Worldwide opportunities in organic farms: key drivers and research implications of unwaged work.

In developed countries, the unwaged work provided by family workers is decreasing rapidly, replaced partly by the unwaged work of apprentices, interns, and volunteers from urban and suburban locations, compensated through a diverse mix of training, accommodation, and food. Our focus is on the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), an international network linking people who want to volunteer in organic farms with farmers who offer accommodation and food in exchange for work. To explore the WWOOF hosts, three main drivers are identified and based on recent academic literature, the major features of each dimension are discussed. Research implications are provided, including in-depth interpretation of unwaged farm work and identification of the elements that contribute to rendering organic farming a resilient agricultural system

Institutional Embeddedness in Organic Farming Systems

 The aim of this contribution is to put some evidence on the influence of external factors in the farm decision making, often crucial in leading technical and commercial development and in fostering the expression of social and environmental sensitivity. This paper explores the concept of "embeddedness" focusing on the institutional domain that should affect market strategies. By studying the market orientation of 53 organic farms selected in two Italian regions (Emilia Romagna and Marches), the relation between regional origins and business strategies were analysed with the purpose to indirectly assess the role of institutions in promoting the development of Alternative Food Networks

Evaluating consumer perceptions of social farming through choice modelling

This study aims to analyse consumer attitudes and to value their willingness to pay a premium price for ethical food from social farming by applying discrete choice experiment methodology. Two real products, zucchini and eggs, that were cultivated in an organic social farm with work inclusion by people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) were considered. We relied on these two products due to their different origins (vegetal and animal) and, in the case of eggs, to compare the willingness to pay for social farming and the preservation of animal welfare. We collected 255 complete questionnaires, and our results show that respondents have a positive willingness to pay for both products if they are obtained with the work inclusion of people with ASDs. For the work inclusion of adults with ASDs, the interviewees expressed a mean WTP of 0.69 \u20ac for a box of 6 eggs and 0.85 \u20ac/Kg for zucchini. This is particularly important in supporting the economic sustainability of an activity, i.e., social farming, that typically has higher production costs and therefore needs to be supported by public subsidies. The positive attitude of consumers in terms of their willingness to pay a premium price for these products could potentially allow a strong hybridization between profit (agriculture) and nonprofit (social) activities, which could potentially both guarantee economic sustainability to firms and benefit society. Such hybridization has its roots in the view of agriculture as an integral part of the community, where each member is doing his or her part with concrete actions, including those connected to consumption choices that contribute to support the social positive externalities generated by farmers\u2019 activities

The Umbria agro-food system

Agryfood system in Umbria is very particular: the Region presents specifics characteristich about its rural territory and conseguently there are many unique and inimitable products. Moreover the agricultural and rural sectors significantly contribute to tehe local economy. This paper aims to summarize the macro data of rural economic context in Umbria

The Umbria agro-food system

Agryfood system in Umbria is very particular: the Region presents specifics characteristich about its rural territory and conseguently there are many unique and inimitable products. Moreover the agricultural and rural sectors significantly contribute to tehe local economy. This paper aims to summarize the macro data of rural economic context in Umbria

the milk supply chain in italy s umbria region environmental and economic sustainability

This article aims to investigate the environmental and economic sustainability of five dairy farms in the Umbria Region (Italy). The study also provides an assessment of aggregate sustainability, which is less investigated with reference to cattle milk both globally and in Italy, through the analysis of the relationship between economic and environmental performance. Primary data were collected through a direct survey carried out in 2014. The environmental assessment was conducted with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) "cradle to farm gate" approach, while the economic dimension was evaluated by determining the direct and indirect costs related to the factors involved in the production process. A correlation analysis and a linear regression were performed in order to study the relationship between the carbon footprint (CF) and operating income. The average operating income amounted to 0.03 Euro/L of milk. The CF values of the five companies are contained within a variation range comprised between 0.90 and 1.76 kg CO 2 eq/L of milk. The existence of an inverse relationship between the CF of milk and operating income confirms the hypothesis regarding the possibility of implementing strategies aimed at improving performance in both investigated dimensions at the same time, thus increasing the aggregate sustainability

Business models in urban farming: A comparative analysis of case studies from Spain, Italy and Germany

The “Urban Agriculture Europe” EU COST-Action (2012–2016) has shown that the complexity of urban agriculture (UA) is hardly compressible into classic business management models and has proposed new management models, such as the Business Model Canvas (BMC). Business models of UA have to be different from rural ones. In particular, factors such as differentiation and diversification, but also low cost-oriented specialisation, are characteristic and necessary business models for UA to stay profitable in the long term under challenging city conditions. This paper aims to highlight how farm enterprises have to adjust to urban conditions by stepping into appropriate business models aiming to stay competitive and profitable, and how the BMC is useful to analyse their organisation and performance, both economically and socially. The paper offers an inter-regional analysis of UA enterprises located in Spain, Italy, and Germany, which are further subdivided into: local food, leisure, educational, social, therapeutic, agri-environmental, cultural heritage and experimental farms. The analysis demonstrates that UA is differentially adjusted to specific urban conditions and that the BMC is useful for analysing urban farming. Heterogeneous local food farms and the integration of local and organic food production in social farming business models are most frequent in our case studies

Business models in urban farming: A comparative analysis of case studies from Spain, Italy and Germany

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