food consumption, several issues have been widely discussed in reference to a large array of attributes and product types used as evidence of growing consumer feeling toward ethical issues linked to moral and social consciousness. Animal welfare, fair prices for farmers, social aspects of production, and preservation of cultural features, are some of the product attributes for which consumer behaviour has been analyzed in the context of ethical consumerism. This paper aims at providing insights into consumer motivational systems and their relations with fair trade product purchasing behaviour. In order to pursue this goal, the effectiveness of two alternative approaches, proposed in the literature and tested in Belgium and Germany, were formally assessed in Italy. The two sets of scales were tested for predicting purchasing behaviour by using a sample of Italian consumers