This paper focuses on the economic dimension of rural transformation (or structural transformation) in Turkey. It investigates the development of labour demand and supply in rural areas over the past two decades. For that purpose, three longitudinal case studies were conducted in three different...

The interest and growth in microfinance have burgeoned during the last two decades with the involvement of both private and public sector agencies. As a result of the interest in this sector, microfinance services have grown rapidly. However, little attention has been given to the environmental...

The interest and growth in microfinance have burgeoned during the last two decades with the involvement of both private and public sector agencies. As a result of the interest in this sector, microfinance services have grown rapidly. However, little attention has been given to the environmental...

Third sector organisations play a prominent role in rural development. Yet, such organisations have been largely neglected by existing economic research. This paper examines the potential role of standard theories of the third sector and collective action in explaining the motivations to form...

Rural development strategies recognise that in the contemporary competitive and globalised context of food trade, specific character products can contribute to the differentiation of agro-food products and to an increasing proportion of added value captured by the primary producers. Theory...

This last paper aims to summarise reflexions made in the preceding papers of this Special Issue. We will first show the common conclusions of the different reviews on multifunctionality, and discuss the global state-of-the-art: multifuntionality does not yet appear as a very stabilised concept,...

Over the last few years, there has been a significant increase in the focus on rural development and public goods within the common agricultural policy (CAP). Many researchers emphasise how this implies a need for new ways of implementing policy and innovative collaboration between various...

The paper analyses the possible effects of organic agriculture on sustainable regional development in peripheral Eastern German regions, drawing on results from two recent research projects taking two different but complementary perspectives on the organic sector. One project, 'Regional wealth...

Society now expects agriculture to fulfil new functions to improve quality of life. This requirement has been reinforced by recent crises. The 1999 French Agricultural Framework Law (LOA) formalised agricultural multifunctionality and included payments to farmers for new practices, which satisfy...

Cotton farming in Turkey faces economic, environmental and socioeconomic challenges. Organic cotton has been a successful response that greatly benefited low-input farmers; but, worldwide, it will eventually become a mature niche market with limited growth potential. Since no Genetically...