Cette thèse étudie le mouvement de la Nouvelle Reconstruction Rurale (NRR) sous l'angle du développement durable, en prenant l'exemple concret du village de Sancha, une communauté rurale de la province du Guangxi en Chine. Initié en 2003, la NRR est un réseau national de projets de développement qui réunit des intellectuels, des étudiants et des organisations dont l'objectif estd'expérimenter différents modèles de développement agricole et rural en Chine. Comme alternative à l'industrialisation agricole, la NRR favorise la coopération entre les petits agriculteurs, le savoir-faire local et l'agro-écologie pour le développement durable de l'agriculture. Afin de comprendre ses caractéristiques institutionnelles, son fonctionnement et son impact, nous avons mené une enquête dans le village de Sancha pour collecter des données sur les comportements socio-économiques de petits exploitants agricoles, et proposé trois études de cas sur la NRR. Nos analyses empiriques suggèrent que la NRR a promu le développement de l'agriculture biologique dans le village. Les activités sociales sont efficaces pour la construction du réseau social via lequell'agriculture biologique a été diffusée rapidement. Néanmoins, sans la formation technique suffisante et continue, les paysans récemment convertis à l'agriculture biologique tendent à sur-utiliser l'azote et perdent leur avantage environnemental dans la riziculture. Pour améliorer la performance des petits paysans, l'apprentissage participatif social paraît utile mais limité car les petits agriculteurs sont plutôt tirés par la performance économique que par la protection environnementale. De ces résultats, nous recommandons un partenariat Etat-société civile qui combine les services d'extension agricole du gouvernement et la reconstruction rurale ascendante pour l'objectif commun d'une agriculture durable en Chine. / This doctoral thesis studies the New Rural Reconstruction (NRR) movement from a sustainable development perspective, through a concrete case of Sancha village, a rural community in China's Guangxi province. Initiated in 2003, the NRR is a grassroots network of development projects which unites intellectuals, students and organizations to experiment with different models of agricultural and rural development in China. As an alternative to agricultural industrialization, the NRR favors the cooperation of smallholder farmers, local knowledge and agro-ecology for sustainable agricultural development. In order to understand the NRR's institutional characteristics, functioning and impact, we conducted a survey in Sancha village to collect data on smallholder farmers' socio-economic behavior and performed three in-depth NRR case studies. Our empirical analysis suggests that the NRR has promoted the development of organic farming in the village. Social activities are cost-effective for social network building where organic farming is diffused rapidly. Nevertheless, without sufficient, ongoing technical training, farmers newly converted to organic farming tend to overuse nitrogen and lose their environmental advantage in rice production. To improve the performance of smallholder farmers, participatory social learning appears useful but limited because smallholder farmers are interested in economic performance rather than environmental protection. On basis of these results, we recommend a state-civil society partnership which combines the government's agricultural extension services and bottom-up rural reconstruction for the commonobjective of sustainable agriculture in China.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / This study explores institutional dynamics within an organic farming organisation, the Ezemvelo Farmers' Organisation (EFO), based in uMbumbulu in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The main objective of the study was to identify the institutional and governance factors that impact on the sustainability of the organic production programme of the EFO. A variety of research methods were employed, including a small sample survey of 50 households, in-depth interviews with key respondents, and a critical assessment of the existing literature on the EFO. The study established that many rural households in uMbumbulu maintain their livelihoods through a diverse array of activities that include social grants. Agriculture remains an important livelihood strategy for many households. It presents opportunities for income generation, access to food, job creation and increased asset accumulation. Communal land tenure systems do not constrain agricultural development, and kinship ties and social relations determine affordable and flexible land access for farming and residential use. The EFO initiave regenerated agricultural production in uMbumbulu. Many households have rights to cropping fields and these fields were revitalised and put under productive use as the organic farming initiative gained momentum. The EFO marketed its produce to Farmwise, a packhouse that distributes produce to various retailers. The agro-food industry is dominated by large business interests and maintained exploitative relations with the EFO. Organic production and marketing to such businesses imposed high transaction costs on members of the EFO as onerous quality standards were enforced throughout the value chain. Rural development interventions that are driven by external stakeholders such as academic institutions, government departments and other agencies tend not to provide sustainable solutions to help support the development of smallholder farmers. In the case of the EFO, such support saw abuses of power, elite capture, free-rider problems, conflict and weak management systems. The thesis argues that the agrarian transformation imperative means that policy frameworks must be re-examined, and adapted to the needs and local practices of smallholder farmers such as members of the EFO. Proper extension support that provides accurate market information, effective coordination of production and transport services, and relevant infrastructure, is also required. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

The thesis analyses the position and potential of organic farming in regional development or more precisely rural development in local area of farming of particular organic farms in the Czech Republic environment. It judges correlation among socio-economic indicators, share of organic farming land on agricultural land in the local area and share of less favoured area in administrative local unit of the Municipalities with extended competence. The part of the thesis deals with delimitation of term "Rural area" and its specification in particular patterns, and analysis of the same indicators as mentioned above in each of the pattern.

Les pratiques agricoles intensives de l’agriculture conventionnelle (AC) ont engendré des fuites d’azote dans l’environnement, via la lixiviation du nitrate (NO3-) et les émissions d’oxyde nitreux (N2O). Une hypothèse de ce travail était que l’agriculture biologique (AB) pouvait contribuer à réduire ces fuites. En conséquence, l’objectif principal de cette thèse a été de mesurer et de quantifier ces fuites d’azote à différentes échelles spatiales (processus, exploitation, bassin versant) et dans différentes systèmes de cultures (AB/AC) du bassin de la Seine.A l’échelle d’une exploitation, la rotation AB (7 ans) engendre 28% mois d’émission de N2O et 25% mois de lixiviation de NO3. A l’échelle du processus, la nitrification, la dénitrification et leurs émissions de N2O associées présentent, en fonction d’un gradient de températures (5-45°C), des courbes gaussiennes. De plus, à l’échelle du bassin versant de l’Orgeval, les bilans azotés ont montré que les pratiques de l’AB (mesure préventive) permettent de réduire les pollutions nitriques diffuses sans engendrer une augmentation d’émissions de N2O, ce qui n’est pas le cas lors de la création d’étangs (mesure curative). Enfin dix-huit exploitations agricoles (8 AB, 10 AC) ont été équipés en bougies poreuses dans le bassin de la Seine. A l’échelle de leurs rotations, les concentrations moyennes sont en AB de 10.1 ± 3.4 mg N l-1 et en AC de 16.6 ± 10.3 mg N l-1. Ces concentrations, converties en flux, aboutissent à des quantités d’azote lixivié en AB de 15.3 ± 9.7 kg N ha-1 et en AC de 27 ± 24.7 kg N ha-1 selon différents pôles pédoclimatiques. / In the past decades, intensive conventional farming (CF) has led to nitrogen (N) losses in the environment, due to nitrate (NO3-) leaching and to nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. We assumed that organic farming (OF) could contribute in reducing these losses. Therefore, the main aim of this PhD study is to measure and quantify N losses in different spatial scales (process, farm, catchment) and different arable cops systems (OF/CF) in the Seine basin.At the farm scale, the OF rotation reduce by 28% N2O emissions and by 25% NO3 leached. At the processes scale, nitrification, denitrification and their N2O emissions associated, according to a range of temperatures (5-45°C) showed Gaussian curves. At the Orgeval basin scale, the N balance showed OF system (a preventive measure) would allow to reduce diffused N pollution without increasing N2O emissions, differently from the implementation of ponds (a curative measure).Finally, 18 arable crop systems (8 OF, 10 CF) have been equipped with ceramic cups in the Seine basin. At the rotation scale, the sub-root concentrations means were 10.1 ± 3.4 mg N l-1 for the OF systems (with alfalfa in the head of the rotation) and 16.6 ± 10.3 mg N l-1 for the CF systems. The sub-root concentrations converted in the N flow led to 15.3 ± 9.7 kg N ha-1 in OF and 27 ± 24.7 kg N ha-1 in CF, depending on farms in different soil and climate conditions.

The stimulus for the development of organic farming in Europe came in 1924, but the important period for the development were 1970's. The beginning of organic farming in the Czech Republic can be considered as year 1988. Since the beginning of 1990's there has been considerable development of organic agriculture in all European countries. In 2010, there operated 218,500 farms across the European Union, while the total area of organically cultivated land covered 9,181,507 hectares, representing 5.10% of the total utilized area of agricultural land in the EU. Of this number, there were 3,515 farms in the Czech Republic, where the organically cultivated area reached 447,821 hectares. According to the action plan for organic farming in the Czech Republic the goal is to achieve 5,800 farms and 650,000 hectares of organic land in 2015. From the above it is clear that the aim of this thesis is to analyse recent developments, current status and prospects of organic farming in the European Union with an emphasis on the Czech Republic.

The aim of this thesis is to perform marketing research of consumer behavior in the market of organic food through the suitably questionnaire. The research focuses on the questions - what is the source of information about organic food, whether and why consumers buy organic food, how often consumers buy organic food, what is the average monthly expenditure for organic food, what is the most popular place for purchasing organic food, what is main critical points in selecting of organic food, which factors are barrier for purchase, etc. The results of the research confirm that organic food is well known for most of consumers, but lower than half of consumers which purchasing it, either because of high cost or because of mistrust.

The goal of this Diploma thesis is to conduct a strategic analysis of the organic farming farm. The work consists of two main parts, a theoretically-methodological and analytical part. The theoretically-methodological part identifies different approaches to strategy and subsequently describes methods of strategic analysis. Findings from the theoretical and methodological parts are applied in the practical part. It consists of the analysis area and analysis of internal resources and capabilities of farm. The analysis shows many opportunities, but also threats around the farm. The analysis of internal resources and capabilities can be used to determine its strengths and weaknesses. These findings are summarized in the SWOT analysis, where they are described in greater detail. The conclusion states strategic recommendations.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES.

The South African Organic farming industry has indicated a stable increase in the production of organic products from insignificant informal sectors to a fast-growing formal sector. Although there is no documented evidence of the origins of the sector, it can be considered that the formalisation of the organic industry started in 1994 with the formation of Organic Agriculture Association of South Africa (OAASA). The expanding organic food sector is a current organisational change in food demand in South Africa. Therefore, it is becoming vital for food marketers to know consumer needs and demands for food in South Africa, particularly organic food, as consumer preferences sturdily affects the direction of the marketers’ approach, in terms of what is in demand and consumed. Accordingly, this research investigated the factors that influence consumer attitude towards organic food and how consumer attitude influences consumers’ buying intentions. A non-experimental quantitative approach was employed to respond to the purpose and goals determined for the study. A survey was circulated to South African purchasers residing in the Gauteng Province, who were over the age of 18 years and liable for their own domestic food acquisitions. A total of 310 questionnaires were completed, but only 301 responses without errors were utilised for statistical analysis. Data collection was conducted by means of an in-store intercept approach and snowball sampling was applied to supplement the purposive sampling approach to achieve a statistically significant respondent sample. In order to examine and understand the socioeconomic characteristics of the sample and further determine the type of respondents who took part in the research, descriptive statistical analysis was used for this current research. Furthermore, to meet the goals of the research, inferential statistical analysis was used to attain the description view of every recognised variable’s performance of the participants. The findings of this research firstly showed that product quality, subjective norms, health and environmental concerns had a positive influence on consumer attitude towards organic food. The analysis further indicated that health concerns had the strongest influence on the respondents’ attitude for organic food, followed by product quality, then subjective norms. Surprisingly, environmental concerns showed no statistically significant influence on the consumers’ attitudes towards the purchase of organic foods. Secondly, the results showed that the respondents had a favourable and positive attitude for organic food. The participants believed that organic food was higher quality, healthier, safer, fresher and tastier than conventionally grown food. Thirdly, the results showed that even though the respondents considered price as a significant influence when purchasing food, and also considered organic foods to be expensive than conventional food products, they still intended to purchase more organic food. The results further showed that, though some respondents had access to organic food in the retail-stores where they regularly shop, other respondents still expressed difficulty in finding organic food products. However, this does not change their intent to purchase more organic food. Lastly, the results indicated that, although respondents had a great intent to buy organic food, this did not translate into actual purchase behaviour, because actual shopping behaviour of organic food was low, which reiterates the intention-behaviour gap. This means that, although the respondents had a strong intention to purchase organic foods, there are still hurdles which hindered them from making the actual buying of organic foods. The intention-behaviour gap among consumers is mostly triggered by the inaccessibility of organic food products, consumers’ lack of confidence in the trustworthiness of organic food certifications, and the high price of organic food. It is therefore advised that organic food sellers must aim to expand purchasers’ awareness of organic food, in terms of what makes organic food distinctive from non-organic food and the justifications for high prices of these products, so they will be more prepared to buy organic food. Organic food traders and marketers must improve the accessibility of these foods by supplying them where it is convenient for purchasers to buy such products. It is also suggested that the South African government must put in place official certification and inspection programmes for organic food products to improve consumer confidence in certified organic food products. This current research can contribute by adding value to the literature on environmental sustainability in the perspective of a growing economy, specifically South Africa. The research further extends its contribution in assisting organic food producers, operations, sellers, government and regulatory institutions to further understand the factors that influence consumer attitude for organic food and consumers’ buying intentions. This will enable the effective development of organic agricultural programmes (e.g. certification) and improve marketing campaigns that will motivate South Africans to select organic food products. / Life and Consumer Sciences / M. Cons. Sci.

Field and lab experiments were conducted to determine the efficacy of sudangrass (Sorghum X drumondii (Nees ex Steud.) Millsp. & Chase) cover crop management techniques and soil solarization on important agricultural weeds and pathogens in organic strawberry production in Central California. Lab experiments assessed the time needed to kill weed seeds at temperatures typically achieved during soil solarization (40°C, 45°C, 50°C, 55°C, and 60°C) in California. Seeds tested included little mallow, redstem filaree, bristly oxtongue, annual sowthistle, common purslane, nettleleaf goosefoot, and redroot pigweed. Efficacy of simulated solarization temperatures differed between different species. Cool-season annuals annual sowthistle and bristly oxtongue were more susceptible to heat treatments than warm-season annuals common purslane, redroot pigweed and nettleleaf goosefoot. Hard seeded weed species little mallow and redstem filaree were the least susceptible to heat treatments. Annual sowthistle, bristly oxtongue and nettleleaf goosefoot were affected at all temperatures. Redroot pigweed and little mallow were not affected by temperatures below 40°C. Common purslane was not affected by temperature below 45°C and redstem filaree was not affect by any temperatures tested. Hours of exposure and percent mortality of weed seeds were used to create thermal death models for weed seeds. Field experiments were conducted at the Cal Poly Organic Farm in San Luis Obispo, CA testing the effects of soil solarization and sudangrass residues on weeds, Verticillium dahliae populations, plant health, and yields in organic strawberry production. Using a split plot design, sudangrass was grown, mowed and then developed into two treatments: surface mulch or incorporated into the soil. The sudangrass treatments and a control were tested with and without soil solarization (n=4). Maximum soil temperatures in solarized treatments were 53°C at a soil depth of 5 cm and 42°C at a soil depth of 15 cm. Solarization reduced weed biomass between 49.8 and 95.2% during the first 3.5 months after tarp removal (p=0.03), reduced Verticillium dahliae populations by 80.7% (p=0.01), reduced plant mortality by 54.9% (pV. dahliae populations (p=0.33) or yields (p=0.25). However, mulched treatments reduced weed biomass between 45.0 and 61.3% (p=0.03) compared to other sudangrass treatments. Results indicate solarization can be used in central coast organic strawberry production to reduce hand-weeding, disease incidence, and increase yields.