The contribution of organic producer initiatives to rural development: a case-study approach

By P. Midmore, M. Beckie, C. Foster and M. Schermer

Abstract
Agri-environment policy support in Europe has led to significant increases in crop and livestock activities managed under organic systems of production, and although there have been parallel increases in consumer demand, marketing problems have occasionally prevented a match between the different sides of the market. Rapid growth has outpaced traditional selling strategies, based on direct contact with consumers and niche-scale products.

In order to retain the farm-level benefits of organic agriculture for development of the wider rural economy, organic marketing initiatives involving producers are emerging in a key position.

This paper uses a comparative case-study approach, carried out as part of a larger EU-funded project on organic marketing initiatives and rural development, to investigate the rural development impact of four organic marketing initiatives, in Vorarlberg in Austria, Burgundy in France, Marche in Italy and Lancashire in the United Kingdom, drawing on documentary sources, semi-structured interviews and stakeholder involvement to establish the most important influences contributing to their contextual performance, and drawing on Actor-Network Theory, placing organic agriculture within an overall set of cultural, social and economic relations.

The paper concludes by developing best practice recommendations to maximize the impact of the whole organic food supply chain on rural regeneration.


Source
Organic farming: science and practice for profitable livestock and cropping.
Proceedings of the BGS/AAB/COR Conference, Newport, Shropshire, UK, 20-22 April 2004, pgs 11-18


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