GlobalGAP (previously EurepGAP) is a voluntary business-to-business standard for food audit that has recently achieved the greatest acceptance worldwide (Campbell, Lawrence & Smith 2006) boasting implementation numbers of over 80,000 farms in 80 countries. Compliance with the standard is verified by means of the third party certification (TPC) audit, and is designed to (GlobalGAP 2008) assure European retailers that exporting producers have met their criteria for safe and sustainable agriculture (GlobalGAP 2007b). In 2004, cherry growers in the Southern Interior of British Columbia became the first GlobalGAP certified producers in Canada. This novelty afforded a unique opportunity to observe the introduction of the standard in an industrialized country with well-established regulations and where the capacity of producers to undertake the process was relatively high. A qualitative methodology was used in case studies of two communities to inductively study the implementation of ‘safe and sustainable agriculture’ certification and generate relevant research questions for deeper examination. Sensitizing concepts emerging from observations of the TPC audits (n = 20) evolved into two primary research objectives; 1) to understand the practical application and diffusion of a TPC standard and 2) to explore the efficacy of the TPC standard as a mechanism to promote sustainable agriculture within certain pre-existing contexts. Forty-four follow up interviews were conducted with growers that chose to certify (n = 24), those that did not (n = 14), and other key actors (n = 3). This thesis examines the research objectives over three chapters. The introduction provides the local and global context along with a review of GlobalGAP, agri-food governance and the role of private certification and retailer power. Chapter two presents the technological and sociological factors that influenced the stages of the diffusion of GlobalGAP TPC and compares these factors and outcomes to the technological and sociological components of sustainable agriculture. In the conclusion, policy strategies are offered to maximize the potential for this tool to promote sustainable agriculture along with suggestions for future research on the topic.

GlobalGAP (previously EurepGAP) is a voluntary business-to-business standard for food audit that has recently achieved the greatest acceptance worldwide (Campbell, Lawrence & Smith 2006) boasting implementation numbers of over 80,000 farms in 80 countries. Compliance with the standard is verified by means of the third party certification (TPC) audit, and is designed to (GlobalGAP 2008) assure European retailers that exporting producers have met their criteria for safe and sustainable agriculture (GlobalGAP 2007b). In 2004, cherry growers in the Southern Interior of British Columbia became the first GlobalGAP certified producers in Canada. This novelty afforded a unique opportunity to observe the introduction of the standard in an industrialized country with well-established regulations and where the capacity of producers to undertake the process was relatively high. A qualitative methodology was used in case studies of two communities to inductively study the implementation of ‘safe and sustainable agriculture’ certification and generate relevant research questions for deeper examination. Sensitizing concepts emerging from observations of the TPC audits (n = 20) evolved into two primary research objectives; 1) to understand the practical application and diffusion of a TPC standard and 2) to explore the efficacy of the TPC standard as a mechanism to promote sustainable agriculture within certain pre-existing contexts. Forty-four follow up interviews were conducted with growers that chose to certify (n = 24), those that did not (n = 14), and other key actors (n = 3). This thesis examines the research objectives over three chapters. The introduction provides the local and global context along with a review of GlobalGAP, agri-food governance and the role of private certification and retailer power. Chapter two presents the technological and sociological factors that influenced the stages of the diffusion of GlobalGAP TPC and compares these factors and outcomes to the technological and sociological components of sustainable agriculture. In the conclusion, policy strategies are offered to maximize the potential for this tool to promote sustainable agriculture along with suggestions for future research on the topic.

GlobalGAP (previously EurepGAP) is a voluntary business-to-business standard for food audit that has recently achieved the greatest acceptance worldwide (Campbell, Lawrence & Smith 2006) boasting implementation numbers of over 80,000 farms in 80 countries. Compliance with the standard is verified by means of the third party certification (TPC) audit, and is designed to (GlobalGAP 2008) assure European retailers that exporting producers have met their criteria for safe and sustainable agriculture (GlobalGAP 2007b). In 2004, cherry growers in the Southern Interior of British Columbia became the first GlobalGAP certified producers in Canada. This novelty afforded a unique opportunity to observe the introduction of the standard in an industrialized country with well-established regulations and where the capacity of producers to undertake the process was relatively high. A qualitative methodology was used in case studies of two communities to inductively study the implementation of ‘safe and sustainable agriculture’ certification and generate relevant research questions for deeper examination. Sensitizing concepts emerging from observations of the TPC audits (n = 20) evolved into two primary research objectives; 1) to understand the practical application and diffusion of a TPC standard and 2) to explore the efficacy of the TPC standard as a mechanism to promote sustainable agriculture within certain pre-existing contexts. Forty-four follow up interviews were conducted with growers that chose to certify (n = 24), those that did not (n = 14), and other key actors (n = 3). This thesis examines the research objectives over three chapters. The introduction provides the local and global context along with a review of GlobalGAP, agri-food governance and the role of private certification and retailer power. Chapter two presents the technological and sociological factors that influenced the stages of the diffusion of GlobalGAP TPC and compares these factors and outcomes to the technological and sociological components of sustainable agriculture. In the conclusion, policy strategies are offered to maximize the potential for this tool to promote sustainable agriculture along with suggestions for future research on the topic. / Science, Faculty of / Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for / Graduate

In Sustainable development studies, it has been established that food sector has a significantimpact on the environment and accordingly is a critical area for improvement. In addition,island regions particularly undergo a need for long-term sustainable development, due toisolation and high dependency on availability of local resources. Therefore, applyingsustainability into practise and incorporating its goals into strategic and operational levels ofmanagement decision-making, could use relatively more attention to proceed in thedevelopment. This study is looking at current work by regional authorities on the Swedishisland of Gotland in implementing sustainability transitions in the agri-food sector byscrutinising the industry actors’ involvement and attitudes. The research data was collectedvia analysis of governmental document and in-depth interviews with both industry andauthorities’ representatives and further evaluated with theories of governance, leadership andsustainability transitions. Yet, sustainability is such a complex issue interlinking economic,social and environmental aspects, so it requires more attention than initially perceived. Theresult indicates collaboration towards common goals benefits from trust and congruencebetween actors.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / Purpose: This paper aims to explore the antecedents and performance outcomes of supply chain integration in the agri-food industry in Latin America, a context that the literature on supply chain management has not extensively addressed. The quinoa supply chain, an industry that has encountered a boost in market demand in the past year, is selected as the unit of analysis. Supply chain integration dynamics are analyzed to provide recommendations about integration strategies and benefits in the agricultural sector. Design/methodology/approach: A conceptual model was designed in this study, which includes the drivers (i.e. trust and commitment) and outcomes (i.e. operational and economic performance) of supply chain integration. The relationships were verified through a unique survey, the data of which were collected from 79 respondents operating at different levels of the Peruvian quinoa supply chain (i.e. suppliers, producers and customers). The proposed hypotheses were tested through the partial least squares (PLS) regression. Findings: The results underscore the relevance of trust and commitment as enablers of supply chain integration initiatives in the agri-food industry. These factors are particularly essential for involving the farmers who are the most upstream actors in the supply chain and characterized by unstructured organizations. A high level of integration in these types of supply chain enhances the capacity to improve operational performance, which in turns positively affects the main economic indicators. Originality/value: This study contributes to the discussion of supply chain integration in the agri-food industry, which remains unexplored thus far. It relies on a multitier collection of responses, which is extended to all the levels of the quinoa supply chain, thereby providing the study with a unique depth of analysis. Furthermore, this work contributes to the ongoing discourse on the performance impact of supply chain integration, which several SCM scholars have recently questioned. / Revisión por pares

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第22025号 / 経博第602号 / 新制||経||290(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 久野 秀二, 教授 矢野 剛, 教授 諸富 徹 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM

<p>  </p> <p>Managing agri-food supply systems (AFSS) is a complex task due to all the factors that are typically present in these systems, for example, perishability, long lead time from cultivation to consumption, seasonality, weather and yield uncertainty, fragmented structure of the industry, high demand- and price variability, contamination concerns, fragility, and high weight-to-value ratios. This research focuses specifically on crop-based perishable AFSS systems with independent farmers for which it is difficult to coordinate cultivation activities with upstream operations of the supply chain, and where it is not possible to decouple processing or distribution from harvesting operations by building on-farm inventory after harvest. Two main industries are considered as case studies: sugarcane and vegetables for the fresh market. In the sugarcane industry, two main problems are addressed in this research, the farms clustering and harvest sequencing problem, and the truck release control problem. The first problem is modeled as a bi-objective non-linear program that aims to maximize sugar output and minimize the maximum cluster diameter when clustering farms for harvesting, and a heuristic algorithm is developed to find a good set of non-dominated solutions. For the second problem, a stochastic model is developed to determine the optimal number of trucks to be released into the sugarcane harvest system considering randomness in key inputs. Finally, the third problem deals with the development of a demand and capacity sharing protocol to support horizontal collaboration among private distribution networks in the fresh vegetables industry based on a real-time truck-sharing system for the long-haul transport stage. The effectiveness of the protocol is tested by simulating its implementation to a collaborative network of six distributors, and the results show significant improvement in delivery times, long-haul transport costs, and total traveled distance.</p>

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial. / This research analyzes the current studies of supplier relationship management (SRM), based on a literature review to contrast and compare the evolution of SRM in agribusiness-oriented supply chain management (SCM). The result obtained in this research shows the agribusiness and its relationship with its suppliers. It also strives to identify potential models for a strong SRM. An SRM model is proposed to visualize the components that make up the management of suppliers in the agribusiness supply chain (SC).

Purpose: Agri-food firms face many challenges when assessing and managing their performance. The purpose of this research is to determine important factors for an integrated agri-food supply chain performance measurement system. Design/methodology/approach: This research uses the Peruvian kiwicha supply chain as a meaningful context to examine critical factors affecting agri-food supply chain performance. The research uses interpretative structural modelling (ISM) with fuzzy MICMAC methods to suggest a hierarchical performance measurement model. Findings: The resulting kiwicha supply chain performance management model provides insights for managers and academic theory regarding managing competing priorities within the agri-food supply chain. Originality/value: The model developed in this research has been validated by cooperative kiwicha associations based in Puno, Peru, and further refined by experts. Moreover, the results obtained through ISM and fuzzy MICMAC methods could help decision-makers from any agri-food supply chain focus on achieving high operational performance by integrating key performance measurement factors.

The European Commission Bioeconomy Strategy aims to stimulate an ecologically sustainable economy to mitigate climate change, declining biodiversity, and as an economic and social strategy meant to provide jobs and stimulate growth. The aim of this research project is to understand how the European Commission Bioeconomy Strategy is being interpreted and implemented in two different rural European regions, Inner Scandinavia, and the Alpine region, and based on those findings discuss how a sustainable bioeconomy strategy can be understood primarily in relation to the ecological sustainability goals of decarbonizing the economy and protecting biodiversity. This project has through literature studies and a case study with interviews, field observations and a spatial analysis of the territory using Corine Land Cover data highlighted the importance of links between governance and policy as enablers of ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable bioeconomy strategies. The results indicate three models comprised of distinct landscape types associated with specific bioeconomy strategies that are discussed in relation to the key concepts, bioeconomy, and sustainability. The analysis demonstrates that certain bioeconomy strategies may provide economic and social sustainability and not necessarily ecological effects. In fact, certain bioeconomy strategies, despite being framed as sustainable, may even be detrimental for ecological sustainability