Swedish agricultural companies, especially small farms, are struggling to be profitable in difficult economic times. It is a challenge for Swedish farmers to compete with imported products on prices. The agricultural industry, however, supports the view that through business model innovation, farms can increase their competitive advantage. This paper identifies and describes some of the barriers Swedish small farms encounter when they consider business model innovation. A qualitative approach is used in the study. Agriculture business consultants were interviewed.
Este estudio identifica factores que inciden en la adopción de tecnología e innovación productiva en la producción vitivinícola familiar ubicada en el Oasis Este de Mendoza. Se abordan realidades territoriales desde perspectivas cualitativas con productores entre 10 y 70 ha. Se indaga respecto de las visiones de nuevas tecnologías, como cambios organizacionales, de sistemas de conducción y de estrategias de diversificación para mejorar la actividad.
En este documento el Centro Regional INTA Mendoza- San Juan buscó reflexionar sobre sus prácticas, interpretar críticamente sucesos ocurridos y los factores facilitadores y obstaculizadores para el logro de los objetivos deseados, pero sobre todo poder rescatar las lecciones aprendidas de este proceso analítico como parte de las características de la sistematización de experiencias.
El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar, analizar y sintetizar las problemáticas que afectan la adopción innovaciones de riego en el Alto Valle del Río Negro y Neuquén y realizar un aporte a la gestión colectiva de la innovación. El riego como eje de investigación se fundamenta en que los actores consultados consideran que el estado y gestión del sistema de riego y drenaje y la eficiencia de los métodos de riego, son relevantes para el desarrollo y sustentabilidad de la actividad frutícola en la región.
In this paper, is described the market and social forces which influence the emergence of social innovations through various processes. The authors then look into the evolutionary pathways for social innovations , to avoid inertia and spur initiatives to bridge the social gap in an inclusive manner through mobilization of youth in particular. The ecosystem for social open innovations provides scope for connecting corporations
With a large proportion of sub-Saharan African countries’ GDP still heavily reliant on agriculture, global trends in agri-food business are having an increasing impact on African countries. South Africa, a leader in agribusiness on the continent, has a well-established agri-food sector that is facing increasing pressure from various social and environmental sources. This paper uses interview data with corporate executives from South African food businesses to explore how they are adapting to the dual pressures of environmental change and globalisation.
Coffee production is the main economic activity for smallholder farmers in Rwanda; it is also a major export crop. However, Rwandan coffee production has been facing structural changes with a significant decline in production. Considering the importance of the coffee sector to rural livelihoods and its potential role in export earnings, there is a need to ensure that small-scale coffee farmers efficiently use scarce resources in their production activities.
The study first identified fully efficient farmers and then estimated technical efficiency of inefficient farmers, identifying their determinants by applying a Zero Inefficiency Stochastic Frontier Model (ZISFM) on a sample of 300 rice farmers from central-northern Thailand. Next, the study developed scenarios of potential production increase and resource conservation if technical inefficiency was eliminated. Results revealed that 13% of the sampled farmers were fully efficient, thereby justifying the use of our approach.
This study reviews the available literature on processed non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in order to comprehensively identify relevant factors enabling or constraining their potential to contribute to rural development. Background and Objectives: NTFPs, such as wild foods, medicinal plants, and raw materials for handicrafts, make significant contributions to rural livelihoods. NTFPs can help fulfil households’ subsistence and consumption needs, serve as a safety-net in times of crises, and provide cash income.
The Fiji Islands, like many small Pacific island nations, are thought to incur high rates of postharvest loss. Little work has been undertaken to quantify the amount of loss within Pacific horticultural value chains, or identify the key determinants. This study sought to quantify postharvest loss within Fijian smallholder tomato value chains and to examine the relative importance of current on-farm practices as possible contributors to this loss.