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Clasters and Correlations among the Eu Member States Regarding Agri-Food Foreign Trade
55-63Views:332The European Union has a significant role in international trade but this is largely in the area of industrial goods. However, in the case of some agricultural commodities the EU applies tariffs, bans, or different restrictive measures; it manages foreign trade in agricultural goods with many countries all over the world. On the other hand the member states do not contribute to the total trade of the EU to the same extent. In this study, a comparative analysis was performed in relation to the member states by means of data of Eurostat and Faostat. First, a multivariable correlation analysis was carried out in order to find the interrelation between the trade features of each country. In the second part of the study, a cluster analysis was carried out with almost the same component as in the foregoing, also in terms of the EU member states. It can be ascertained that the date of EU accession of a Member State as well as getting EU agricultural subsidies do not affect the agricultural foreign trade of the member states. Countries with significant agricultural production also export food commodities in larger quantities. Countries that have significant exports extra-EU also have larger imports in the case of both basic commodities and prepared food as well. As a result of the cluster analysis, it can be stated that the member states can be divided into specific groups according to the three examined aspects (food trade features, exports of commodities, imports of commodities). The following typical country groups can be divided as follows: non-trade countries, countries with larger trade extra-EU, agri-food exporter and importer countries, non-agri-food exporter and importer countries, primary commodity exporters and importers, and last but not least processed food exporters and importers as well.
JEL Classification: F10
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GREEN SPORTS PRODUCT CONSUMPTION
Views:508The escalating climate crisis over the past decades has increasingly impacted the sports sector, particularly the activities of sports equipment and sportswear manufacturing companies. Globally, companies striving to meet the growing consumer demand and expectations are causing
significant environmental impact through the mass production of sports goods and apparel. This impact manifests in extensive waste generation, CO2 emissions, the release of harmful chemicals, wastewater discharge, excessive water and energy consumption, and the relentless exploitation of natural and fossil resources.
In recent years, a shift has gained momentum, aiming to promote sustainable economic and social
practices, with an increasing number of sports equipment and sportswear manufacturers joining this
movement. The sportswear industry has a significant impact on both social and natural environments, making it inevitable for companies to take radical steps to reduce their ecological footprint. For years, several international manufacturers have been implementing numerous sustainability initiatives, striving to adopt water- and energy-efficient, CO2- and waste-reducing manufacturing methods and processes to minimize the environmental impact of their products. These efforts are aimed at making the world a better place for people and the planet, standing up for important social issues, and ensuring fair and ethical working conditions for their employees.
The demand for green sports product consumption is gaining increasing popularity, particularly abroad, leading to noticeable transformations and developments. Consumers are increasingly favoring conscious, responsible consumption, reflected in the growing demand for clothing made from organic cotton, bio-based materials, and sustainable, recycled materials. Moreover, they are paying more attention to ensuring that the sports products they purchase are produced with minimal environmental impact and ethical manufacturing practices. Sports equipment and sportswear manufacturing companies are adapting to these changing consumer trends by offering a broader and more diverse range of eco-friendly sports products, equipment, and apparel to meet the growing interest in environmentally responsible options.
The aim of this study is to examine consumer behavior and attitudes regarding the purchase of sustainably produced sports products, equipment, and apparel, using a population survey. The survey investigated consumer demands, preferences, motivations, and awareness related to green sports products, as well as the factors influencing purchasing and payment willingness and decisions for sustainably produced goods. -
Estimation of Armington elasticities: case of vegetables in Mongolia
Views:446Mongolian people often consume meat more than vegetable in diet due to traditional nomadic culture. Nowadays, the Mongolian people’s diet has been changing who consume more vegetables with associated urbanization (half of the population live in urban areas, mostly in the capital city). Even though vegetable consumption has been increased recently, the vegetable market is still a high reliance on imports and threatening national food security. Since 2016, the Mongolian government has especially paid attention to increasing vegetable's domestic production and substitution to import vegetables (Ministry of food and Agriculture, 2017). Therefore, this paper provided to substitution elasticity (the Armington elasticity) between import vegetables and domestic vegetables in Mongolia. Additionally, we estimated the home bias value of vegetables. The so-called Armington elasticities are widely used for computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis, which determines a degree of substitution between import goods and domestically produced goods. Several of the authors studied Armington elasticities at the product level. We choose six vegetables (such as potato, garlic and onion, tomato, carrot and turnips, cabbage, and cucumber) related to lack of information. The empirical result shows that the Armington elasticities in the long-run higher than the short-run with exception of potato which means that products are similar in the long-run. However, our estimated Armington elasticities are quite lower than the previous studies result which means that Mongolian people indicated more prefer home growing vegetables than import vegetables. Moreover, we found that the home bias value is high in the short-run even long -run, this appears to be a higher relative weight on home vegetables.
JEL code: F13, Q17, Q18
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The role of agribusiness in stimulating on-farm investments – case-study of the armenian dairy sector
85-91Views:301This paper analyses the impact on investments of contractual arrangements between farms and agribusiness in the Armenian dairy sector. Our empirical evidence is based on a unique survey of 300 Armenian dairy farms. The dairy sector is of particular importance as it provides vital employment and income, in an environment of weak social security and scarce job opportunities. Furthermore, milk production is predominantly organized in small-scale farms, which are most likely to be affected by adversarial financial conditions and limited in their opportunities to raise resources to invest. The results show that a large share of milk producers in Armenia is actively investing to upgrade their farm business. Furthermore, investment activity is not limited to large dairy farmers as over 30% of respondents with less than eight cows have made dairy-specific investments. We find that the linkages between farms and agribusiness – and more specifically the support programs that agribusiness firms offer to their suppliers – have been crucial in stimulating this restructuring process at the farm level. Interestingly, farmers with a more exclusive relationship to the buyer and farmers that deliver to more internationally oriented buyers are more likely to receive support. On the other hand, buyers that operate in a more competitive market are less likely to provide support to their suppliers. These findings have interesting policy implications. On the one hand, our results point to the gains that can be made from openness to international firms. On the other hand, the negative competition effect indicates that buyers are unable to enforce repayment of the provided farm services in an environment where a lot of buyers are competing for the same supply. Policy makers should look at ways of improving the enforcement capability of dairy companies under these circumstances.
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Dairy farms efficiency analysis before the quota system abolishment
147-157Views:478The abolishment of the dairy quota system in the EU is expected to increase competition across dairy farms in Europe. Assuming a common price for milk in the EU, only the most efficient farms will survive in the new environment. The main objective of the research is to compare dairy farms in Germany, The Netherlands and Hungary about their technical efficiency. In the first part of the research, the efficiency is measured by partial efficiency indexes using one dimensional efficiency measuring. In the second part, the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) have to be used to measure efficiency in a multidimensional space, using six inputs and two outputs. It appears from the results that the highest efficiency farms are in the Netherlands, and then Germany and Hungary follow thus, we get that the most efficient farms are in the Netherlands with 84% efficient. The German farms are 76% efficient. The Hungarian farms are 68% efficient. With respect the abolishment of the dairy quota system, our results suggest that the Dutch farms are the most efficient, thus probably they will increase their production after the quota system. But because the size of the country we cannot expect dramatic changes in the European Dairy market. The Germans farms efficiency is lower, but their efficiency is also lower, so we won’t expect high increase about the dairy supply. The Hungarian dairy sector is not so efficient like the Dutch, and the size of the sector has also small among the European countries, thus if they want to survive the quota system demolishing, they have to increase their technical efficiency.
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Empirical research on corporate strategies in Hungarian dairy industry
169-179Views:355Corporate strategy has never been as important as it is nowadays. Markets are changing rapidly because of consumer demands, innovations, information flow and economic changes. Our paper concentrates on Hungarian dairy industry (hereinafter dairy) and four main objectives were defined to be analysed: (1) domestic dairy company features, (2) main strategic characteristics, (3) how companies’ strategy resonates on the consumer side and (4) companies’ financial background were analysed as well. A company database was made in order to prepare for the primary research and to understand better the nature of today’s market. B2B (26 companies) and B2C (503 people) surveys were used in order to gain primary data. In 2017 132 Hungarian companies were observed in milk processing, but 44% of the market participants are not present in dairy competition. It is a fairly fragmented market structure because 10-20% of the annual turnover is accumulated among the 80-90% of competitors. The factor analysis of the data proved that the dairy companies followed m strategies at the same time; and it is assumed that most of them are unconscious. Strategically, the majority of the dairy sector is not up-to-date and modern enough. SMEs sector management skills and strategic preparedness are considered to be out-of-date and insufficient. Strategic planning can possibly have an influence on financial results, which was only partly proved by the analysed criteria system. The production and use of own raw milk supplies might make companies experience financial benefits. Nearly 78% of the respondents would rather purchase goods made from own raw material. The willingness to pay a higher price for this was in average 5-15%.
JEL Code: L1, L66
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Brief overview of the international flower market, its state and development under present-day economic conditions
93-96Views:348The research of international flower market was conducted in this article.A big attention was paid to the main countries which are suppliers and importers of flowers and plants including their shares in the world flower production. The impact of financial crisis on this economic sector and inequality in consumption level of different countries were observed.
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Using DEA to evaluate efficiency of higher education
79-82Views:809The aim of the higher education reform process both in Hungary and in the European countries is establishing a competitive, qualitative higher education with efficiently operating institutions. The question of efficiency needs increased attention not only because of the decline of the state support but also the rapid raise of the student mass. In the educationsystemit’snot easy to measurethe output of the services.The situation is more complicated if an organisation or a sector has multiple inputs and outputs. In this case a possible method of determining efficiency is Data Envelopment Analysis. In my paper I’d like to introduce this method and use it to compare the efficiency of higher education systems. urthermore I am examining whether their efficiency is influenced by the extent of the contribution of the state and the private sector or socio-economic factors like GDP per capita and education level of parents.
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Current situation and development of the bee-keeping sector in Hungary
71-74Views:500Rural development has become more and more important issue in Hungary since rural areas also contribute to the efficiency of the national economy. Development of rural areas also very important issue in the European Union, which could contribute to the improvement of profitability of small family businesses, higher employment rate in rural areas as well as slow down the migration of people from rural into urban areas. Nowadays the bee-keeping– as one of the activities can provide alternative income for small businesses in rural areas– has become more and more important topic in Hungary. Bee-keeping sector provides income roughly 15 thousands families in Hungary. At the same time it takes important role in the preservation of rural landscape, traditions and their regional values. However, the sector has serious problems, as well (for instance quality issues, competitors on the market, etc.). It can be stated that the market position of Hungarian honey can be preserved through the improvement of quality assurance and product development. These developments can be carried out by the utilization of national and European Union funds.
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Industrial 4.0 Revolution: Can it Positively Step into a Sustainable Hospitality?
Views:449Technological advancements recently affected production, social and sustainable development. Few publications have addressed the industry 4.0 contribution to the sustainable hospitality industry. In this study, we review the ways and effectiveness of industry 4.0 in achieving sustainable development goals in the hospitality sector. Due to the modernity of the issue, resources used in this paper included articles from databases like SCOPUS, Sage, Elsevier, and google scholar using keywords such as big data analytics, simulation, Artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0 in hospitality, sustainable hotels, Industry 4.0 adaption in hospitality and smart hospitality system. This literature paper outline has five main sections—section one introduces industry 4.0. Section two is a literature review that includes Industry 4.0 connotation, sustainable development (SD), (SD) goals, challenges of (SD), and industry 4.0 solution for SD challenges. Industry 4.0 and sustainable hospitality. Section three is the methodology. The conclusion is the fourth section.
JEL classification code: L83
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Analysis of economic issues relating to the dairy sector, with emphasis on price transmission
61-70Views:332The dramatic decline in consumption after 1990 was an important problem during the analysis of the sector. Even today, consumption is still below the degree that was before the political change, and significantly lags behind the EU level.The importance of this topic is emphasized by the fact that surplus milk could be marketed through the increased domestic consumption; this would create a more stable and calculable situation for farmers. Therefore, I considered it important to reveal what factors and by what shares influence the consumption of milk and dairy products. The relationship, time series and cross-sectional analysis based on national and international databases demonstrate the relationship between the consumption of milk and dairy products and the other determining factors of consumption in Hungary and in the EU-25 through diagrams. I draw the conclusion that there is a medium correlation between the development of the economy, the higher income level and the consumption of milk and dairy products. Just before our EU accession, the dairy sector was one of the most critical industries of Hungarian agriculture, which is why I chose this for my analysis. I regard as a new scientific result the econometric analysis of the asymmetric market conditions in the price transmission approach within our dairy sector between 1995 and 2003. I confirmed and quantified that the market is under an oligopoly and defined the direction of price adjustment. Furthermore, I regard as a new result in the price transmission analysis (also published in the article published with Dr. József Tóth), that the three possible dimensions (elasticity, a symmetry relations,lag) are analysed simultaneously.Therefore,a more sophisticated picture is given on price transmission. The theoretical advantages and disadvantages are verified by an example of a vertical coordination based on the horizontal cooperation in the dairy sector (Alföldi Tej Ltd).
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Problem analysis of the Hungarian tobacco sector
161-166Views:382The Hungarian tobacco sector went through significant changes in the last decades. The reason of the changes were our accession to the EU, then the changes in subsidiary system, the effect of the world and within the EU’s strict tobacco policy. The number of tobacco farms declined and the future became uncertain for the farmers. Size of the farms increased and there were a concentration in the sector, so the smaller scale farmers’ activity ceased. It causes several problems in rural areas, because one of the main strengths of the sector was its significant role in rural development, as the tobacco in small scales was able to produce an acceptable income in such areas where due to the poor soil quality economically successfully growing for other plants are not suitable. The main goal of this paper is to present the Hungarian tobacco sector and its main strengths, weaknesses, possibilities and threats compared to the European Union’s situation.
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L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele as a Case Study of Traditional Speciality Guaranteed and International Franchising
17-23Views:874This work explores the case study of L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele as a best practice of traditional speciality guaranteed and international franchising. Besides being one of the most ancient and successful pizzerias in Naples, da Michele is renowned all over the world for the quality of its raw products, dough processing, and output. In the last years, da Michele also started pioneering the pizza production and commerce industry with an innovative franchising model and a new company appointed to managing this latter business. This work makes use of in-depth interviews and data collected on the field. For such scope, top managers and employees of both the local and the international companies were interviewed. The study finds that da Michele managed to become a benchmark for territorial food products and, more recently, for high-standard franchising, jumpstarting a successful brand-new company and food business project.
JEL Classification: O13, Q13, Q16, Q1
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TODAY'S CONSUMERS ON THE MARKET IN CSÍKSZEREDA (MIERCUREA CIUC)
Views:276Due to the geographical situation of Harghita County, farming mostly in small agricultural areas encourages farmers to engage in more integrated agricultural activities. As a result, more and more farmers who are open to development are starting to appear on local markets with processed products. The traditional knowledge passed down from generation to generation on small local farms is similar in families living in each area and therefore socially reinforcing. Older farmers in our countryside have mostly shied away from the new knowledge of the mega-manager, but their younger, more highly skilled counterparts are more willing to open up to new knowledge.
The demand for local products with a historical basis has been gradually increasing in recent years. To save costs, they also sell their products at the market themselves. In order to meet today's consumer needs, in addition to the production, processing and packaging of raw materials, producers must also think about branding, logistics and design. Customer relations and quality communication are essential for a well-functioning business (PG Balogh et.al, 2021)
In Harghita County, farmers running a traditional small-scale farm mostly face marketing problems. At the same time, the demand for high quality products produced in a sustainable way is increasing.
The aim of our empirical study is to investigate the expectations of consumers visiting the Traditional Products Fair in Csíkszereda (Miercurea -Ciuc) using artificial intelligence methods. These habits have their origins in the market habits of the past centuries, therefore, our research tries to reveal the atmosphere of the markets of the past.
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Competetiveness of the Montenegrin fruit and vegetables sector and recommendtations for impovement
69-75Views:214A number of facts, primarily including high fragmentation at all levels, weak vertical integration, limited dimensions in comparison to competitors poor technological level and unbalanced quality/price ratio make the sector weak, low competitive and exposed to international competition, reducing its capacity to capture any existing market potential. Almost all opportunities are frozen by prevailing weaknesses and threat impacts are exacerbated by a largely prevailing number of weaknesses. High production unit cost appears to be a major constraint to local supply market competitiveness. This situation appears to be mainly caused by general low levels of productivity – provoked by not adequate and up-to-date cultivation practices, reduced levels of input use, utilisation of old and, therefore, less performing varieties, and also farm management shortcomings. High losses from reduced availability of post-harvest facilities and equipment add up to the problem. The improvement of the sector is not easy. In other words, there is a lot to do for the Montenegrin sector operators to increase sales: tackle imports and increase market shares in the domestic market and abroad. Based on our research, we suggest that the Montenegrin fruit and vegetable sector should primarily aim at substituting imports, increasing domestic consumption and developing exports to the region (CEFTA countries) primarily via promising market opportunities. Based on our analyses of the state of affairs of the sector, the competitiveness and the market potentials, the recommendations for improvement competitiveness are outlined.
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Risk and risk management in Hungarian sheep production
61-65Views:445The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the risk attitudes of Hungarian sheep producers regarding the changes they have had to go through since the political changes of 1989–1990. Moreover, the objective of this study is to strengthen the empirical basis for risk analysis by identifying the importance of farmers’ risk attitudes. The results of a nationwide survey of over 500 sheep farmers presented a framework of risk attitudes, risk sources and applied risk management techniques of livestock producers.
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Efficiency analysis of dairy farms in the Northern Great Plain region using deterministic and stochastic DEA models
113-122Views:316Running any dairy enterprise is a risky activity: the profitability of the enterprise is affected by the price fluctuation of feed and animal health products from inputs, as well as by the fluctuation of end-product prices. Under these circumstances, it is essential for the cattle breeders, in order to survive, to harness the reserves in management as effectively as possible. In this research the efficiency and risk of 32 sample dairy farms were analysed in the Northern Great Plain Region from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) by applying classical Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and stochastic DEA models. The choice of this method is justified by the fact that there was not such an available reliable database by which production functions could have been defined, and DEA makes possible to manage simultaneously some inputs and outputs, i.e. complex decision problems. By using DEA, the sources that cause shortfall on inefficient farms can be identified, analysed and quantified, so corporate decision support can be reinforced successfully. A disadvantage of the classical DEA model is that the stochastic factors of farming cannot be treated either on the side of inputs or outputs; therefore, their results can be adopted with reservations, especially in agricultural models. This may have been because we could not discover that many agricultural applications. Considering the price of inputs and outputs as probability variables, 5000 simulation runs have been done in this research. As a result, it can be stated that at which intervals of the input and output factors can become competitive and the fluctuation of these factors can cause what level of risk at each farm.
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Low-carbon innovation policy with the use of biorenewables in the transport sector until 2030
45-52Views:375The topic of the present study deals with the changes and future trends of the European Union’s climate policy. In addition, it studies the manner in which Hungary’s transport sector contributes to the success of the above. The general opinion of Hungarian climate policy is that the country has no need of any substantial climate policy measures, since it will be able to reach its emission reduction targets anyway. This is mostly true, because the basis year for the long term goals is around the middle/end of the 1980’s, when Hungary’s pollution indices were entirely different than today due to former large-scale industrial production. With the termination of these inefficient energy systems, Hungary has basically been “performing well” since the change in political system without taking any specific steps in the interest of doing so. The analysis of the commitments for the 2020-2030 climate policy planning period, which defined emissions commitments compared to 2005 GHG emissions levels, has also garnered similar political reactions in recent years. Thus, it is not the issue of decreasing GHG emissions but the degree to which possible emissions can be increased stemming from the conditions and characteristics of economic growth that is important from the aspect of economic policy. In 2005, the Hungarian transport sector’s emissions amounted to 11 million tons, which is equal to 1.2% of total EU emissions, meaning it does not significantly influence total transport emissions. However, the stakes are still high for developing a low GHG emission transport system, since that will decide whether Hungary can avoid those negative development tendencies that have plagued the majority of Western European transport systems. Can Budapest avoid the scourge of perpetual smog and traffic jams? Can it avert the immeasurable accumulation of externalities on the capital city’s public bypass roads caused by having road transport conduct goods shipping?
JEL classification: Q58
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EXPLORING THE MEDIATION EFFECT OF PERCEIVED USEFULNESS ON CROP DIVERSIFICATION DRIVERS AMONG SMALLHOLDER COCOA FARMERS IN TANZANIA
Views:130The living standard of smallholder cocoa farmers in Tanzania was still low despite the recent transformation in marketing structure which led to the sharp rise in price. This study aimed at examining the drivers for smallholder cocoa farmers in Kilombero, Tanzania to engage in multiple crops farming as the means of poverty alleviation. Based on the cross-sectional survey design, primary data were collected from 501 cocoa farmers obtained through a random selection process that was conducted in their respective 162 agricultural marketing and cooperative societies (AMCOS) found in Kilombero. Results from covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that, cocoa market price, payment waiting time, farm size and cocoa farm income played significant roles in cocoa farmers’ decisions to invest while taking into account their perceptions of success. It was only the off-farm income factor that was found to have no statistical significance on farmers’ decision to invest while considering the mediation effect of perception. The study just assessed the investment decisions by smallholder cocoa farmers in Tanzania. Policy makers need to enhance the marketing factors such as cocoa price and payment time to boost farmers’ financial muscles. Meanwhile, farmers themselves are advised to take measures to boost production by increasing farm sizes while adopting better agronomic as per extension officers’ training.This study contributed to knowledge gap by exploring the cocoa-related factors that affect the stallholders’ decision to invest in crop diversification other than the non-cocoa factors that were investigated in previous studies.
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Changes in costs of precision nutrition depending on crop rotation
59-63Views:328By applying precision nutrition the yield heterogeneity owing to the different features of soil spots can be taken into consideration. The planned and sprayed fertilizer adjusted to the expected yield rendered to soil spots can reduce the negative effects of artificial chemicals on soil and environment. The aim of this paper is to examine how the quantity and the cost of fertilizer (material and operational) will change on spot level on a certain plot during a five-year period, considering crop rotation, too. The following crops are in the rotation: winter wheat, corn and sunflower. Precision nutrition can be used in all the cultures mentioned above. Our earlier (static) model calculations have revealed that the threshold price of precision production was lower by 31% than in conventional technology. So it is necessary to explore for a longer period how the profitability of precision nutrition reacts to the changes in input and yield prices in different crops. The risk receptivity of precision nutrition can be characterized with the help of price sensitive analyses. Effects on profitability of other technological elements are not analysed in this paper.
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Analysis of the chain of the banana industry of Ecuador and the European market
57-65Views:1766Bananas are among the four main crops in the world, including wheat, rice, and corn. It is the most exported fresh fruit in the world in terms of volume and value. The European Union (EU) is the largest banana importer globally with an estimated volume share of 33%. Ecuador is the top exporter since it is responsible for one-quarter of the world banana exportation. It represents 22% of total world exports, 27% of total agricultural exports in the country and 8% of the value of all exports (including oil). The present work analyzed the chain of the banana industry of Ecuador and its position in the EU market. A non-experimental empirical method with a quantitative and qualitative approach was used supported by scholarly literature and secondary research data collection. Results obtained show that the main countries destination shipped 87.8 % of total bananas exported from Ecuador in the period of 2007 – 2017. The largest importer of Ecuadorian banana is the European Union (28.9%). In Ecuador, approximately 78% of the banana producers are small companies, by adding the medium ones 95.6% is reached. Thus, the production of bananas in the country is mainly based on the family economy. In 2019, the official banana box price for producers in Ecuador is USD 6.30. In the EU market, it can reach over USD 18.00. It suggested an unfair payment to small and medium producers.
JEL CODE: Q13, M16, M21
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Multifunctionality of agriculture, public policies and scientific evidences: Some critical issues of contemporary controversies
53-58Views:284Various theoretical models of public policy analysis are used to treat situations of decision-making in which public deciders have to take into account the multifunctionality of agriculture. For some, science-society relations are not really problematical. Others acknowledge the current attempts of these policy-makers to find adequate scientific knowledge, and the difficulties they encounter. These difficulties stem partly from the very content of knowledge produced by research. Could other modes of production be more efficient? The status of the knowledge produced by these approaches is a subject of debate. Bridging the divide between science and policy more effectively is not only a question of knowledge brokerage.Accessibility and reliability of the existing evidences are also problems to be addressed. The debates around evidence-based practices may provide some landmarks in this new situation although they also emphasize the limits of the tools that can be built for this purpose.
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Water footprint in Hungary
83-91Views:357More and more news report on water-related extreme environmental phenomena. Some of these are natural, which are often beyond the human race. But others are definitely due to anthropogenic effects. I think the water footprint index is able to highlight national and international water-use processes and gives us the opportunity of organizing a sustainable, consumer-, environmental- and governancefriendly management. 81% of the fresh water withdrawal is from surface water bodies in the EU. In Europe as a whole, 44% of abstraction is used for energy production, 24% for agriculture, 21% for public water supply and 11% for industry. Public water supply is confined to ground waters. To the water resources related human activity caused qualitative and quantitative amortisation will grow worse in the foreseeable future due to the climate change. Beside seasonal differences the sectoral differences are increasingly becoming critical between different areas, such as Southern and Western Europe. The former, wrong agricultural support system has worsened the situation since it gave financial aid for the used improper techniques of water-intensive crop cultivation. By today, this seems to be solved. Public water abstraction is affected by many factors, of which mostly are based on social situation and habits, but technological leakage receives a big role as well. Interesting, that for example the residents’water consumption in Eastern Europe decreased because price were raised and regular measurements were introduced. But in Southern Europe it increased due to tourism in the past period. Industrial water withdrawal decreased across Europe because of the decline of industry and the development of technologies. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), the Union needs a sustainable, demand-driven leadership which focuses on the preservation and use efficiency. This have already appeared in politics and legal administration as well. Current research calls the attention to the significance and difficulties of this kind of domestic estimation presented trough the water footprint calculation of bread and pork in Hungary. The received data indicate the domestic water consumption trends in a modern approach. There is no doubt for me about the urgent necessity of water footprint calculation because as a result innovative, sustainability supported environmental, social, economical, and political relationships can be created – not just on local, regional or national level, but on interregional, European and even global stage.
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Driving factors behind Uganda’s rural pastoral communities’ social-economic status; a comparison between Karamoja Region and Ankole Region
Views:630This study aimed to analyze the social-economic status of Karamoja, Uganda’s largest pastoral region that has consistently stood out as the least developed region in Uganda. The region is naturally endowed with a variety of minerals such as marble, limestone, gold, etc. This has attracted (both local and international) artisanal and small-scale miners into the region whose contribution to the region’s development seem negligible. The Majority of the residents derive their livelihoods from livestock as a primary source. Three major rural development aspects i.e., social, ecological, and economic dimensions were assessed and compared to the Ankole region, one of Uganda’s rural pastoral regions that have over time registered progress in livestock production and regional development. Based on this comparison, similarities and differences can be identified and used to build the foundation for the development of a SWOT analysis that will focus on the Strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that exist in this rural pastoral region of Karamoja. This study creates a cornerstone for developing sustainable rural development strategies based on a focused analysis of sociological factors that are fundamental in unmasking the ground reality in the region.
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The value of quality
21-27Views:459The significance of quality production and quality improvement is widely acknowledged by many but few specify what should be improved and what quality should be produced. The reason may be that there are different quality categories in the process of the value chain. Moreover, the issue of quality costs, i.e. economically optimal quality has not yet been explored yet. The present study raises problems in the pigmeat verticum, but similar studies are needed in other animal husbandry sectors as well. It is reasonable to treat the quality categories of animal products in a complex way, as this allows the full satisfaction of consumer expectations at the certain stages of the value chain and solvent demand as well.
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