A research of foraging represents a relatively new phenomenon abroad. In Czechia, on the other hand, this is an ordinary issue with a long-time tradition, but until recently it has not received much attention by the scientific community. For this reason the following diploma thesis deals with this activity. It consists of two main units. The first part aims to create the theoretical framework necessary for the introduction into the foraging study. There is a familiarization with the trend of the self-provisioning in general both in Czechia and abroad. A substantial part of the theoretical framework deals with the quantity and the typology of harvested products, the reasons for foraging, the characteristics of the harvesters, etc. It also outlines the problem of western academics' interpretation of foraging in post-communist conditions as a survival strategy. In the second part, using the mixed research methods, the thesis seeks to find out what is the tradition of foraging in Czech conditions during recent decades, who are the harvesters and what are the reasons and motivations to harvest. By statistical data analysis and by interviewing method, it is confirmed that people across a variety of demographic and socio-economic characteristics are harvesting and motivation is certainly not a bad...

My dissertation consists of three empirical essays where I analyze animal products consumption and marketing. First using cross-sectional household data, I investigate the importance of consumption from home produce (self-provisioning) and conclude that studying food consumption decisions in isolation from production is not warranted for Turkey. I develop a testing procedure incorporated into linear approximation of the almost ideal demand system (LA/AIDS) model to formally test the relevance of food self-provisioning. Studying consumption in isolation from production leads significant overestimation of rural households' responsiveness to price and income signals especially for the dairy and egg products. Second I investigate the contribution of consumption from home produce to alleviate vulnerability to undernutrition in rural areas. I find that the level, depth and severity of food poverty to be least among rural households who engage in food self-provisioning and food self-provisioning reduce vulnerability to undernutrition. Moreover, food self-provisioning is concentrated in expensive calories from vegetables and dairy so self-provisioning rural households also have a more balanced diet. Finally I investigate whether milk processing firms abuse their oligopsony power to excessively profit themselves to the expense of milk farmers and final consumers. I look for evidence whether the speed of adjustment of processed milk price is same when farm-gate milk prices increase and decrease. I find no evidence that will point out any price gauging on the part of milk processors to benefit themselves. Actually I detect a long-term downward trend in processed milk prices coinciding with new major entries to milk processing industry.

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