Sweetwater Organic Community Farm is an organic farm and environmental education center located in Tampa, Florida. The farm employs the community supported agriculture (CSA) model, in which members pay a single fee before the growing season begins and receive a weekly or biweekly share of the ongoing harvest in return. Using multiple ethnographic methods, this research aimed to understand the daily operations at Sweetwater as well as the perceptions of staff and CSA members. Findings indicated that there were myriad perceived advantages of organic agriculture but also imposing challenges that needed to be overcome. Moreover, staff members acknowledged the challenges associated with the CSA model such as pleasing and educating members and, for members, having to pick up at designated times and locations. Still, staff members also noted countless benefits, including the opportunity to connect to your food, farmers, environment, and community. In surveys, CSA members indicated that they were overwhelmingly satisfied the CSA model and Sweetwater. Complexities were uncovered that are often overlooked in the literature and merit further exploration. Among these were the pressure on farmers that resulted from receiving payments upfront and the willingness of individuals to become members without understanding the CSA model. There is a need for more studies to longitudinally examine changes in social support, food system knowledge, and eating habits that may occur over the course of the growing season.

Economic growth in emerging economies has been changing the livelihoods of many smallholders. Typically, disparity increases as economies emerge, and the agricultural sector experiences lower growth relative to other sectors. Growing inequalities and economic vulnerabilities during this critical period of development in emerging economies are often associated with social problems and political tensions, as this is the case in Thailand. In the latter, the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy (SE) has been employed through the monarchy in a number of ways. Due to laws prohibiting critique of the monarchy, these projects are not fairly evaluated and the perspectives of smallholders affected are largely unknown. Knowledge on the effectiveness of Thailand’s Philosophy of SE in combating the disparity problem and economic vulnerability in the agricultural sectors of emerging economies was gained through semi-structured interviews. An organic farming project run by a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), called ISAC follows the principles of Sufficiency Economy, and is located in the Mae Taeng district in the north of the province of Chiang Mai. A sample of 20 farmers from two villages (Don Chiang and San Pa Yang) who participate in the project was interviewed. Questions regarding age and education level of all family members also created a quantitative sample of 72 individuals. An epistemological framework based in critical realism was employed with the use of purposive interview sampling methods Results indicate that employing SE can help a select group of farmers to escape economic vulnerability. This group includes farmers in an older age group with sufficient land and access to guidance. The philosophy may help keep this group of farmers satisfied as the countries economy evolves. The project appears to be sustainable only in the short-term as younger generations seem to be reaching higher levels of education than their elders and are likely to pursue lives outside of agriculture. In addition, some benefits of farming with the principles of SE include, lower financial stress, improved health, and a better family life. Conversely, a decision to live by the principles of SE can lead to a stigmatization of farmers within their community, creating in-groups and out-groups.

The global coffee industry is in a state of crisis. Small-scale producers are those most seriously impacted by the crisis, facing the challenges of a precarious and changing market, despite limited resources. In Oaxaca, Mexico, a prominent response among indigenous small-scale farmers has been to join independent coffee producer unions. Within theses unions there is currently a move to encourage organic coffee cultivation among campesinos, so that these groups might niche market their coffee. This niche, or "conscience", market is shaped by the "organic coffee discourse" which emphasizes the themes of environmental protection, social justice and indigenity. By examining the relationship between organic coffee production (as an economic strategy for marginal producers) and its discourse (which mobilizes consumers in wealthy countries) we will see the impetus behind organic coffee production as it ranges from Oaxaca's indigenous farmers, their producer unions, and consumers.

Ab einem Preisniveau von 2 Euro/kg für industriell hergestellten Stickstoff wird der Leguminosenanbau durch die biologische Stickstofffixierung in der konventionellen Landwirtschaft wirtschaftlich vorteilhaft. Körnermais und teilweise Winterraps können dann von Ackerbohnen aus den Fruchtfolgen verdrängt werden. Dies wurde mittels Linearer Programmierung für einen durchschnittlichen landwirtschaftlichen Betrieb in Sachsen errechnet. Kleearten und Luzerne als Futterpflanzen werden unter diesem Blickwinkel aber erst ab Kosten von 2,30 Euro/kg Industriestickstoff konkurrenzfähig gegenüber Silomais. Letztlich entscheiden vor allem die Preis-Kosten-Relationen von Betriebsmitteln und Agrarerzeugnissen über den Einsatz der biologischen Stickstoffgewinnung. Dazu wurden zwei Szenarien dargestellt. Nicht zu erwarten ist, dass stark steigende Preise für Mineralstickstoffdünger in Zukunft zur vermehrten Umstellung auf ökologischen Landbau führen werden, einem Anbausystem, das sich fast vollständig auf die legume Stickstoffbindung stützt.

In the last few years the demand for organic products has increased rapidly, resulting in a strong growth of the organic industry worldwide. Organic certification is used globally to guarantee that organic labelled producers follow the principles and standards of organic agriculture set by international and national organic certification bodies. Currently the lengthy and complex process of organic certification is entirely paper based, requires organic primary producers to have access to the certifying body, and involves precise data capture and transfer over a long period of time. The paper based organic certification process has some significant disadvantages such as being time-consuming, error-prone (particularly transcription errors) and complex. Any improvement of the paper based organic paper certification process can lead to higher efficiency, lower costs and time savings for primary producers and certifying bodies. / Australia is a major supplier of organic produce, holding almost half of the organic farmland worldwide. However, Australia's unique geography provides challenges due to huge distances and poor rural telecommunication coverage for the sustainable agriculture sector. Up until now there has not been a software solution supporting organic primary producers in their certification process, let alone a mobile software solution. There are many farm management software solutions available but they do not take into account the specific issues in organic agriculture such as soil management, pest control, or fertilisation. / The Mobile Organic Certification (MobiCert) project was created to overcome these disadvantages by focussing on the development of a mobile information portal which can be accessed through mobile Internet using GPRS or 3G technology, thus enabling primary producers to access organic certification related information in the field using their mobile phones. / The results of the proof-of-concept MobiCert project suggest that organic primary producers can benefit from a mobile information platform to access and provide information in rural and remote areas. The benefits and acceptance of the MobiCert solution have to be affirmed in follow-on field studies incorporating other issues such as the underlying business models. / Thesis (PhDInformationTechnology)--University of South Australia, 2007.

The phenomenon of organic agriculture in the Mid North of South Australia is explored in seven case studies of local organic producers. The research issue asks how these organic producers organise to survive in a marketplace where they remain marginal players. The research is framed around Sonnino and Marsden's (2006) two-dimensional model of alternative agriculture, which structures the case study analysis at two levels: a horizontal dimension concerning farmer agency and grassroots innovations, and a vertical dimension focusing on farmer interaction with regulatory and governance frameworks in organic agriculture. To enrich understanding of farmer practices at the grassroots level, two additions are made to the horizontal dimension: the role that beliefs play in determining agency and innovation in motivating farmers to 'go organic' and 'stay organic' and how alternative beliefs, particularly about nature and localism, influence the construction by organic farmers of 'new platforms of action' (Sonnino and Marsden 2006), essential for survival in the marketplace. / PhD Doctorate

Thesis (M. Env. St.)--University of Adelaide, Mawson Graduate Centre for Environmental Studies, 1994? / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-84).

Zugl.: Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 2003. - Zsfassung in engl. und portug. Sprache

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 1999. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 303-318). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p9948031.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 1999. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 303-318). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p9948031.