This study investigates the effect of community factors on the development and diversification of rural Japan. Diversification is a matter of concern in rural communities as a means of revitalizing regional socio-economies. To establish new diversified activities, cooperation between rural...

The North China Plain (NCP) covers an area of around 328,000 km2 and is one of the most important regions of cereal crop production in China. Wheat and maize rotations and one season cotton are the most common cropping systems. The region contributes at an amount of about 50% to the countries...

The European Union’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) has “the purpose to protect and preserve water resources across the European Union to ensure future sustainable use” but is likely to add to agricultural land losses, e.g. to infrastructure, industrial estates and housing. While the...

Global efforts to reduce deforestation rely heavily on protected areas and land use restrictions. The effect of these restrictions on local communities is currently the subject of heated debate among conservation and development experts. Measuring the social impacts of protected areas is...

This paper focuses on methods for assessing the territorial impact (economic, social and environmental) of geographical indication systems. First, in a review of methods, methodological difficulties and choices are discussed and major studies are briefly presented. We highlight that it is...

This paper explores farmer-specific cultural, social and economic objectives within the extensive rice system in the Kolda region (south of Senegal). We classify and characterize farmers according to the relative importance of their multifunctional goals. The empirical analysis uses farm-level...

Ethical aspects of food products have become increasingly important for Western European consumers. One example of such ethical consumption attributes are “peace products”, commodities produced in peaceful economic cooperation between members of conflicting parties in areas of political...