In this paper the cost efficiency of Scottish farms is determined, variables that explain the relative cost efficiency by farm type are identified and implications discussed. A cost efficiency approach was selected as it can deal with farms producing multiple outputs (in contrast to production...

The purpose of this study is to analyse the demand for fresh fruits in Scotland in order to provide evidence about their sensitivity to changes in prices and income. Six fresh fruit categories were studied using time series for the period 2006 to 2011: citrus, apples and pears, bananas, grapes...

The main implication of the food miles indicator is that in order to protect the environment consumers should purchase food locally and seasonal. However, something that it is missing in all discussions is the evidence about how bad or good - in terms of locality and seasonality- is the actual...

A supply chain in disarray can be identified not only as a barrier to growth for the agricultural sector but also as one to achieving food security in a country because it may lead to either a deficiency in food production and/or too high prices. Using the dairy sector of Malawi as an example,...

The instability of prices and the hypothesis that speculative behaviour was one of its sources has brought renewed interest in the futures markets. In this paper, we concentrate on the European wheat futures markets (feed and milling) and the CBOT’s wheat contract as a comparison. The purpose...

Dairy is a key investment sector for the Government of Malawi. Advocacy institutions operating in the country have successfully lobbied for increasing the duty applied for powder milk, with the aim of improving the price received by farmers. It should be noted that whilst an increase of the...

One of the aims of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is to increase the competitiveness of farmers through increasing their exposure to markets. An aspect of competitiveness is the gains in economic efficiency. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to estimate indicators of farm...

This paper examines the influence of agri-food supply chains on the sustainability-related activities and decisions of Scottish farmers, as well as the treatment of sustainability issues by food processors and retailers themselves. It is based on 8 whole chain case studies covering some of...

The recent rise in food prices has increased concern about the choice of a healthy food basket, especially in the context of the current formulation of a National Food Policy for Scotland. This concern has revived interest in food price and expenditure demand systems as they provide information...

The purpose of the paper is to present an agricultural supply model for Scotland used to estimate regional changes in agricultural outputs due to the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. Supply functions were estimated for several farm types based on generalised trans-logarithmic...