Developments in Nordic Agriculture

Developments in Nordic Agriculture PDF Author:
Publisher: Nordic Council of Ministers
ISBN: 9789289307864
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Developments in Nordic Agriculture

Developments in Nordic Agriculture PDF Author:
Publisher: Nordic Council of Ministers
ISBN: 9789289307864
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 110

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Book Description


Nordic Rural Development Research

Nordic Rural Development Research PDF Author: Kjell J. Havnevik
Publisher: Nordic Council of Ministers
ISBN: 9789289303903
Category : Rural development
Languages : en
Pages : 70

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Agriculture and the Environment in the Nordic Countries

Agriculture and the Environment in the Nordic Countries PDF Author: Valborg Kvakkestad
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789289329170
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Book Description
Abstract: In the future, demand for agricultural products will increase. The agricultural sector must meet the increase in demand without compromising the natural resources of which it depends on and damage fragile ecosystems. Sustainable agricultural practices and green growth is necessary for this to happen and agricultural policy must facilitate such development. How agriculture contributes to water pollution has been in focus in the Nordic countries for many years. In many places, nutrient emissions have been successfully reduces, but targets are still not met. The implementation of the Water Framework Directive makes policies that facilitate reduction of nutrient runoff even more relevant than before. This report looks at experiences from the Nordic countries and makes suggestions for future policies for sustainable agriculture and green growth. The report has been commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The study was carried out by the Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute (NILF)

Nordic-Baltic Co-operation on Sustainable Rural Development

Nordic-Baltic Co-operation on Sustainable Rural Development PDF Author:
Publisher: Nordic Council of Ministers
ISBN: 9789289305303
Category : Rural development
Languages : en
Pages : 114

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Book Description
Sammenfatning.

Nordic-Baltic Co-operation on Sustainable Rural Development

Nordic-Baltic Co-operation on Sustainable Rural Development PDF Author:
Publisher: Nordic Council of Ministers
ISBN: 9789289305297
Category : Rural development
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Co-operation Programme 2017-2020

Co-operation Programme 2017-2020 PDF Author: Nordic Council of Ministers
Publisher: Nordic Council of Ministers
ISBN: 9289348291
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description
This co-operation programme describes the main Nordic political priorities for 2017-2020 regarding fisheries and aquaculture, agriculture, food and forestry: developing the Nordic bioeconomy and sustainable food systems. With this cooperation programme the Nordic Council of Ministers develops and strengthens the Nordic cooperation on fisheries and aquaculture, agriculture, food and forestry, and contributes to resolving many of the important global challenges agreed on in the Global Sustainable Development Goals; from climate change and the development of antimicrobial resistance to the growth of lifestyle-related disorders.

Agriculture and the Environment in the Nordic Countries

Agriculture and the Environment in the Nordic Countries PDF Author: Valborg Kvakkestad
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789289329170
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Book Description
Abstract: In the future, demand for agricultural products will increase. The agricultural sector must meet the increase in demand without compromising the natural resources of which it depends on and damage fragile ecosystems. Sustainable agricultural practices and green growth is necessary for this to happen and agricultural policy must facilitate such development. How agriculture contributes to water pollution has been in focus in the Nordic countries for many years. In many places, nutrient emissions have been successfully reduces, but targets are still not met. The implementation of the Water Framework Directive makes policies that facilitate reduction of nutrient runoff even more relevant than before. This report looks at experiences from the Nordic countries and makes suggestions for future policies for sustainable agriculture and green growth. The report has been commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The study was carried out by the Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute (NILF)

Development of the Nordic-Baltic Market for Organic Food

Development of the Nordic-Baltic Market for Organic Food PDF Author: Nordic Council of Ministers
Publisher: Nordic Council of Ministers
ISBN: 9289311827
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 55

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Book Description
This report contains the conclusions from the project "Development of the Nordic/Baltic Market for Organic Food" in which public authorities and NGO's from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden have participated. The objective of this project was to elaborate a joint project proposal in order to promote the development of the Nordic-Baltic market for organic products. The project identifies and describes a range of barriers for a market driven development of the organic sector, including lack of consumer awareness, deficient market data, different standards and labelling, lack of marketing channels, lack of processing and innovation and high prices. Against this background the project points out a range of potential cross-border activities, including an information campaign to raise awareness and induce consumers' trust in organic products, construction of a common information system on the rules and procedures, promotion of the EU-logo and national logos, collaboration between retail chains and representative organic organisations and finally alternative distribution channels. In order to enable the implementation of one or more of these potential activities the project has identified relevant funding opportunities. The most relevant funding opportunity has been identified as the EU promotion scheme (Commission Legislation (EC) 94/2002 of 18 January 2002), which is therefore described thoroughly.

Mergers, Alliances and Acquisitions in the Nordic Agro and Food Industry

Mergers, Alliances and Acquisitions in the Nordic Agro and Food Industry PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789289337328
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Abstract: A strong agro and food industry is one of the best means for securing a healthy and stable financial development in the agricultural industry. As the concentration of enterprises in the retail industry and the agro and food industry has increased in the past years, enterprises have begun looking beyond the national borders for new business partners. The extent of cross-border co-operation in the Nordic region has also increased significantly in a relatively short period of time. Because the agro and food industry varies from country to country in the Nordic region, this development involves both advantages and disadvantages as to which business areas can advantageously be chosen with a view to co-operation. In some areas the enterprises can supplement each other, but in other sectors the variations between the Nordic countries limit the possibilities of co-operation. However, all the cross-border co-operation in the Nordic agro and food industry is presumably started with an expectation of positive synergetic effects and a better common financial performance. Despite that an evaluation of the experiences has not been conducted. In addition to this, a common forum that can support and stimulate a positive development of co-operation in the Nordic agro and food industry is missing. On this background the aim of the project is the following: The aim of the project is to enhance the competitiveness of the Nordic agro and food industry. This will happen through the mapping out and analysis of the existing co-operation and the potential for new co-operation in the Nordic agro and food industry. Consequently, the project will establish new knowledge that can be the foundation for increased co-operation among the enterprises in the Nordic agro and food industry. At the same time the project will try to expand and cement the common Nordic networks in the agricultural sector by spreading the information and experiences from the project

Climate vulnerability assessment methodology

Climate vulnerability assessment methodology PDF Author: Lotten Wiréhn
Publisher: Linköping University Electronic Press
ISBN: 9176853942
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Book Description
Food security and climate change mitigation are crucial missions for the agricultural sector and for global work on sustainable development. Concurrently, agricultural production is directly dependent on climatic conditions, making climate change adaptation strategies essential for the agricultural sector. There is consequently a need for researchers, planners, and practitioners to better understand how, why, and to what extent agriculture is vulnerable to climate change. Such analyses involve challenges in relation to the complex social– ecological character of the agricultural system and to the multiple conceptualizations and approaches used in analysing vulnerability. The aim of this thesis is to identify how vulnerability assessments can be used to represent climate-related vulnerability in Nordic agriculture, in order to advance the methodological development of indicator-based and geographic visualization methods. The following research questions are addressed: (i) How can agricultural vulnerability to climate change and variability in the Nordic countries be characterized? (ii) How do selections, definitions, and emphases of indicators influence how vulnerability is assessed? (iii) How do estimates of vulnerability vary depending on the methods used in assessments? (iv) How can geographic visualization be applied in integrated vulnerability assessments? This thesis analyses and applies various vulnerability assessment approaches in the context of Nordic agriculture. This thesis demonstrates that various methods for composing vulnerability indices result in significantly different outcomes, despite using the same set of indicators. A conceptual framework for geographic visualization approaches to vulnerability assessments was developed for the purpose of creating transparent and interactive assessments regarding the indicating variables, methods and assumptions applied, i.e., opening up the ‘black box’ of composite indices. This framework served as the foundation for developing the AgroExplore geographic visualization tool. The tool enables the user to interactively select, categorize, and weight indicators as well as to explore the data and the spatial patterns of the indicators and indices. AgroExplore was used in focus group settings with experts in the Swedish agricultural sector. The visualization-supported dialogue results confirm the difficulty of selecting and constructing indicators, including different perceptions of what indicators actually indicate, the assumption of linear relationships between the indicators and vulnerability, and, consequently, that the direction of the relationship is predefined for each indicator. This thesis further points at the inherent complexity of agricultural challenges and opportunities in the context of climate change as such. It is specifically emphasized that agricultural adaptation policies and measures involve trade-offs between various environmental and socio–economic objectives, and that their implementation could furthermore entail unintended consequences, i.e., potential maladaptive outcomes. Nevertheless, it proved difficult to validate indicators due to, e.g. matters of scale and data availability. While heavy precipitation and other extreme weather events are perceived as the most relevant drivers of climate vulnerability by the agricultural experts participating in this study, statistical analyses of historical data identified few significant relationships between crop yield losses and heavy precipitation. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to the method development of composite indices and indicator-based vulnerability assessment. A key conclusion is that assessments are method dependent and that indicator selection is related to aspects such as the system’s spatial scale and location as well as to indicator thresholds and defined relationships with vulnerability, recognizing the contextual dependency of agricultural vulnerability. Consequently, given the practicality of indicator-based methods, I stress with this thesis that future vulnerability studies must take into account and be transparent about the principles and limitations of indicator-based assessment methods in order to ensure their usefulness, validity, and relevance for guiding adaptation strategies. För jordbrukssektorn och global hållbar utveckling i stort är matsäkerhet och mitigering av klimatförändringar viktiga angelägenheter. Samtidigt är jordbruksproduktionen ofta direkt beroende av klimatförhållanden, vilket gör klimatanpassningsstrategier mycket centrala för sektorn. Forskare, planerare och aktörer behöver förstå hur, varför och i vilken omfattning jordbruket är sårbart inför klimatförändringar. Sådana analyser inbegriper även de utmaningar som skapas genom jordbrukets komplexa socio-ekologiska karaktär, och de många utgångspunkter och tillvägagångssätt som används för att bedöma sårbarhet. Syftet med denna avhandling är att identifiera hur sårbarhetsbedömningar kan representera klimatrelaterad sårbarhet i nordiskt jordbruk, och i och med detta har avhandlingen som avsikt att utveckla metodologin för indikatorbaserade- och geografiska visualiseringsmetoder. Följande forskningsfrågor avhandlas: (i) Hur kan det nordiska jordbrukets sårbarhet inför klimatvariation och förändringar karaktäriseras? (ii) Hur påverkar urval, definitioner och betoningar av indikatorer bedömningar av sårbarhet? (iii) Hur varierar uppskattningar med bedömningsmetod? (iv) Hur kan geografisk visualisering användas i integrerade såbarhetsbedömningar? För att svara på dessa frågor analyseras och tillämpas olika tillvägagångssätt att bedöma sårbarhet inom nordiskt jordbruk. Avhandlingen visar att olika metoder för sårbarhetskompositindex resulterar i signifikanta skillnader mellan index, trots att samma indikatorer och data används. Ett konceptuellt ramverk för sårberhetsbedömningar där geografisk visualisering används, har utvecklats för att möjliggöra transparens avseende till exempel. vilka variabler, metoder och antaganden som används i kompositindex. Detta ramverk har följaktligen legat till grund för att utveckla ett geografiskt visualiseringsverktyg – AgroExplore. Verktyget möjliggör interaktivitet där användaren kan välja, kategorisera och vikta indikatorer, och dessutom utforska data och spatiala mönster av indikatorer och kompositindex. AgroExplore användes i denna avhandling för att stödja fokusgruppdialoger med experter inom den svenska jordbrukssektorn. Resultaten från dessa workshops bekräftar svårigheten med att välja och skapa indikatorer. Dessa svårigheter innefattar olika uppfattningar om vad indikatorer representerar, antagandet om linjära samband mellan indikatorerna och sårbarhet, och följaktligen att sambandens riktning är fördefinierade för respektive indikator. Utöver de konceptuella och metodologiska utmaningarna med sårbarhetsbedömningar visar avhandlingen på komplexa svårigheter och möjligheter för jordbruket vid klimatförändringar. Särskilt framhålls att klimatanpassningspolitik och åtgärder inom jordbruket medför konflikter och avvägningar mellan olika miljö- och socio-ekonomiska mål. Implementering av sådana anpassningsåtgärder kan vidare innebära oönskade konsekvenser, så kallad missanpassning. Trots ökad kunskap gällande nordiska jordbrukets sårbarhet inför klimatförändringar har det visats sig vara svårt att statistiskt validera indikatorer på grund av, exempelvis, skalproblematik och datatillgänglighet. Samtidigt som experterna ansåg att kraftig nederbörd och andra extrema väderhändelser är de mest relevanta drivkrafterna till klimatsårbarhet visar den statistiska analysen av historiska data på få signifikanta samband mellan förlorad skördeavkastning och kraftig nederbörd. Denna avhandling bidrar till metodutveckling av kompositindex och indikatorbaserade metoder för sårbarhetsbedömningar. En viktig slutsats är att bedömningar är metodberoende och att valet av indikatorer är relaterat till aspekter såsom systemets utbredning och den spatiala skalan av bedömningen. Även indikatorernas tröskelvärden och hur deras relation till sårbarhet är definierade anses vara viktiga faktorer som påverkar hur indikatorer representerar sårbarhet, vilket visar på sårbarhetsbedömningars kontextuella beroende. I och med de rådande bristerna hos indikatorbaserade metoder, som bland annat har identifierats i denna avhandling, vill jag framhålla vikten av att sårbarhetsbedömningar bör vara transparanta gällande den tillämpade metodens principer, antaganden och begräsningar. Detta för att säkerställa användbarhet, giltighet och relevans, om metoden och bedömningen ska ligga till grund för anpassningsstrategier hos såväl politiker, planerare och lantbrukare.