Suchergebnisse

Not Available ; Arid and semiarid regions comprise almost 40% of the world's land area and are inhabited by some 700 million people. Approximately 60% of these drylands are in developing countries. Low rainfall areas constitute from 75–100% of the land area in more than 20 countries in the Near East, Africa, and Asia. Farmers in these regions produce more than 50% of the groundnuts, 80% of the pearl millet, 90% of the chickpeas, and 95% of the pigeon peas. These dryland areas will continue to produce most of the world's food grains for expanding populations in the years ahead. However, yields are extremely low compared with those of the humid and subhumid regions. In some countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the Near East food grain production per capita has declined significantly during the past decade. Although part of this decline can be attributed to high rates of population growth, periodic drought, and unfavorable agricultural production and marketing policies of the national governments, much of it results from the steady and continuing degradation of agricultural lands from soil erosion and nutrient depletion and the subsequent loss of soil productivity (FAO, 1986; Dregne, 1989). ; Not Available

Purpose
Sustainable entrepreneurship is crucial for the ongoing viability and growth of rural economies. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the role of farm entrepreneurs in the sustainable development of rural regional areas by focusing on the Sunraysia farming community in Australia.


Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical framework of evolutionary economics is utilized to understand the process of sustainable entrepreneurship for entrepreneurs in rural areas and a case study design is utilized to build theory linking place attachment, innovation legitimacy, and coopetitive behavior to sustainable farm entrepreneurship. The case studies are analyzed using an inductive approach to make theoretical contributions to rural and sustainable entrepreneurship.


Findings
The key findings are that coopetition is necessary amongst sustainable farm entrepreneurs in order to induce a culture of innovation.


Research limitations/implications
This study focuses on the Sunraysia region of Australia so might be limited in scope and replication to other geographic areas.


Originality/value
This study focuses on the role of rural regional areas and the special entrepreneurial characteristics of the Sunraysia region due to immigration and location advantages.

This paper explores sustainable farming systems without the drawbacks of conventional intensive farming, as well as focuses on the global organic trends, including the international practice of legal regulation and government support of the area in order to adapt them to the national practice. The author reviews the current state of organic farming in the USA and the European Union: the legislative framework, the certification system, the key measures for the shift from conventional to organic farming, and proposes measures driving the growth of the domestic organic market with such key outcomes as more available high-quality groceries, new ways of tackling environmental challenges, and the establishment of a strong platform for sustainable development of rural areas.

The sustainability of agricultural systems is under scrutiny in many parts of the world. In the European Union farming systems are increasingly subject to legislation aimed at controlling production or the environment. Against this background a wide range of research is being undertaken into new or alternative land use systems. In this paper it is argued that sustainability in effect provides parameters for this process of change. Therefore, one of the roles of researchers is to high light the options for change available to farmers and to suggest to policy makers the likelihood and ways of improving the uptake of desirable farming practices. Examples are drawn from a variety of research being undertaken in Agricultural Systems at the University of Reading. It is concluded that a systems approach must be an integral part of progress towards increasingly sustainable farming practices and to achieve this agricultural universities must maintain a strong systems research and teaching commitment.

Purpose – The new programming period of 2021–2027 of the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy requires reconsidering the policy measures. In the new period, the European Commission is to allow each member state (MS) developing eco-schemes to support and/or incentivise farmers to observe agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment beyond their mandatory requirements. The purpose of this paper is to compare the performance of organic and conventional family farms. Design/methodology/approach – Organic farming under the organic farming measure of the Rural Development Programme is one of the most widely applied sustainable farming practices in the EU as well as in Lithuania. By assessing the ex post economic impact of the organic farming measure on farm performance indicators, the authors seek to reveal possibilities and obstacles for the implementation of sustainable farming practices. A counterfactual ex post impact assessment method – propensity score matching (PSM) analysis – was used to evaluate ex post economic impact of the organic farming measure on the performance of farming indicators. Findings – The application of the PSM allowed assessing both the effectiveness of the implemented measure and possibilities for applying this measure in the future. The research has revealed that organic farming is less profitable and the gap between farm income in organic and conventional farms has increased during the period of 2007–2013. Originality/value – The most comprehensive economic information about the farm activities from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) was used for the ex post economic impact evaluation of the organic farming measure in Lithuania. The matched groups of Lithuanian family farms (organic and conventional) were compared. The results of the research provide a new knowledge about the effectiveness of the organic farming measure in Lithuania and suggest the ways of their improvement in the future. The results can also be generalised to other countries with similar agricultural structure.

Purpose – The new programming period of 2021–2027 of the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy requires reconsidering the policy measures. In the new period, the European Commission is to allow each member state (MS) developing eco-schemes to support and/or incentivise farmers to observe agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment beyond their mandatory requirements. The purpose of this paper is to compare the performance of organic and conventional family farms. Design/methodology/approach – Organic farming under the organic farming measure of the Rural Development Programme is one of the most widely applied sustainable farming practices in the EU as well as in Lithuania. By assessing the ex post economic impact of the organic farming measure on farm performance indicators, the authors seek to reveal possibilities and obstacles for the implementation of sustainable farming practices. A counterfactual ex post impact assessment method – propensity score matching (PSM) analysis – was used to evaluate ex post economic impact of the organic farming measure on the performance of farming indicators. Findings – The application of the PSM allowed assessing both the effectiveness of the implemented measure and possibilities for applying this measure in the future. The research has revealed that organic farming is less profitable and the gap between farm income in organic and conventional farms has increased during the period of 2007–2013. Originality/value – The most comprehensive economic information about the farm activities from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) was used for the ex post economic impact evaluation of the organic farming measure in Lithuania. The matched groups of Lithuanian family farms (organic and conventional) were compared. The results of the research provide a new knowledge about the effectiveness of the organic farming measure in Lithuania and suggest the ways of their improvement in the future. The results can also be generalised to other countries with similar agricultural structure.