Characterising objective profiles of Costa Rican dairy farmers

Solano, C.; León, Hamlet Betancourt; Pérez, Enrique Chinarro; Herrero, Mario

doi:10.1016/s0308-521x(00)00054-8

Cited by 58 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Policy relevance can be increased if the typology is related or embedded in available farm census data and observed land-use choices [62]. Empirical research increasingly highlights the importance of considering multiple objectives [28,[63][64][65] as well as attitudes and preferences towards more nature-friendly farming when representing farmers' decision-making [62,[65][66][67]. In addition, farm diversification and associated constraints on labor availability (and other aspects of part-time farming) are thought to strongly affect farming system development and decisions on land abandonment, particularly in mountain regions, and have been highlighted as important elements in recent farmer typologies [68,69].…”

Section: Developing the Agent Typologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity Analysis of a Land-Use Change Model with and without Agents to Assess Land Abandonment and Long-Term Re-Forestation in a Swiss Mountain Region

Brändle

Langendijk

Peter³

et al. 2015

Land

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Land abandonment and the subsequent re-forestation are important drivers behind the loss of ecosystem services in mountain regions. Agent-based models can help to identify global change impacts on farmland abandonment and can test policy and management options to counteract this development. Realigning the representation of human decision making with time scales of ecological processes such as reforestation presents a major challenge in this context. Models either focus on the agent-specific behavior anchored in the current generation of farmers at the expense of representing longer scale environmental processes or they emphasize the simulation of long-term economic and forest developments OPEN ACCESSLand 2015, 4 476 where representation of human behavior is simplified in time and space. In this context, we compare the representation of individual and aggregated decision-making in the same model structure and by doing so address some implications of choosing short or long term time horizons in land-use modeling. Based on survey data, we integrate dynamic agents into a comparative static economic sector supply model in a Swiss mountain region. The results from an extensive sensitivity analysis show that this agent-based land-use change model can reproduce observed data correctly and that both model versions are sensitive to the same model parameters. In particular, in both models the specification of opportunity costs determines the extent of production activities and land-use changes by restricting the output space. Our results point out that the agent-based model can capture short and medium term developments in land abandonment better than the aggregated version without losing its sensitivity to important socio-economic drivers. For comparative static approaches, extensive sensitivity analysis with respect to opportunity costs, i.e., the measure of benefits forgone due to alternative uses of labor is essential for the assessment of the impact of climate change on land abandonment and re-forestation in mountain regions.

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Section: Developing the Agent Typologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity Analysis of a Land-Use Change Model with and without Agents to Assess Land Abandonment and Long-Term Re-Forestation in a Swiss Mountain Region

Brändle

Langendijk

Peter³

et al. 2015

Land

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“…Knowledge produced on the contribution of livestock management to work organization In the case of family farms, where not only economic efficiency but also life projects are central to farmer expectations (Solano et al, 2001), the QuaeWork method makes it possible to integrate two approaches: 'work efficiency', which characterizes efficiency in terms of resource use, and 'work organized', which translates the farmer's projected aim to achieve a certain quality of life (Dedieu and Servière, 2011). Research programmes applying the method are currently in progress in countries where family farms are differentiated by the interactions between livestock management, workforce (family or salaried) and level of equipment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A method for assessing work productivity and flexibility in livestock farms

Hostiou¹,

Dedieu²

2012

Animal

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Changes affecting livestock farming systems have made farm work a central concern for both the sector and for farmers themselves. Increased pressure on farms to be competitive and productive together with farmers' demand for greater autonomy, holidays or time to spend on private activities and the family converge to underline the two key dimensions of work -productivity and flexibility -required for the assessment of work organization. This paper proposes a method called the QuaeWork (QUAlification and Evaluation of Work in livestock farms) to assess work productivity and flexibility on a farm, and its use to identify how livestock management can contribute to work organization on dairy farms. The QuaeWork method was set up through an iterative process combining surveys conducted with farmers in two regions of France, discussions with different experts and literature review. The QuaeWork was applied on a sample of seven dairy farms in the southern Massif Central in France to identify patterns of how livestock management contributes to work organization. The QuaeWork was used to analyse work organization over the year through a systemic approach to the farm, integrating interactions between herd and land management, workforce composition, equipment facilities and combinations of activities through a characterization of 'who does what, when and for how long'. The criteria for assessing work productivity were work duration (routine work, seasonal work) and work efficiency (per livestock unit or hectare of utilized agricultural area). The criteria for assessing work flexibility were room for manoeuvre and adjustments to internal and external events. The three main patterns of livestock management practices to work organization were identified. In pattern-1, farmers used indoor stable feeding practices with delegated work, with moderate room for manoeuvre and efficiency. In pattern-3, farmers used simplified milking, reproduction and breeding practices to seasonalize work and make it efficient with consistent room for manoeuvre. The method suggests social sustainability criteria to assess work productivity and flexibility, which are important for making reasoned decisions on livestock farm changes, especially innovations. Researchers could usefully exploit the QuaeWork to integrate work objectives (productivity, flexibility) into technical and economic goals.

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“…Sin embargo, ésta ha sido criticada, principalmente, por operar con funciones de utilidad de un único atributo medible, únicamente, en unidades monetarias (beneficio), Sin embargo, distintos autores han puesto de manifiesto a través de estudios empíricos mediante la evaluación de diferentes criterios, la complejidad de la toma de decisiones de los agricultores: recientemente Willock et al (1999), Costa y Rehman (1999), Solano et al (2001) o Gómez-Limón et al (2003. Todos estos estudios tienen como conclusión común la constatación de que los agricultores a la hora de tomar sus decisiones de producción tienen en mente, además de la esperanza del beneficio, otra serie de consideraciones relacionadas con su entorno económico, social, cultural y ambiental, por lo que intentará satisfacer, en la medida de lo posible, todos estos objetivos de forma simultánea.…”

Section: Programando La Producción Para Un Agricultor-empresa Individualunclassified

Programación de la comercialización mensual agraria: El caso de los cultivos hortícolas en la provincia de Almería

Mesa

2011

EARN

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RESUMEN:Este artículo trata sobre la programación de la producción agraria, entendida no sólo como la selección entre varios cultivos sino, también, como la distribución temporal de los mismos. Primero se estudia la programación de la producción para una empresa, donde sus decisiones no afectan a los precios de equilibrio en el mercado: en este caso se propone la utilización de un modelo de Markowitz adaptado a la programación temporal de la comercialización. Posteriormente, se analiza la ordenación de la venta para un operador que tuviese capacidad, por su volumen de comercialización, de alterar el equilibrio de mercado: en este caso se propone la utilización de un modelo de maximización mensual de ingresos y márgenes.PALABRAS CLAVE: Exportación, optimización, planificación, programación matemática.Programming the monthly agricultural marketing: the case of Almeria (Spain) horticultural crops SUMMARY: This article analyses the programming of farm production, understood not only as the choice among several crops but also as their temporal distribution. First the programming of the production for an individual company is studied, where its decisions do not affect equilibrium market prices: in this case we use a Markowitz model adapted to the temporal programming of the commercialization. Secondly, the sales arrangements for an operator with capacity, given its trading volume, to alter the market equilibrium will be analyzed: in this case we propose a model which maximises monthly incomes and margins.KEYWORDS: Export, optimization, planning, mathematical programming.JEL classification: C61, Q13.a Departamento de Dirección y Gestión de Empresas. Universidad de Almería.Agradecimientos: Se agradecen los valiosos comentarios realizados por los evaluadores anónimos. Este artículo forma parte del proyecto de investigación PROFIT "Coordinación en tiempo real entre empresas del sector productor comercializador hortícola de la provincia de Almería" financiado por el Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio.Dirigir correspondencia a: Juan Carlos Pérez-Mesa.

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Characterising objective profiles of Costa Rican dairy farmers

Cited by 58 publications

References 7 publications

Sensitivity Analysis of a Land-Use Change Model with and without Agents to Assess Land Abandonment and Long-Term Re-Forestation in a Swiss Mountain Region

Sensitivity Analysis of a Land-Use Change Model with and without Agents to Assess Land Abandonment and Long-Term Re-Forestation in a Swiss Mountain Region

A method for assessing work productivity and flexibility in livestock farms

Programación de la comercialización mensual agraria: El caso de los cultivos hortícolas en la provincia de Almería

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