Search results for "agricultural policy"
showing 10 items of 37 documents
Enjeux fonciers et développement "durable" au Mali
2012
Making the land issue a total economic phenomenon and capital the driving force of development equates to giving free rein to the commodification of the land. Is it really necessary for Mali to sell off its agricultural land and its land resources to access development? For what development? Does development demand that family-run small farming operations and age-old, traditional land management methods be sacrificed? Ever since the country attained national sovereignty in 1960, Mali ‒ a poor country in sub-Saharan Africa ‒ has been seeking in vain to achieve rapid economic, social and industrial development by all the means available, with the exception of the deployment of an endogenous d…
Europäische Handels- und Agrarpolitik gegenüber Afrika Mit einem kritischen Blick auf den Beitrag der Wirtschaftswissenschaften
2018
Abstract European trade policy with Africa is in deep trouble. We observe a triple policy failure. (1) The EU tries to draw African partner countries into comprehensive deep integration agreements, far more than these countries can arguably support. (2) For trade in goods, safeguard clauses in the EPAs are patchy. They cannot satisfy African needs for smart protection of agricultural and industrial businesses. Facing the refusal of some African governments to sign, the EU has no answer. Ensuing fragmentation of African regional economic communities is a disaster. Rapid repair work of the existing regional EPA drafts looks more promising than a grand solution with the new African Continental…
Farming Efficiency and the Survival of Valuable Agro-Ecosystems: A Case Study of Rice Farming in European Mediterranean Wetlands
2009
Beyond the conventional role of providing food, rice farming in European Mediterranean wetlands performs a valuable non-marketable function related to the provision of environmental services. Rice and biodiversity are jointly produced, so that provision of flooded-rice-fields based environmental services depends crucially on private profitability of rice farming. Recent reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and increasing access of third party countries to the domestic European market are challenging the competitiveness of European rice growers. This paper combines conventional competitiveness indicators and non-parametric efficiency analysis to ascertain the economic profitabilit…
Agriculture and Sustainability: a GIS Based Model to Appraise Incentive Policy
2015
Agriculture is the major form of protection of local identities and sustainability and one of the most fragile Italian economic sectors, exposed to fluctuations of the financial/economic crisis. As a consequence, boosting agricultural policies should integrate conflicting objectives connected to preservation and innovation, effectiveness/efficiency, and landscape features and job opportunities. Referring to a large land area located in the central part of Sicily (Italy) the paper proposes an assessment/planning pattern aimed at providing some axiological items and a specific algorithm able to appraise each specific land parcel, generating different strategies and selecting the best format o…
What makes a citrus farmer go 'organic'? Empirical evidence from Spanish citrus farming
2012
Organic farming is increasing its share of total world food output and receiving grow-ing support from policymakers concerned with agricultural sustainability issues. This paper studies the characteristics of citrus farmers in the Spanish region of Valencia that affect their probability of becoming organic farmers. A fair understanding of these characteristics may help policymakers improve the design of agricultural policies aimed at supporting organic citrus practices. As regards the methodology, a probit model is estimated with information from a sample of conventional and organic citrus farmers obtained from a survey designed for a larger research project aimed at analysing Valencian cit…
Assessment of site-specific drivers of farmland abandonment in mosaic-type landscapes: A case study in Vidzeme, Latvia
2018
Abstract Farmland abandonment, which causes changes in rural life and farming practices, can be observed throughout Europe. Over the last decades natural afforestation has decreased the area of farmland used for agricultural production, thereby leading to landscape homogenization and polarization. This process is explicitly evident in mosaic type landscapes consisting of highly complex land cover patterns, soil composition and topography. The aim of the study was to determine the site-specific driving forces of farmland abandonment at landscape scale in relation to agro-ecological and geographic factors, in a post-Soviet country in Eastern Europe. An extensive field survey approach with sta…
A Basic View on Models of Nature and the Concept of “Sustainability”
2010
The discussion below is primarily connected to the challenge of agricultural crop production in western and northern Europe by the global change of climate (Box IV.3), but the ideas are of a general character and could therefore be extended outside this geographical area. We believe that strategic thinking and strategic decisions on agriculture and the way of preparing tactical decisions have to be reconsidered everywhere.
Diversification is in the Detail: Accounting for Crop System Heterogeneity to Inform Diversification Policies in Malawi and Zambia
2020
Crop diversification is a common agricultural policy objective. However, the determinants and impacts of crop diversification are heterogeneous and depend on a range of crop-specific characteristics. Index-based measurements of crop diversification, common in the agriculture economics literature, are unable to account for this heterogeneity. Using two national panel surveys from Malawi and Zambia, we develop a multinomial treatment effects model to examine the determinants of adopting seven discreet cropping systems and their impacts on maize productivity and crop income stability. The results of this approach are compared to those obtained when using a Gini–Simpsons index. Differences betw…
Parte IV Capitolo I. Impresa agricola e mercato agro-alimentare
2021
The chapter deals with the regulation of agri-food markets in the new European scenario, inspired by the new objectives of art. 39 TFEU and re-read in the light of the strategies of the New Deal. The chapter highlights the need for a change of perspective and rethinking with regard to the objectives of art. 39 TFEU, looking at sustainable development and the new organization of the agricultural market.
Analyzing risk management in Mediterranean Countries: The Syrian perspective
2012
During the recent years Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPCs) are facing major political, institutional, economic and societal changes. As a matter of fact, the agricultural sector has been interested by global trends and has become more and more exposed to world dynamics. The resulting exposure of MPCs’primary sectors to risks has called great attention on existing and feasible risk management tools, as well as on the role of public interventions. Our paper deepen on the risk management status quo in Syria and explore the possibility of new policy interventions. The analysis has been carried out through a field activity that allowed to understand the issue based on experts’ opinions. We p…