ASSESSMENT OF THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR OF ORGANIZATIONS AS AN ELEMENT OF THE DEVELOPMENT FORECASTING METHODOLOGY AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS

2019 ◽  
pp. 10-16
Author(s):  
E.A. Gataulina
Author(s):  
Vanya Slavchevska ◽  
Susan Kaaria ◽  
Sanna Liisa Taivalmaa

Male outmigration from rural, primary agricultural areas and the globalization of agri-food systems have both been linked to a significant increase in women’s work and responsibilities in agriculture, a phenomenon referred to as the ‘feminization of agriculture’. While the term has been broadly used to bring attention to the increasing number of women, relative to men, in agricultural employment, little attention has been paid to what the ‘feminization of agriculture’ means for women’s empowerment and their roles in agriculture more generally. Similarly, there is no clear understanding of how this will impact the agricultural sector and what the consequences for food and water security are. This chapter reviews the global evidence surrounding the “feminization of agriculture” and provides a critical discussion of the implications for women’s empowerment and for food and water security.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1718
Author(s):  
Chris McPhee ◽  
Margaret Bancerz ◽  
Muriel Mambrini-Doudet ◽  
François Chrétien ◽  
Christian Huyghe ◽  
...  

In response to environmental, economic, and social challenges, the living labs approach to innovation is receiving increasing attention within the agricultural sector. In this paper, we propose a set of defining characteristics for an emerging type of living lab intended to increase the sustainability and resilience of agriculture and agri-food systems: the “agroecosystem living lab”. Drawing on first-hand knowledge of case studies of large initiatives from Canada and France and supported by eight other cases from the literature, we highlight the unique nature of agroecosystem living labs and their distinct challenges with respect to their aims, activities, participants, and context. In particular, these living labs are characterized by exceptionally high levels of scientific research; long innovation cycles with high uncertainty due to external factors; and the high number and diversity of stakeholders involved. Both procedurally and conceptually, we link to earlier efforts undertaken by researchers seeking to identify urban living labs and rural living labs as distinct, new types of living labs. By highlighting what makes agroecosystem living labs unique and their commonalities with other types of living labs, we hope to encourage their further study and help practitioners better understand their implementation and operational challenges and opportunities.


GeoTextos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Luiza Barbosa Dias ◽  
Juscelino Eudâmidas Bezerra

<p>O setor agrícola foi severamente afetado pela pandemia de Covid-19, gerando incertezas sobre a produção e a distribuição de alimentos, o que afetou diretamente o trabalho de milhões de agricultores. Este artigo visa a analisar o impacto da pandemia na produção de alimentos em Brasília-DF, especialmente entre os agricultores assentados/acampados da reforma agrária. Para a análise, foram utilizados dados primários obtidos através de um questionário on-line destinado ao público da reforma agrária em áreas rurais das regiões administrativas da capital federal, além de dados secundários, disponibilizados por instituições públicas. Os resultados mostraram que o impacto da pandemia foi intenso entre os agricultores, deixando-os extremamente vulneráveis, principalmente nos meses iniciais da pandemia. Como forma de enfretamento dos efeitos da pandemia, os trabalhadores adotaram quatro medidas específicas: a utilização do serviço de entrega delivery; a venda de cestas agroecológicas; a participação em redes solidárias e a venda direta em feira de reforma agrária. Essas novas dinâmicas de comercialização têm transformado as formas de interação campo-cidade ao demandar estratégias diferenciadas para alcançar os consumidores finais, contribuindo para amenizar os efeitos disruptivos da pandemia nos sistemas alimentares locais.</p><p><span>Abstract</span></p><p>IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON FOOD PRODUCTION AND COMMERCIALIZATION IN BRASILIA-DF: CHALLENGES FOR AGRARIAN REFORM SETTLERS/CAMPED</p><p>The agricultural sector was severely affected by the pandemic of Covid-19, genera- ting uncertainties about food production and distribution, which directly affected the work of millions of farmers. This article aims to analyze the impact of the pandemic on food production in Brasília-DF, especially among farmers settled in agrarian reform settlements. The analysis used primary data obtained through an on-line questionnaire addressed to the public of agrarian reform in rural areas of the administrative regions of the federal capital, as well as secondary data made available by public institutions. The results showed that the impact of the pandemic was intense among farmers, leaving them extremely vulnerable, especially in the initial months of the pandemic. As a way of countering the effects of the pandemic, workers have adopted four specific measures: the use of delivery services; the salof agro-ecological baskets; participation in solidarity networks; and direct sales at agrarian reform fairs. These new commercialization dynamics have transformed the forms of countryside-city interaction by demanding different strategies to reach final consumers, contributing to mitigate the pandemic’s disruptive effects on local food systems.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Migliorini ◽  
Vasileios Gkisakis ◽  
Victor Gonzalvez ◽  
Ma Raigón ◽  
Paolo Bàrberi

The Mediterranean agro-food systems need to be properly managed. A promising pathway is the transition towards more sustainable food systems through agroecology, which represents the ecology of food systems. In this paper, the state-of-the-art of agroecology is described for three representative euro-Mediterranean countries: Italy, Greece, and Spain. The analysis has been partly based on results of a dedicated literature search and partly on grey literature and expert knowledge. After an overview of the history of agroecology, targeted research and education, collective action (political and social), and some agroecological practices in the three countries are presented. These countries share a rather similar use of the term “agroecology”, but they differ regarding (i) the existence/extent of strong civil and social movements; (ii) the type of study/educational programmes, and the relative importance of different scientific disciplines and their evolution; (iii) the development of political support and legal frameworks; and (iv) the elaboration of concepts to rediscover traditional practices and apply new ones, often taken from the organic agriculture sector. Agroecology is an emerging concept for the Mediterranean agricultural sector, with huge potential due to the peculiar socio-cultural, bio-physical, and political-economic features of the region. To boost agroecology in Mediterranean Europe, better networking and engagement of different actors within a coherent institutional framework supporting the transition is strongly needed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ishwari Singh Bisht ◽  
Jai Chand Rana ◽  
Sarah Jones ◽  
Natalia Estrada-Carmona ◽  
Rashmi Yadav

Agroecology is the application of ecological principles to agricultural systems and practices and the application of social justice principles to whole food systems. Agroecological farming, an unfamiliar concept to those who treat agriculture and ecology as separate subjects, refers to farming for producing food, employment and economic benefits in addition to cultural, social and environmental services and benefits. Additionally, agroecology empowers farming communities, as the key agents of change, and addresses the root cause of problems of unsustainable agricultural systems in an integrated way and provides holistic and long-term solutions to transform the food and agricultural systems. As agroecology is at the forefront of transforming farming and food system sustainability, the present chapter specifically explores the state of Indian traditional farming agroecosystems, evidence collected under the ongoing Indian UNEP-GEF project “Mainstreaming agricultural biodiversity conservation and utilization in agricultural sector to ensure ecosystem services and reduce vulnerability”. We discuss traditional Indian farming in view of FAO’s 10 principles of Agroecology which is key to help policymakers, practitioners and stakeholders, in planning, managing and evaluating agroecological transitions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-398
Author(s):  
A. Z. Midov ◽  
G. N. Gavrilina ◽  
A. Yu. Prosekov

The authors apply to Dr. Vladimir L. Kvint’s theory of strategy and methodology and study the problem of food security which is the most important issue in creating strategic documents. The relevance of the study lies in the significance of food security for maintaining high quality of people’s life and health. Moreover, establishing global food security and stability of food systems is a growing challenge at the international level, this issue is studied worldwide and is one of the objectives of the UN stable development. The authors define strategic global trends affecting food security. These include growing population, increasing prices for food and shocks of agricultural production, overexploitation of natural resources and climate changes. Analysing strategic tendencies and revealing trends and consistent patterns it is possible to discover a number of opportunities, existing and potential threats of the object of strategizing. So the authors have defined and analyzed strategic threats of Kuzbass food market, such as the region’s location in the risky farming area and unfavorable condition of the soil, degradation of the production capacity of the Kuzbass agricultural complex connected with disposal due to depreciation of fixed assets in the agricultural sector, high import dependence of Kuzbass agricultural complex that leads to growing transportation expenditures, increasing prices for imported goods and use of food additives for maintaining the appearance of food. After analyzing global tendencies and strategic threats the authors suggested practical recommendations to counter the threats for food security of Kuzbass.


Land ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Alessandra La Notte

Ecosystem services can be defined as the ecosystem’s contribution to human activities. According to recent assessments, the agricultural sector is one of the most important economic users of ecosystem services in Europe. To assess, value, and account for ecosystem services related to the agri-food system offers the possibility to measure and investigate how agricultural management practices together with changing environmental conditions can affect ecological resilience. However, the accounting of ecosystem services’ flows needs to be carefully addressed, because the overlapping of services and benefits and the overlapping of what are considered intermediate and final services could create dangerous misunderstandings about the role and importance of ecosystem services in agriculture. This paper reports on the possible accounting approaches that can be used to assess crop provision, as well as their meanings and implications from an ecological to an economic perspective. The results demonstrate that an economic accounting-based assessment of ecosystem services needs to move from an ecological holistic view to a one-by-one disaggregation of ecosystem services in order to avoid underestimates that would ultimately affect the policy perception of the role of ecosystems with respect to the agri-food systems’ resilience.


Agro-Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 65-69
Author(s):  
M.A. Idu ◽  
C.S. Onyenekwe

In Nigeria, agriculture plays a critical role in the economy and remains the key to the country’s economic diversification plan. However, the agricultural sector is facing numerous challenges such as climate change, widespread insecurity, price volatility, poor government policies and the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the already existing problems. This paper reviews the state of the COVID 19 pandemic in Nigeria and its effects on the agricultural sector and outlines the role of commissioners of agriculture in mitigating the effects of the pandemic on farmers with a view to catalyzing sustainable agricultural development in Nigeria. When the first case of COVID-19 was reported in February, 2020, the Federal government of Nigeria took some measures to help curb the spread of the virus. Although, these measures were critical to saving lives, they also significantly caused a disruption in agricultural activities and food systems in several ways such as decline in availability of farm labour and mechanization, limited availability of agricultural inputs, decline in food imports and exports, reduction in food supply, decline in household income and food consumption, increased food insecurity, panic buying and sharp price spikes. This paper suggests that commissioners of agriculture have important roles to play to help mitigate these negative impacts on agricultural livelihoods and food systems. These include a push for a bill to integrate social protection mechanisms into the Nigerian legal framework, lobby for increased budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector, formulation of good agricultural policies and provision of adequate infrastructures, organization of these farmers into farming clusters to help stimulate agglomeration economies by integrating agricultural value chains and development strategies, and frameworks and initiatives that will ensure a seamless transition from emergency response to resilience building. Key words: Coronavirus disease, government interventions, agrarian development, food production


Author(s):  
Aleksander Bilokin

The financial condition of enterprises in the agricultural sector of the region does not allow, without additional measures of state and regional support, to carry out an expanded reproduction of production and to provide for their own needs in agricultural machinery. Enterprises of the agricultural sector of the Kharkiv region do not have a standard provision with tractors and other agricultural machinery, the actual provision is 60-70% of the technological need. Agricultural machinery of own production has a lower cost, technical level, productivity, reliability, quality, and also an insufficient assortment. To ensure the sale of agricultural machinery produced at the enterprises of the region, it is necessary to improve its technical level, reliability and quality. This is one of the essential factors for determining the tasks for the production of equipment by enterprises of tractor and agricultural engineering in the region and the development of measures to strengthen state and regional support for agricultural enterprises for the purchase of equipment. The main resources for the development agricultural machinery in the Kharkiv region are: scientific and technical potential; production potential of enterprises producing tractors and other agricultural machinery; financial and investment resources of regional, Ukrainian and foreign investors; personnel potential of the region and the system of its reproduction in educational institutions; managerial capacity capable of establishing effective management. Formation of logistical support of the agricultural sector in accordance with modern world standards, increasing the level of capital security of the industry, expanded reproduction of fixed capital require significant investment, which can be provided by: preferential long-term government lending at low interest rates for agricultural machinery and equipment, construction of livestock herds and perennials; interest-free state lending for environmentally friendly agricultural production and introduction of innovative technologies; stimulating the creation of agro-industrial associations, joint ventures in combining the land capital of domestic agricultural formations and the fixed capital of foreign companies, the development of a civilized leasing market.


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