PROPOSAL FOR A TERRITORIAL ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURAL POLICIES WITH A GEOREFERRED MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING MODEL: A CASE STUDY

The primary sector has always had a fundamental role in human activities. In recent years, major industrialised and developed countries increased demand for the positive externalities generated by the agriculture, while they reduced the importance of the sector in terms of production of food. The evolution of public intervention followed the change of the role of agriculture and has tried to propose instruments able to consider and balance both private and public interests. It is especially with the Mid Term Review (MTR) that policy maker has tried to implement a system of subsidies that bound the farmer to a series of activities related either directly or indirectly with the collective welfare. Moving from coupled aid to decoupled one linked to the respect of cross-compliance means changing the concept of public intervention. In this context, a useful evaluation tool should be able to analyse and to catch the changes in farmers behaviour by considering also the territory in order to locate the effects. The territory, as a matter of fact, is not only the place where the effects passively fall, but it is capable of interfering directly in the farmers decision-making process. Therefore, the development of specific methodologies able to analyze farmers’ behaviours and specific instruments linked to the territorial analysis could represent an important tool to assess agricultural policies effects both on enterprises and territory. In this framework a methodology based on the Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP) and on the implementation of a Geographic Information System (GIS) seems to answer the several questions about the policies’ assessment and land-use planning. The present research integrates this two methodologies. PMP is used in a territorial model and it is based on the optimization of an objective function representing a farm gross margin while GIS allows to analyze territorial aspects and to locate the effects of the policy. This tool has been tested in a specific case study in order to analyse the effects of the CAP Reform (in particular decoupling, cross-compliance and modulation) on the primary sector and on farm land use potential changes. The innovative aspect of the research is the attempt to study the impact of agricultural policy through an optimization model that considers among its variables also the specific localization of farms. The final result is represented by the creation of georeferred maps in which the land use changes are evaluated and interpreted under the framework of multifunctionality, in terms of quantitative analysis regarding landscape and, abandonment risk and cattle distribution.Agricultural and Food Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

XXXVII Incontro del Centro Studi di Estimo e di Economia Territoriale (Ce.S.E.T.): Ferrara, 19-20 novembre 2007

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Post-lockdown changes in diet in Italy and the USA: Return to old habits or structural changes?

This study analyses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food consumption at the end of the first lockdown in the New York State (USA) and in Italy (spring 2020). The results of our study show that important changes occurred in food habits in these two countries, in which lockdown was very similar. Three models of response to the shock of the lockdown were noted in both countries. The first model (40%) includes individuals who largely increased their food consumption, the second model (26%) showed a more virtuous and responsible behaviour, while the third model (34%) displayed no change in food consumption. Diet quality in terms of healthiness and sustainability declined in the USA, while in Italy, approximately one-third of the sample showed an improvement in diet in these same areas. The use of sociodemographic, motivational, and behavioural variables to profile subjects who adhered to each food model has made it possible to obtain information that can be used to develop communication campaigns and policies for a healthier and more sustainable diet

Consumer Response to Quality Differentiation Strategies in Wine PDOs

Abstract The wine-growing sector is probably the area of agriculture that best expresses the binomial of production quality-territorial identity. In fact, the identification of agricultural production with the territory, its peculiarities and its atmospheres generates a relationship that is mutually advantageous and that the consumer perceives and values. This binomial is the basis that has generated the PDOs, which represent a winning solution for the success of productions that are otherwise fragmented and have little market "recognisability". A current debate that has spread to various wine-growing areas questions the advisability of introducing sub-zoning based on quality levels in order to better promote the typical characteristics of each territory. The objective of this paper is to verify whether the strategy of sub-zoning based on the quality diversification of productions could constitute an appropriate tool to further promote a territory's productions. Towards this end, we have developed a discrete choice experiment to compare a new Chianti Classico DOCG type of excellence with other 4 DOCG Tuscan Sangiovese wines. The results show that introducing this new typology into a territory that has already been awarded the DOCG certification can represent a valid development strategy for the firm, as well as for territories

Changes in dietary preferences: new challenges for sustainability and innovation

The transformations in dietary habits that have occurred over recent decades draw attention to important issues concerning the relationship between lifestyles, diet and health, and open up new challenges for operators in the agricultural and food sector. This study intends to analyse these evolutions, comparing the dietary preferences of generation X in 2001 with its dietary preferences in 2011, and those of the following generation, the so-called generation Y. The analysis was conducted by applying latent class clustering to the food spending of a representative sample of Italian consumers. It has enabled us to identify the prevalent food patterns in 2001 and 2011 and to analyse their transformations, interpreting them in the light of social, cultural and economic changes. The comparison of food pattern characteristics over this period highlights the emergence of trends that move in two different directions. The first of these is the rise of a new dietary sensitivity towards a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and fish. The other concerns food patterns that are more vulnerable to diseases related to an unhealthy diet. These trends should draw the attention of public operators to the need for communication campaigns that target specific segments and aim to direct food habits towards healthier behaviours. A change in supply could also help improve the diet, especially if aimed at products with a high level of service provision and at establishments that serve food. Finally, the birth of a niche of consumers particularly drawn towards healthy eating opens the way for the industry to propose a series of innovative products. </jats:p

Il pagamento unico e la condizionalità nella modifica del paesaggio rurale. Un caso di studio

Il pagamento unico e la condizionalit&agrave; nella modifica del paesaggio rurale. Un caso di studi

La multifunzionalit&agrave; dell'agricoltura nelle zone montane marginali

This report contains the scientific results of the research project co-funded by Regione Toscana entitled "La multifunzionalit&agrave; dell'agricoltura nelle zone montane marginali: una valutazione qualitativa, quantitativa e monetaria degli impatti ambientali, economici e sociali". The project involved various partners, whose skills enabled the activity to take an integrated, multi-disciplinary bent; the University of Florence Department of Farming and Forestry Economics, Engineering, Science and Technology – DEISTAF – took responsibility for the scientific side, while the local partners counted the municipality of San Godenzo, L'Unione dei Comuni della Montagna Fiorentina and the Consorzio Marrone del Mugello IGP. The general aim of the whole research project was to prepare guidelines for the endogenous and sustainable development of outlying areas, while extending knowledge of a fundamental aspect of farming, the primary activity, namely its multiple functions