Small-scale farming and food security – Policy perspectives from Central and Eastern Europe

Toma, Irina; Redman, Mark; Czekaj, Marta; Tyran, Ewa; Grivins, Mikelins; Šūmane, Sandra

doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100504

Cited by 22 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Furthermore, if we agree with the need to involve this large portion of agriculture in RD strategies, it is necessary not only to define new criteria to determine the eligibility of farmers, but also to design a simplified intervention scheme, which means a streamlined procedure that on the one hand reduces administrative costs and on the other simplifies the formalities in order to access public support. The realisation of such a scheme implies the need for an ad hoc measure for small farms, as recent studies have highlighted (Toma et al ., 2021). The option of having these farms compete in the same arena as larger ones that opt for financially more voluminous development projects is, in fact, impractical, both because it would be difficult to make different procedures coexist on the same measures and the same funds, and because in fact the combination of simplified procedures and investment ceilings is more suited to be managed through a dedicated measure, with specific resources.…”

Section: Equity For Small Farms In Italymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Rural Development Policies Really Help Small Farms? A Reflection from Italy

et al. 2021

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SummaryAlthough research and political intentions both recognise the crucial role of small farms in Rural Development (RD) strategies, in actual practice they are left out of the benefits of agricultural policies. This is not established by legislative or regulatory prescriptions. It is the result of consolidated practices driven by the productivist approach to agricultural development, overtaken by the concept of multifunctionality, which has inspired European intervention in the agricultural sector and rural areas for more than twenty years. This is particularly evident in Italy, where the weight of small farms is extremely significant in terms of numbers, farmland area and work generated. The continuity of small farms in Italy is of fundamental importance due to their economic, environmental and social relevance to the objective of reconnecting agriculture and territories in a circular vision of RD. Despite this crucial role, these farms have historically had great difficulty accessing RD programmes due to the national or regional implementation of these plans, which set access thresholds and procedural constraints that effectively exclude small farmers. The construction of a national strategy for rural areas requires specific attention to the universe of small farms, which should be included within the perimeter of the potential beneficiaries of RD policies.

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Section: Equity For Small Farms In Italymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Rural Development Policies Really Help Small Farms? A Reflection from Italy

et al. 2021

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“…They draw on people's complex and plural values of biodiversity and ecosystem services (Horcea-Milcu et al, 2016;Riechers et al, 2021). However, to create governance that reflects these values requires a shift in the design of systems (e.g., CAP) that are currently fundamentally designed around large landowners and industrial agriculture (Toma et al, 2021). This has the unfortunate effect that it actually drives biodiversity loss in areas where small scale agriculture is being forced out (Mikulcak et al, 2015).…”

Section: Necessary Transformations Of Governance Systems For Acting On Plural Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging Biodiversity Action From Plural Values: Transformations of Governance Systems

Leventon

Duse

2021

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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In this paper, we argue that leveraging plural values into action for biodiversity requires a focus on transforming the biodiversity governance system. We draw on Donella Meadows’ concept of Leverage Points, which outlines the “depth” of intervention in order to shift a system toward sustainability. Engaging with deep leverage points (system intent and goals) is argued to lead to greater transformation than engaging with shallow leverage points (system design and materials). We outline how embracing plural values of biodiversity requires changes at deeper systems properties within governance systems to create space to reflect diversity in values and knowledge systems, and move away from a focus on commodification of nature’s contributions to people. We point toward political and policy sciences to highlight frameworks and concepts for understanding governance system transformation. We conclude with a call for meaningful engagement with such sciences in ongoing research.

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“…This is why we complemented the official statistics data with industry reports and further statistical information, in particular employment statistics from the Federal Employment Agency, tax statistics on the brewing industry from the Federal Statistical Office and sales tax statistics from the Bavarian State Office for Statistics (see Table 1). For the analysis of the value chain of beer, a variety of land use data (1,3) and agricultural data (5,7,8) was supplemented by data on employment (9)(10)(11), the processing stage (12)(13)(14) and trade statistics (15) as well as field research. Regarding asparagus, we complemented land use and agricultural data (1, 4, 5, 6, 7) with trade-specific information from sector reports and field research.…”

Section: Data Base and Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is considered as an important part of a sustainable lifestyle in ecological, cultural and economic ways [11,12]. Moreover, recent research is increasingly focusing on the role of small farm activities in regional food systems, predominantly in the context of sustainable agricultural landscapes and food security [13][14][15]. These studies highlight that small farms currently play an important role in food production and regional food availability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short Value Chains in Food Production: The Role of Spatial Proximity for Economic and Land Use Dynamics

Bertram

Chilla

Wilhelm

2021

Land

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Agricultural land demand tends to be in weak condition vis-à-vis settlement development, transport infrastructure and industry expansion. At the same time, the awareness and demand of consumers for regional food is constantly rising, in particular in urban regions. The resulting challenge is that high demand for regional food is concentrated at places where land for food production tends to be particularly under pressure. Against this background, our article reflects on the extent to which regional food supply chains support the status of agricultural demand in the competition for land. The main aim of our paper is to understand the role of proximity between the different stages of value creation, including cultivation, production (manual or industrial) and trade (retail, direct marketing). Our empirical study on the example of three products in Bavaria (Germany) shows that short distances within food value chains support the agricultural condition in land use dynamics (beer, sweet cherry, asparagus). The analyses are based on official and internal statistics as well as expert interviewing. This mixed-methods approach results in value-creation mappings and provides spatial differentiation of the economic process. Proximity between at least two stages of value creation plays an important role to explain the economic trends and land use dynamic. These findings are rooted in arguments of efficiency, tacit knowledge, networks, as well as product reputation. However, the role of proximity does not automatically play a role but has to be stabilized by strategic measures such as product innovation and marketing measures.

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Small-scale farming and food security – Policy perspectives from Central and Eastern Europe

Cited by 22 publications

References 8 publications

Do Rural Development Policies Really Help Small Farms? A Reflection from Italy

Do Rural Development Policies Really Help Small Farms? A Reflection from Italy

Leveraging Biodiversity Action From Plural Values: Transformations of Governance Systems

Short Value Chains in Food Production: The Role of Spatial Proximity for Economic and Land Use Dynamics

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