Nigeria, the seventh most populous country in the world, is plagued by livelihood challenges such as poverty and food insecurity, which are more pervasive among farming households and rural communities. Organic farming is being promoted by some domestic non-governmental organizations as a means of addressing the problem of poverty and food insecurity among farming households and rural communities in the country. Promoters consider organic farming to be well-suited to smallholder farmers’ socio-economic conditions in Nigeria, and that it can help improve their livelihood conditions through increased agricultural productivity and farm income. However, the adoption of the technology by smallholder farmers has been underwhelming, for reasons yet to be studied. Using a livelihood framework and through a case study of farmers in Ibadan, Oyo State, this study qualitatively explores and provides insights into the factors that influence, constrain, and gender the adoption of organic farming in Nigeria. Overall, it was found that a mix of factors, which include institutional considerations, farmers’ livelihood assets and vulnerability contexts, their livelihood activities, and gender-related variables shaped adoption decision-making. The policy implications of the findings were outlined.
six pages, The sustainability of organic agriculture is associated with the farmers’ experience, quality of information provided, management of risks, and compliance with legislation. The objectives of this study were to identify the sources used by the organic farmers to gain information related to organic production, and to assess organic farmers’ perceived attitudes towards extension services. To address the research objectives, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 organic farmers in central Pennsylvania. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim, categorized and coded, then thematically analyzed using an interpretive description methodology. The results showed that the extension services were not identified as a primary source of information that was frequently used by the organic farmers. Other organic farmers and organizationa for organic agriculture were the two primary sources of informaiton. The organic farmers were very adept at building social capital in seeking informaiton to address their issues and problems. The primary challenges faced by the organic farmers were the control of insects and weeds, and weather-related issues. The results highlighted that in addition to identifying viable information sources, factors such as adaptive capacities to climate change and certification were key to successful production in organic systems. The present study provides rich and deep information on how farmers perceive organic agriculture and extension services. The outcome of the research undertaken will enable planners, policy makers and the related Cooperative Extension personnel to better understand perceptions of the farmers to devise viable and workable policies and plans that address the concerns and challenges of the farmers.
13 pages., via online journal., Family decision‐making still constitutes a niche of consumer research. The preference towards using individualist approaches is even more prevalent in research on environmentally oriented consumer behaviour. However, many green consumer practices involve several family members, who may be able to exert significant influences on household subscription to these practices. The present study used qualitative research methods to examine family member interaction in relation to four topics: organic food, water and energy, waste and transport. Results show that peaceful as well as more conflict‐ridden, day‐to‐day influences between family members are a common phenomenon, even when it comes to inconspicuous, everyday consumer behaviour.
17pgs, In recent years, the number of ecolabels and country-of-origin labels has grown substantially in seafood markets globally. This makes it more difficult for retailers and producers to communicate and demonstrate their differentiating claims to consumers. In addition, it has recently been suggested that there are both costs and supply chain benefits associated with labeling. This paper uses duration analysis to investigate factors that influence product longevity for salmon in grocery retailing. Product longevity influences cost as a prolonged product lifetime reduces costs related to product development and marketing. As has been found for wild-caught whitefish, different retail chains appear to vary in their product labeling strategies. However, in contrast to wild fish, farmed salmon with ecolabels or domestic country-of-origin labels appear to have shorter product life cycles compared to products without ecolabels or with foreign country-of-origin labeling. This is most likely due to the higher control of the production process found in aquaculture.
14 pages., via online journal., Consumers in industrialized countries are nowadays much more interested in information about the production methods and components of the food products that they eat, than they had been 50 years ago. Some production methods are perceived as less “natural” (i.e. conventional agriculture) while some food components are seen as “unhealthy” and “unfamiliar” (i.e. artificial additives). This phenomenon, often referred to as the “clean label” trend, has driven the food industry to communicate whether a certain ingredient or additive is not present or if the food has been produced using a more “natural” production method (i.e. organic agriculture). However, so far there is no common and objective definition of clean label. This review paper aims to fill the gap via three main objectives, which are to a) develop and suggest a definition that integrates various understandings of clean label into one single definition, b) identify the factors that drive consumers' choices through a review of recent studies on consumer perception of various food categories understood as clean label with the focus on organic, natural and ‘free from’ artificial additives/ingredients food products and c) discuss implications of the consumer demand for clean label food products for food manufacturers as well as policy makers. We suggest to define clean label, both in a broad sense, where consumers evaluate the cleanliness of product by assumption and through inference looking at the front-of-pack label and in a strict sense, where consumers evaluate the cleanliness of product by inspection and through inference looking at the back-of-pack label. Results show that while ‘health’ is a major consumer motive, a broad diversity of drivers influence the clean label trend with particular relevance of intrinsic or extrinsic product characteristics and socio-cultural factors. However, ‘free from’ artificial additives/ingredients food products tend to differ from organic and natural products. Food manufacturers should take the diversity of these drivers into account in developing new products and communication about the latter. For policy makers, it is important to work towards a more homogenous understanding and application of the term of clean label and identify a uniform definition or regulation for ‘free from’ artificial additives/ingredients food products, as well as work towards decreasing consumer misconceptions. Finally, multiple future research avenues are discussed.
Aubrun, Axel (author), Brown, Andrew (author), and Grady, Joseph (author)
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
2005-09-06
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C27582
Notes:
Posted at http://www.wkkf.org, Pages 31-55 in Perceptions of the U.S. food system: what and how Americans think about their food. W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, Michigan. 88 pages.
Aubrun, Axel (author), Brown, Andrew (author), and Grady, Joseph (author)
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
2005-09-06
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C27583
Notes:
Posted at http://www.wkkf.org, Pages 57-65 in Perceptions of the U.S. food system: what and how Americans think about their food. W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, Michigan. 88 pages.
Barbour, Bruce (author), Govindasamy, Ramu (author), Italia, John (author), Decongelio, Marc (author), Anderson, Karen (author), and Rutgers State University
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
2000-05
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C27430
Notes:
Posted at http://dafre.rutgers.edu/documents/ramu/organicproduction.pdf
Barbour, Bruce (author), Govindasamy, Ramu (author), Italia, John (author), Decongelio, Marc (author), Anderson, Karen (author), and Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
2001-05
Published:
USA: Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C27420
Notes:
Paper posted at http://dafre.rutgers.edu/documents/ramu/organic_consumption1.pdf
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 186 Document Number: D00921
Notes:
Paper presented at the 131st EAAE (European Association of Agricultural Economists) seminar, "Innovation for agricultural competitiveness and sustainability of rural areas," Prague, Czech Republic, September 18-19, 2012. 19 pages.
Bhatta, G.D. (author), Doppler, W. (author), Finco, V.A. (author), and Finco,V. (author)
Format:
Paper
Publication Date:
2010-09-14
Published:
Nepal
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 178 Document Number: C30733
Notes:
Presented at Tropentag 2010, Conference on International Research on Food Security, Natural Resource Management and Rural Development, Zurich, Switzerland, September 14-16, 2010. 1 page.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C27581
Notes:
Posted at http://www.wkkf.org, Pages 1-30 in Perceptions of the U.S. food system: what and how Americans think about their food. W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, Michigan. 88 pages.
23 pages, The present study explores the development of agri-food value chains from an organizational learning perspective, using the German organic food sector as an example. We illustrate how the development of local value chains unfolds over time and outline how facilitation can support this process.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D05928
Notes:
Pages 27-38 in Allan Eaglesham, Sandra Ristow and Ralph W.F. Hardy (eds.) Biotechnology: science and society at a crossroad. NABC Report 15. National Agricultural Biotechnology Council, Ithaca, New York. 292 pages., "...holding innumerable debates about the pros and cons of agricultural biotechnology will not resolve the issues raised here, as long as the problem is framed as a lack of knowledge."
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C26973
Notes:
Pages 144-162 in Jon Entine (ed.), Let them eat precaution: how politics is undermining the genetic revolution in agriculture, AEI Press, Washington, D.C. 203 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C26728
Notes:
Pages 83-109 in Ulrike Grote, Arnab K. Basu and Nancy H. Chau (eds.), New frontiers in environmental and social labeling. Physica-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany. 241 pages.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C26050
Notes:
Pages 83-109 in Ulrike Grote, Arnab K. Basu and Nancy H. Chau (eds.), New frontiers in environmental and social marketing. Physica-Verlag Heidelberg, New York. 241 pages.
19 pages., Online by open access., Researchers studied a large set of eco-labels, combining data from three different sources. Findings suggested that experts and media were primarily concerned about "re-assurance" practices, looking for one or preferably multiple layers of "reassurance" that independent parties are overseeing the eco-label and the firms certified under it.
15 pages., The paper analyses characteristics of vertical relationships of organic supply chains with a specific focus on the processing and retailing sectors. The analysis takes into account different regions of the EU Mediterranean area. Data were collected through interviews using an ad hoc questionnaire. The survey was based on a sample of 306 firms, including processors and retailers. The analysis revealed that a relevant aspect for the processing firms of organic products concerns the guaranteeing of safety and quality levels for the products. The main tools to implement the quality management are based on the adoption of specific production regulations and quality controls. The premium price most frequently applied by processors ranges from 10% to 40% and similar values are revealed for retailers. The diffusion of supply contracts allows the vertical coordination between agriculture and processing firms in the organic supply chains. The main distribution channels for the processing firms are represented by specialised shops in organic products, direct sales and supermarkets.
2 pages, via Online source, Purchasing organic food in today’s world likely means taking a trip to Whole Foods, owned by one of the richest men in all of history, Jeff Bezos. Although it is hard to imagine organic foods as something other than a luxury item targeted towards affluent demographics, the origin story of the organic foods market is vastly different. Written by Winona State University associate professor of sociology Craig B. Upright, Grocery Activism: The Radical History of Food Cooperatives in Minnesota dives back into the 1970s to paint a vivid image of the subversive world of organic groceries and food co-ops before the era of Whole Foods.
15 pages., Article #: 4690, via online journal., As with environment and sustainable development, there has been a rapid rise in the
worldwide consumption of organic foods over the last years, as well as the quickly growing potential
of organic markets in China, and their direct influence on consumer health awareness and social
opinion. This study provides insights into Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward organic foods and
evaluates purchase intention’s impact as a mediator in the relationship between external and internal
factors on purchase intention. This empirical study is based on an online questionnaire using a sample
of 1421 Chinese consumers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used as the main practical
approach for data analysis, and six hypotheses were examined. The results show that a more positive
attitude on the part of consumers toward organic foods will further reinforce their purchasing
intentions, whereas, there was no significant impact of marketing price and communication on
consumers’ attitudes toward organic foods. Furthermore, the results show that intention was a
full or a whole mediator among the three exogenous constructs of environment awareness, health
consciousness, and subjective norms. Based on the findings, marketing communication strategies
should concentrate on offering more value to consumers regarding the features of nutritional value.
Long-term environment friendliness, health benefits, and social status symbols should be assumed to
enhance consumers’ purchase intention in the organic foods industry.
Cisilino, Federica (author) and Cesaro, Luca (author)
Format:
Book chapter
Publication Date:
2009
Published:
Ital y
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C29845
Notes:
Pages 105-119 in Adam Lindgreen, Martin K. Hingley and Joelle Vanhamme (eds.), The crisis of food brands: sustaining safe, innovative and competitive food supply. Gower Publishing Limited, Surrey, England. 352 pages.
Cristovao, Artur (author / Universidade de Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro), Koehnen, Timothy (author / Universidade de Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro), Ribeiro, Antonio Strecht (author / Universidade de Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro), and Boas, Dulce Vilas (author / Universidade de Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro)
Format:
Proceedings
Publication Date:
2001-04-04
Published:
Portugal: Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 138 Document Number: C20922
Notes:
Burton Swanson Collection, pages 87-94, from "Emerging trends in agricultural and extension education", AIAEE 2001, Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference, April 4-7, 2001, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
