Conventionalization of Organic Agriculture: A Multiple Case Study Analysis in Brazil and Italy
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review on Conventionalization of Organic Agriculture
3. Materials and Methods
4. Results and Discussion
4.1. Farmers’ Motives for Conversion to Organic Farming
4.2. Main Drivers of Farmers’ Choices about Cropping System
4.3. Main Marketing Channel Accessed by Organic Farmers
4.4. Agrobiodiversity in Organic Farms
4.5. Relationship Between Farm’s Agrobiodiversity and Selling Strategy
4.6. Farmers’ Perceived Change of Farm Agrobiodiversity
4.7. Management Practices Promoting the Increase of Farm Agrobiodiversity
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Criterion | Description |
---|---|
(i) time elapsed since conversion to organic farming *. | We distinguished between “pioneer farmers” who adopted organic farming before the introduction of the national legal framework and “new farmers” who started organic farming after that date. |
(ii) dimensions of the farm (UAA) ** | We distinguished between small and large farmers, considering as reference dimension the average size of organic farms at national level. |
(iii) crop specialization | We distinguished between farms mostly oriented to crops destined for fresh food markets and farms mostly oriented to crops destined for food processing. |
Brazil | Italy | |||
(No. of Farms: 24) | (No. of Farms: 24) | |||
Sample Distribution | Time Elapsed since Conversion to Organic (years) | Farms’ Dimensions UAA (ha) | Time Elapsed since Conversion to Organic (years) | Farms’ Dimensions UAA (ha) |
1st quartile | 9.00 | 3.30 | 8.50 | 5.00 |
2nd quartile | 14.00 | 6.10 | 15.50 | 17.00 |
3rd quartile | 20.00 | 15.00 | 25.50 | 34.00 |
Mean | 14.21 | 24.72 | 19.79 | 43.54 |
St. dev. | 7.29 | 53.57 | 18.25 | 64.86 |
Brazil | Italy | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
No. of Farmers | Average Share of Sales (%) | No. of Farmers | Average Share of Sales (%) | |
Alternative food networks (AFNs): | ||||
Direct selling ** | 22 | 62 | 22 | 66 |
Institutional markets | 6 | 28 | 0 | 0 |
Sub-total | 22 | 64 | 22 | 60 |
Conventional supply chain: | ||||
Large retailers (e.g., supermarket, etc.) | 6 | 37 | 3 | 23 |
Specialty stores | 6 | 46 | 16 | 23 |
Restaurants | 2 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
Traders | 9 | 12 | 4 | 41 |
Farmers’ cooperatives | 5 | 27 | 6 | 57 |
Manufacturers | 2 | 45 | 0 | 0 |
Sub-total | 18 | 36 | 22 | 40 |
Total sample | 24 | 100 | 24 | 100 |
Brazil | Italy | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crops Grown | UAA | CRI | Crops Grown | UAA | CRI | |||
Sample Distribution: | Species N. | Varieties N. | (ha) | Species N. | Varieties N. | (ha) | ||
1st quartile | 3.00 | 9.00 | 3.30 | 0.500 | 2.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 0.120 |
2nd quartile | 20.00 | 45.00 | 6.10 | 2.272 | 6.00 | 15.00 | 17.00 | 0.350 |
3rd quartile | 35.00 | 60.00 | 15.00 | 6.557 | 15.00 | 32.00 | 34.00 | 1.000 |
Min | 1.00 | 2.00 | 1.00 | 0.005 | 1.000 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.020 |
Max | 69.00 | 100.00 | 220.00 | 50.000 | 50.00 | 80.00 | 268.00 | 5.000 |
Mean | 23.88 | 42.79 | 24.72 | 6.696 | 12.63 | 23.71 | 43.54 | 0.939 |
St. dev. | 20.46 | 33.21 | 53.57 | 11.089 | 14.01 | 80.00 | 64.86 | 5.000 |
N. Species vs. AFNs_share | N. of Varieties vs. AFNs_share | CRI vs. AFNs_share | |
---|---|---|---|
Number of obs | 48 | 48 | 48 |
Spearman’s rho (ρ) | 0.296 | 0.320 | 0.329 |
Prob > t | 0.0414 | 0.0265 | 0.0225 |
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Rover, O.J.; da Silva Pugas, A.; De Gennaro, B.C.; Vittori, F.; Roselli, L. Conventionalization of Organic Agriculture: A Multiple Case Study Analysis in Brazil and Italy. Sustainability 2020, 12, 6580. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166580
Rover OJ, da Silva Pugas A, De Gennaro BC, Vittori F, Roselli L. Conventionalization of Organic Agriculture: A Multiple Case Study Analysis in Brazil and Italy. Sustainability. 2020; 12(16):6580. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166580
Chicago/Turabian StyleRover, Oscar José, Adevan da Silva Pugas, Bernardo Corrado De Gennaro, Francesco Vittori, and Luigi Roselli. 2020. "Conventionalization of Organic Agriculture: A Multiple Case Study Analysis in Brazil and Italy" Sustainability 12, no. 16: 6580. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166580