The paper aims at analysing rice-price volatility over the last five years, and at identifying strengths and weaknesses of financial-risk management tools other than derivatives. In particular, it focuses on innovative insurance products and on their potential use in the EU Mediterranean area,...

Food still is, and will continue to be, a basic issue at every day decision process in human behavior. Food consumption has been a problematic issue in human history and today is also recognized as a basic pilar for human health and welfare/quality of life. From a global problem up to the middle...

Agricultural is the principal source of food and some essential raw materials for industrial development. It accounts for almost 18-20% of the Egyptian gross domestic production, for about 17-19% of export earning and employs 32% of the workforce. Increasing Egyptian demand for food yearly, due...

Quality assurance and labeling play an important and increasing role in firms’ marketing strategies. In almost all cases, a price incentive has been stressed as the major incentive for firms to participate in such schemes. We argue here that important non-price incentives for participation in...

The milk quotas were introduced in Italy in 1984; from that time onward, the dairy chain has progressed in technology and organization with consequences for the market competition. The Aglink-Cosimo simulations suggest milk production will return to an increasing path, driven by a fairly optimistic...

In this paper, expectations along the Finnish dairy supply chain for innovation to achieve more sustainable farming systems are identified. Four focus group discussions and three interviews for low input and organic dairy supply chain members were performed. The Q Methodology was used to...

Due to global climate change and its impact on local weather conditions, decision support systems are becoming more important in agriculture. Such systems allow farmers to adapt more effectively to the complex changes affecting their farms. Marginal production sites must apply new tillage...

tion from agricultural sources. However, many other EU member states are creating the necessary conditions for rapid growth in this area. The German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), which sets payments over a long time period for electricity supplied from renewa-ble sources, often serves as a...

The market of local and organic food is still a niche market in the USA, despite its strong growth rates. Both offer consumers an alternative to a globalized anonymous food supply chain. Yet local food and organic food seem to be overlapping and to some degree competing food concepts. While the...

The importance of eco-innovations for industry has been rising exponentially in recent years. However, even if recent trends show that firms are increasingly committed to eco-innovations, there is little knowledge on why and how companies integrate environmental sustainability into new product...