In this paper Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is used to uncover hidden political agenda and value systems concealed behind the alleged “value-free” discourse of EU and US governments on the bioeconomy. The main assumption of the paper is that the claimed social benefits of the bioeconomy,...

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have been a controversial topic in recent years: while the scientific community has largely accepted the validity and safety of using this biotechnology in the food industry, public opinion still shows a certain suspicion and fear. The legislator is...

The 2014 U.S. Farm Act passed into law in early February, 2014, after approximately three years of hearings. Much debate in the negotiations leading to this Farm Act focused on new programs for providing producers with support payments covering “shallow losses” in revenue. We develop an...

The paper analyses the impact of adopting new agricultural technologies on the multiple dimensions of food security for maize farmers in Tanzania. Relying on matching techniques, we use a nationally representative dataset collected over the period 2010/2011 to estimate the causal eects of using...

Nowadays innovation represents a strategy to face the economic crisis affecting many sectors globally. It is believed that innovation is one of the most significant factors for the enhancement of competitiveness. Innovation is identified with the creation of value by companies, and networking is...

In comparison to flatland agriculture mountainous agriculture is often shaped by small plot sizes, unfavourable climatic conditions and steep slopes. All those conditions make it extraordinarily expensive to implement new technologies and to modernise farms. Consequently our research hypothesis...

The rural development plans in Europe, within the provisions of Axis Two of the Common Agricultural Policy, consider the opportunity to protect and enhance “environmental-friendly” farming systems. The present paper describes the role of organic farming measures in the promotion and...

Sustainable management of natural resources and climate action together form one of the three objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014–2020. They are addressed by replacing the existing direct payments under Pillar 1 with a basic payment topped up by an additional payment...

This paper aims at evaluating the impact of the 2003/2005 CAP reform on farm production choices. The outcome of “market orientation” is measured by considering both the short-term production choices and the long-term investment decisions. The Treatment Effect (TE) is estimated through recent...

In EU Countries in the last decade there has been a reduction of the number of farms, combined with a significant increase in their average size. First response to crisis in EU agriculture is the enhancement the competitiveness of farms in bio-economy issues, i.e. quality: EU farmers must build...