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• THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF TRADITIONAL AND REGIONAL FOOD IN THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAIN REGIONTHE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF TRADITIONAL AND REGIONAL FOOD IN THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAIN REGION

  Nóra Halasi

  Views:

  310

  For a given region, competitiveness and sustainability play a vital role, as they are critical determinants of residents' quality of life and economic situation. The intensive implementation of rural development also offers opportunities for economic growth. Traditional and regional food products obviously give opportunities for the development of rural areas. Also, their production is significant for the local and Hungarian economies and society. Increasing the production of these food products and expanding and increasing their market outlets can contribute to maintaining the population in certain areas of the region and, among other things, protecting and preserving the tangible and intangible heritage of rural areas. Urban areas are also of particular importance for traditional and regional food: local events, such as themed festivals, and catering operators can also help to promote food products through a conscious, well-thought-out sales and marketing strategy.

  My research aims to characterize the economic position of traditional and regional food and products among local consumers in the Northern Great Plains region. During the survey, 1.349 people completed the questionnaire, and all of them gave valid responses. I focused on local specificities, gauging the opinions of residents in the region in relation to traditional food consumption in order to assess their willingness to pay more for traditional and regional food.

   

• Diversification strategies and their impact on farm performance

  57-61

  Cristina Salvioni

  Lara Fontanella

  Views:

  375

  The objective of this study is to identify factors determining the economic performance of agricultural holdings in Italy, with specific attention to the impact of the adoption of on-farm diversification strategies, namely income diversification and product differentiation. The adoption of these kinds of strategies has been increasingly recognised as a viable business option in agriculture as they allow better allocation of farm resources and an increase in the quota of value added retained on farms and therefore not passed on to other agents operating at the end of the food supply chain. By using a panel of professional Italian farms over the time period of 2003-2009, we estimate random effect, ordinary least square and quantile regression models to estimate the impact of income diversification and product differentiation strategies on the levels of farm income per unit of labour income. Our findings show that scale economies are important positive determinants of farm economic performance. On the contrary, when the family play an important role in the farm business, economic performance is worse. Finally, we do not find evidence of a statistically significant impact of the adoption of income diversification and product differentiation strategies. This latter result may be interpreted as a signal that farms use these strategies as risk management tools rather than as income increasing ones.

• Consumer willingness to pay a premium for a functional food in Ghana

  51-59

  Farida Badu-Gyan

  Victor Owusu

  Views:

  489

  Interest in functional foods has been growing in sub-Saharan Africa due to consumer concerns with diet and nutrition. This paper analyses consumer awareness, perceptions and effects of the determinants of consumer willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for Moringa bread in Ghana. An ordered probit model is employed. The empirical results indicate that consumer knowledge of the nutritional and health benefits of Moringa bread is what matters most to consumers in respect of their WTP a higher premium for the product. Consumers with knowledge on Moringa products are more willing to pay above 50% price premiums for Moringa bread. Fruitful policy recommendations are made in the paper.

  JEL code: D12