Download Free Value Added Agricultural Enterprises In Rural Development Strategies Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Value Added Agricultural Enterprises In Rural Development Strategies and write the review.

U.S. Agriculture is also changing rapidly from a sector characterised by production of undifferentiated bulk commodities sold in spot markets to one of specialised markets driven by new end-user demands. As production shifts away from commodity agriculture to product agriculture, vertically integrated agribusiness firms are increasingly organising production into agro-food value chains to synchronise all stages of production from seed to supermarket. Value-added production is a central element of agro-food value chain, and control over specific "identity preserved"(IP) trait is basic to the development of product agriculture. Many farmers and ranchers are beginning to consider how they might reorganise their operation to better anticipate these changes and to participate in them, for example, by forming "new generation" value-added co-operatives, and engaging in increased contract production as sources of new markets, lowered risks, and higher farm and ranch incomes. Emerging opportunities for biomass-based fuels and materials processing facilities, new food processing plants, and alternative farming system (e.g., organic) could create important new markets for producers. Smaller-scale producers find new opportunities in regionally branded products, farmers markets, new speciality crops, ethic markets, or in establishing direct marketing links between farms an regional groceries. This new book examines the status of this important development.
From 1910 to 1990, farmers' share of the overall GDP of the food and fiber system fell from 21% to 5%, while the share contributed by the agricultural input and distribution subsectors rose from 13% to 30%. Congress is concerned about how these and other changes in agriculture are affecting rural America and the role valueadded agricultural production might play in future rural economic development strategies. Value-added production is a legislative concern in the 107th Congress; the rural development title in the 2002 enacted farm bill (P.L.107-171) includes provisions for the development of value-added agricultural enterprises. By adding to and capturing the value in commodities grown and processed locally, proponents of value-added production argue that farm households, rural businesses, and rural communities will benefit through new and higher-wage employment, new markets for agricultural commodities, and more vibrant rural and regional economies. U.S. agriculture is also changing rapidly from a sector characterized by production of undifferentiated bulk commodities sold in spot markets to one of specialized markets driven by new end-user demands. As production shifts away from commodity agriculture to product agriculture, vertically integrated agribusiness firms are increasingly organizing production into agro-food value chains to synchronize all stages of production from seed to supermarket. Value-added production is a central element of agro-food value chains, and control over specific "identity preserved"(IP) traits is basic to the development of product agriculture. Many farmers and ranchers are beginning to consider how they might reorganize their operations to better anticipate these changes and to participate in them, for example, by forming "new generation" value-added cooperatives, and engaging in increased contract relations with value chain integrators. Some producers see IP traits and contract production as sources of new markets, lowered risks, and higher farm and ranch incomes. Emerging opportunities for biomass-based fuels and materials processing facilities, new food processing plants, and alternative farming systems (e.g., organic) could create important new markets for producers. Smallerscale producers too may find new opportunities in regionally-branded products, farmers markets, new specialty crops, ethnic markets, or in establishing direct marketing links between farms and regional groceries. While capturing more of a commodity's value at the site of primary production can have positive impacts on some farm household incomes and farm-related businesses, important questions arise regarding the extent to which value-added agriculture might become a significant rural development strategy for the future. These identified opportunities, however welcome, are unlikely to significantly alter the diminishing role production agriculture plays in most rural economies. Moreover, because of its comparatively low wages, low net employment generation, and low labor-skill requirements, value-added commodity manufacturing may not become as effective a driver of broad, sustainable rural economic development and new competitive advantage as rural communities and advocates might hope for.
Focusing on the demands of the new innovative, sustainable and inclusive rural development paradigm, the monograph raises the discussion regarding new approaches and success factors that are vital in current rural socio-economic development and policy transformations. The bottom-up policymaking, self-organization, creative use of knowledge in rural areas, and many other rural innovations are aligned in this book with new social movements’ theories, which help disclose, explore and explain the rural development paradigm shift. Rural development forces of the 21st century center on the agents of change - rural population, and, surprisingly - urban population(!), and the political debate concerning EU Common Agricultural Policy and European Green Deal, illustrated with multiple case studies. This book will be of interest to a broad audience of readers, keen on scientific, political, and practical issues of innovations in rural areas and their future development pathways. The monograph is authored by a team of scholars from the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, Institute of Economics and Rural Development, Department of Rural Development.
Historically, the relationship between towns and surrounding farm families has ranged from suspicion to benign neglect. This book shows that rural America can be revived by uniting the interests of both farm and non-farm populations through value-added enterprises, especially those based on the principles of New Generation Cooperatives (NGCs). Instead of sending agricultural commodities out of the region to be processed, farmers and communities can collaborate to process the commodities locally, thereby adding value to the local rural economy. In this edited volume, nationally recognized scholars discuss the on-going challenges to the agricultural sector such as declining farm subsidies and commodity prices, and the strategies used by rural communities to respond to economic decline. Specific attention is paid to the role of NGCs as a specific form of value-added agriculture which has helped some rural communities to prosper. The NGCs, however, extend well beyond traditional agriculture to include grocery stores, day care centers, and other businesses that have not always been profitable in small towns. The broader objective of the book is to show how increased collaboration among farm producers, small businesses, and community leaders can promote economic development in rural regions.
When agricultural production and related businesses dominated rural economies, policies that strengthened and improved agriculture tended to strengthen and improve the well-being of most America's small communities and rural residents. As the strength of this linkage declined over the past century, many have felt that the rural policy has been left largely fragmented and unfocused, compromising a patchwork of programs and initiatives rather than a coherent policy. Yet agriculture remains the primary policy framework for Congresses' consideration of rural issues. Significant changes are occurring in the structure of the US agro-food system. These changes are likely to pose important questions about the direction and coherence of current rural policy. Several significant trends in the evolving structure of agriculture are discussed in this book: (1) a continuation in the trend toward fewer and larger farms; (2) a potential acceleration of that trend as production shifts to more tightly integrated and vertically co-ordinated production through supply chains; (3) greater environmental pressures on conventional agricultural production practices stemming from urban and suburban interests; and (4) changing food consumption patterns.
The Context; If Rural Development Is So Important, Why Is Not Happening; Formulating Country Strategies and Building Consensus; Improving the Existing Portfolio; Using the International Arena to Generate Greater Commitment; Areas of Concentration and Future Directions.