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Cherry growing is going through an intense phase of renewal. Innovation’s economic and financial analysis is crucial for their success and diffusion. The study evaluates three types of planting at different densities considered, with no covers and three different kinds of shields: a traditional anti-rain net; a multitasking anti-rain and anti-insect net; a multitasking net with high automation of opening and closing operations. The best performing plant in economic terms seems the high-density plant (HDP), followed by the medium density plant (MDP) and then the very high-density plant (VHDP). Higher density plants reach a shorter payback period. Despite the high investment cost, the quicker breaking even makes high-density plants less risky. Plants with cover structures determine more secure and stable production yields, with benefits at the farm level and the whole production chain. Nonetheless, the shielding structures display a significant quantity of waste during the plant’s life and at the time of disassembling. It is crucial to progressively increase their environmentally friendly characteristics, which to date is still poor. The supports and canopies may have a significant salvage value in the shorter-cycle cherry orchards. Since it is inappropriate to replant the cherry tree in the same plot, it is essential to study structures that can move from plot to plot. Thus, considerably would improve the environmental performance and, accordingly, the economic performance of high-density, shorter-cycle plants.

Il Rapporto 2020 realizzato in collaborazione da Assessorato Agricoltura e agro-alimentare, caccia e pesca della Regione Emilia-Romagna e Unione regionale delle Camere di Commercio dell’Emilia-Romagna, con l’apporto scientifico dell’Università di Bologna e dell’Università Cattolica di Piacenza, descrive e analizza l’intero sistema agro-alimentare del territorio, fornisce un quadro dei principali problemi congiunturali, ed evidenzia le tendenze strutturali in atto che influenzano lo scenario di riferimento per gli operatori del settore. È la più completa e aggiornata fotografia del settore agro-alimentare a livello regionale. Il 2020 sarà ricordato come l’anno della pandemia del COVID-19, che ha interessato in modi e tempi diversi quasi tutto il pianeta. Le ripercussioni sull’agricoltura e sull’intero sistema agro-alimentare sono state profonde e di carattere sia congiunturale sia strutturale. Vi è incertezza su quelle che potranno essere le conseguenze di un evento di tale portata nel lungo periodo, anche per la complessa e differenziata realtà del sistema agro-alimentare italiano e regionale.

The study analyzes and explains on-farm diversification in Emilia-Romagna, a productive and agriculturally intensified region in Italy. The purpose was to contribute to knowledge gaps on the adoption of different diversification strategies in relation to farming system. Based on farm-level census data gathered by the Italian National Institute of Statistics during the sixth general agricultural census, two on-farm diversification pathways were investigated: deepening and broadening. The farmer’s decision to diversify activities and the identification of diversification pathways were analyzed using logit and multinomial logit models. The results show that arable farms adopt broadening strategies, intensive farms opt for deepening ones, and specialized adopters of quality schemes combine both strategies. Furthermore, in contrast to the existing research, the study highlights that intensive farms are more likely than arable farms to diversify. Finally, the findings provide insights to improve analyses in the context of policy and regional strategic support.

Italian pulses production has sharply fallen since the middle of the last century and the role that pulses played has diminished at both the agricultural and food levels. This is the result of several factors that are analysed in this article, among which the most important can be identified in the low profitability compared to other crops, mainly cereals, the historic collapse of domestic consumption and a strong competition from foreign producers. Conversely, in recent years, different signals appear to delineate a possible framework for recovery for legumes: the first of these is represented by the recent reversal trend in domestic consumption, due to healthy reasons and a fall in meat consumption. The favourable trend of organic consumption can also be considered as a positive factor for pulses. However, the focus point for pulses future perspective is the recent development of the European policy (2014-2020) that planned several actions in support of them, such as coupled payments and the provisions of greening rules. These policies aim to support the training effort needed to bring home to producers the importance of legumes in a proper crop rotation that maintains soil fertility and therefore better yields and profitability. In light of this and based on the general crisis in cereals prices, it is possible to be reasonably optimistic regarding the future of the legumes sector in Italy.

The objective of this article is to identify and evaluate the competitive strategies of niche enterprises selling traditional protected designation of origin (PDO) wine in domestic and international markets. This study employs the multidimensional scaling unfolding technique to analyze the perceptions of 24 representatives of wine-making firms located in the Marsala area (Sicily, Italy). The cognitive maps highlight management choices regarding the competitive driving forces between 2007 and 2011. The results of this study reveal firms’ two main competitive strategies. The first strategy focuses on managing the functional assets; depending on the competitive environment in which the enterprises operate, the outcome seems to comply with Hotelling's model. The second strategy seeks to successfully exploit positional assets—such as the ability to manage intangible resources that have a strong emotional component—that are perceived to strengthen a firm's competitiveness by differentiating it from similar enterprises [EconLit citations: D220, L100, L290]

Productivity analysis is a frequent topic on the agenda for many researchers, whose efforts are focused on establishing adequate measurement criteria and then applying them to specific case studies. Based on accountancy micro-data for 2000 to 2009 for a group of fruit-growing farms, the purpose of this study was to verify the similarity between two methods of productivity measurement: the total factor productivity (TFP) index and the Malmquist index. The results broadly confirm the substantial congruence of the two indices and show an increase in the productivity of fruit farms in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. However, the results should be carefully interpreted, since the productivity fluctuations during the decade suggest that this kind of analysis should be conducted using medium to long-term time-series data. Furthermore, the TFP index seems to be generally higher than the Malmquist index, implying that these measures are suitable for an overview of trends rather than exact measures of productivity.

The aim of this analysis is to compare and contrast the differences and similarities of the construction and maintenance of soccer fields, from both technical and economic points of view. Authors studied two samples: the first with totally modified top soil following the USGA (United States Golf Association) Specifications, all new top soil, as in USGA, called the Texas method; the second sample was natural soil mixed with ammendants and sand, in order to reduce compaction. This study compares the initial investments, performance during training and finally the cost of maintenance. The drainage system was the same for both samples.

Le reti antinsetto per la protezione dei fruttiferi rappresentano un’innovazione nella difesa dalla carpocapsa e, piu recentemente, dal moscerino della frutta Drosophila suzukii e della mosca Rhagoletis cerasi. Tali reti possono anche prevenire le spaccature da pioggia ed i danni causati dalla grandine e dagli uccelli. Le coperture polifunzionali offrono perciò una garanzia quali- quantitativa pressochè totale della produzione. Vanno aggiunti altri vantaggi, ambientali e di salute pubblica, derivanti dalla riduzione dell’apporto di prodotti fitosanitari, con riflessi positivi sugli operatori commerciali a causa delle sempre più stringenti norme sulla residualità ammessa e sul numero dei principi attivi utilizzati. Il ciliegio e tra le specie frutticole dove l’adozione di reti anti-insetto desta maggiore attenzione a causa dell’accresciuta diffusione della Drosophila suzukii che e difficilmente contenibile in alcune zone cerasicole (Ioratti et al.,2015). La lotta con i mezzi chimici impone diversi trattamenti a ridosso della maturazione per cui occorre tenere conto anche dei riflessi negativi sull’immagine qualitativa delle ciliegie. Nella valutazione economica dell’utilizzo delle reti vanno accertati anche gli investimenti iniziali richiesti e le considerevoli modifiche gestionali degli impianti. A questo fine, e stata fatta una comparazione tra due impianti di ciliegio con le medesime caratteristiche, di cui uno scoperto ed uno protetto con rete polifunzionale ad azione anti-insetto monofilare.

The aim of the article is to analyse patterns of value system sharing along food chains, so as to explore the agrifood enterprises capacity to be competitive and sustainable. The research focused 15 on three food chains: potato, fruit, and Grana cheese of the Emilia Romagna region. The article adopts the value system approach. The methodology is aimed at creating a consolidated financial statement for each food chain so as to re-create the chain operating profit and identify how this is shared among the different 20 food chain stages. The analysis is carried out on 189 enterprises for the potato chain, 187 for the fruit chain, and 203 for the cheese chain. The number of enterprises was invariable over five years (2003–2007), leading to 2,900 financial statement analysis. The chains analysed show differences. In the potato and fruit chains 25 35% of value is created by distribution, whereas in the cheese chain only, it is 13.6%. Over the five years, value decreases 5% in fruit and potato and 9% in cheese. The lack of adequate strategic food chain partnership allows an increasing retail market power over the whole chain at the expense of the primary sector entailing a 30 declining sustainability for all chain actors.

Italy is one of the main EU markets for apricots. It is the leading country in terms of consumption (over 36% of total consumption) and production (approx. 30% of total fresh fruit trade). Therefore, Italy is well-positioned in terms of import/export apricots. This strong trade activity takes in different aspects with respect to the domestic or international market, which means that a particular allocation of the profitability occurs along the value chain according to the different markets. In order to describe and quantify the value created within the different distribution contexts, the Emilia-Romagna region has been considered. This region, with about one-third of total domestic production, is Italy's main apricot producer. The analysis was carried out in different steps. Firstly, the definition of the value chain, starting from the apricot growers and taking into consideration the operations, outbound logistics and the marketing and sales steps. Costs and revenues in every step of the value chain have been estimated. Consequently, it was possible to calculate the distribution of value created and estimate the incidence of the individual steps on the final retail price in the domestic and international markets.

[ENG] Abstract –– Introduction. Agricultural cooperatives play an important socio-economic role in European (EU) countries, especially in the fresh fruit and vegetable sector. For this reason, in an economic perspective, the measurement of their efficiency has become an area of investigation which attracts great interest. Given that Spain and Italy are the biggest producers of fresh fruits and vegetables, the aim of this paper was to recognize the evolution of their technical efficiency. Materials and methods. Performance analysis in the economic field is rather controversial. Following Parkan (2002), it is possible to classify three main approaches to measure performance: index numbers; frontier methods and the non-parametric approaches. In this paper, efficiency was evaluated by applying the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique considering two separate frontiers. Through the AIDA database for Italian agricultural cooperatives and the SABI database for Spanish cooperatives, two different sets of 81 and 106 firms, respectively belonging to the fruit and vegetable sector, were selected over a five-year period (2001–2005). Results. The analysis of the DEA results underlines the higher ability of Italian cooperatives to calibrate and optimize the inputs, and to maximize the results (technical efficiency), as well as the ability of Spanish cooperatives to exploit scale economies. Conclusions. Over the period taken into consideration, the average value of global technical efficiency decreased for Spanish as well as Italian cooperatives. In the case of Spanish cooperatives, this situation is due to the loss of ability to calibrate and optimize the inputs, even if the considered firms reveal ability to develop scale economies. In the case of Italian cooperatives, the results reveal the substantial firm technical efficiency, even if scale inefficiency undermines the global efficiency. [FRE] Résumé –– Introduction. Les coopératives agricoles jouent un rôle socio-économique important dans les pays européens (UE) et, en particulier, dans le secteur des fruits et légumes frais. Pour cette raison, d’un point de vue économique, la mesure de son efficacité est devenue un champ d'investigation qui suscite un grand intérêt. L'Espagne et l'Italie étant les plus grands producteurs de fruits et légumes frais de l’UE, mous avons cherché à étudier l'évolution de leur efficacité technique. Matériel et méthodes. L’évaluation des performances dans le domaine économique est plutôt controversée. Selon Parkan (2002), il est possible d’envisager trois approches principales pour mesurer ces performances : utilisation de nombres-indices ; méthodes des frontières, et méthodes non paramétriques. Dans cet article, l'efficacité du secteur a été évaluée à l’aide d’une analyse d'enveloppement des données (AED) en considérant deux frontières séparées. À partir de la base de données AIDA pour les coopératives agricoles italiennes et de la base de données SABI pour les coopératives espagnoles, deux ensembles différents de 81 et 106 sociétés, appartenant respectivement au secteur des fruits et des légumes, ont été choisis sur une période de cinq ans (2001–2005). Résultats. L'analyse des résultats de l’AED a mis en évidence une capacité plus élevée des coopératives italiennes à calibrer et à optimiser les intrants et à maximiser les résultats (efficacité technique) aussi bien qu’une capacité des coopératives espagnoles à utiliser des économies d'échelle. Conclusions. Au cours de la période prise en compte, la valeur moyenne de l'efficacité technique globale a diminué pour les coopératives espagnoles comme pour les coopératives italiennes. Dans le cas des coopératives espagnoles, cette situation est due à une perte de la capacité à calibrer et optimiser les intrants, même si les sociétés considérées ont la capacité de développer des économies d'échelle. Dans le cas des coopératives italiennes, les résultats indiquent une efficacité technique substantielle des entreprises, même si l'inefficacité d'échelle mine l'efficacité globale. [ESP] Resumen –– Introducción. Las cooperativas agrícolas juegan un importante papel socioeconómico en los países europeos (UE) y, en particular, en el sector de las frutas y hortalizas frescas. Por ello, desde un punto de vista económico, la medida del rendimiento de dichas empresas se viene convirtiendo en un campo de investigación que suscita gran interés. España e Italia son los países productores más importantes de productos hortofrutícolas de la Unión Europea, por lo que el principal objetivo del presente estudio es conocer la evolución de sus niveles de eficiencia técnica. Material y métodos. En el campo económico, la medida de desempeño es un tema bastante controvertido. Según Parkan (2002), se pueden contemplar tres enfoques diferentes para medir el rendimiento: número índices, métodos de frontera y métodos no paramétricos. En este artículo, la eficiencia del sector ha sido evaluada aplicando la técnica del Análisis Envolvente de Datos (AED) considerando dos fronteras separadas. A partir de la base de datos AIDA para las cooperativas agrarias italianas y de la base de datos SABI para las cooperativas españolas, se seleccionaron dos muestras del sector hortofrutícola de 81 y 106 sociedades, respectivamente, para un periodo de cinco años (2001 a 2005). Resultados. El análisis de los resultados DEA evidencia una mayor capacidad de las cooperativas italianas para optimizar sus inputs y maximizar sus resultados (eficiencia técnica), así como la capacidad de las cooperativas españolas para explotar las economías de escala. Conclusión. En relación al periodo temporal evaluado, el valor medio de la eficiencia técnica global disminuye para las cooperativas españolas así como para las italianas. En el caso de las cooperativas españolas, esta situación es debida a la falta de optimización de sus inputs, incluso cuando las sociedades consideradas revelan cierta capacidad para desarrollas economías de escala. En el caso de las cooperativas italianas, los resultados indican la existencia de un firme nivel de eficiencia técnica, si bien se detecta la presencia de importantes ineficiencias de escala. This work is a result of the 05708/PHCS/07 research project financed by the Programa de Generación de Conocimiento Cientifico de Excelencia de la Fundación Séneca, Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia, in collaboration with the Confederación de Cooperativas Agrarias de España (CCAE) and the Federación de Cooperativas Agrarias de Murcia (FECOAM).

In order to measure agriculture sustainability, the efficient use of inputs becomes a crucial issue. In this perspective, the analysts concentrate their attention on the total factor productivity index (TFP). In this view, Lynam and Herdt proposed the TFP as a suitable assessment of the sustainability of single crops, of cropping systems or of farming systems. Even if the TFP does not take into account the non-market output (social and environmental aspects), it is possible to argue that a negative trend of TFP represents a resource degradation if related to the generated outputs. On the other hand, the nonnegative trend of TFP represents a fitting measure of a sustainable agricultural system and of an efficient use of the resources. The aim of the paper is to analyze the productivity in the use of external factors in different types of farming at the Emilia-Romagna Region level, that is specialist field crops, specialist permanent crops and specialist milk production farms. A significant number of indexing procedures is accessible to evaluate the efficiency in converting inputs into outputs. In this paper, the TFP is estimated through an indirect evaluation of the quantity index of outputs and inputs of each farming system taken into account in the analysis. Purposely, the amount of the total sales is considered as a measure of the output, whereas intermediate consumption are considered as a measure of the inputs to evaluate the productivity of external factors (PEF). The value of chemicals and the value of fodders and supplements was considered in order to compute the productivity of these specifics inputs. Data, referring to the period 20002009, are collected from the farm accountancy data network of the Emilia-Romagna Region DG Agriculture. The study highlights how the PEF measured through the TFP approach seems to be an effective way to evaluate the sustainability of the use of agricultural resources. Even if the limit of this approach comes from the complexity in understanding the real in depth causes of the productivity changing (e.g. technical efficiency, scale efficiency), the use of number index to evaluate the TFP seems to be simple and fitting for a first exploratory investigation.

Recent discussion surrounding organic agriculture (also referred to as organic farming) has turned from just whether it represents a viable alternative to conventional agriculture to whether it would be adopted by a significant percentage of farmers. After a beginning phase in which the adoption was mainly due to an ethically based choice of the farmer, the success in the market and the increasing demand for organic products are increasing the number of farmers converting their farming system. Despite a still high relevance of non-economic factors and the uncertainty given by short-term and mid-term fluctuations of prices, a decisive point is whether the conversion to organic farming may be worthwhile from an economic perspective. The question remains as to how many farmers would convert to organic farming systems. The aim of the paper is to compare the actual and potential profitability of farms using organic production methods to those farms using conventional production methods. The analysis will be based on several datasets, provided on the Italian side by Emilia-Romagna Region, Italian National Institute of Agricultural Economics (INEA), Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), and on the US side by the Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota.

The latest orientations of the CAP have had remarkable and wide-spread effects on the whole agri-food sector. It has deeply influenced the entrepreneurs' choices, with reference both to the production techniques and to the business organization. The changes have had inevitable reflexes on the economic results of the firms, thus determining adaptations regarding both the structure and the amount of inputs. In this paper, an analysis of the book-keeping results of agricultural enterprises of Northern and Central Italy is carried out. We try to underline and analyze the evolution of the economic results and the main structural and organizational elements in the firms. The accountancy data of a group of firms located in the Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany regions, referred to the period 1994-2000, are taken into consideration. These firms seems to adequately represent the main type of farming: field crops, fruit-growing, wine-growing, husbandry. The study is aimed at underlining the influence of the EU payments on the profitability and the changes in the value distribution between the various input suppliers.

Two main perspectives of investigation emerge from the study of a territory’s rurality: a geographical approach and a sociological approach. The research examines the sub-regional study case of ‘Nuovo circondario imolese’. The analysis shows that the combination of traditional institutional criteria with detailed informations about the territory, generates more accurate results which determine a better comprehension of the characteristics of restricted areas’ rurality. Over the period 1991-2001, the study highlights an increase in rural areas. This result could be interpreted as an effect of urban sprawl’s intensification, that increases the competition between non-farm residences and agricultural activities.

Why do European consumers buy food the way they do? Which key factors drive Europeans’ food consumption patterns and how could they be used to create pathways toward sustainability? The VALUMICS project’s evidence-based report provides insights to what influences consumers the most in their food choices. The report ‘Food consumption behaviours in Europe’ brings together data across various countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy. Through in-depth literature research, focus groups and expert consultations, the report provides a better understanding of the status quo, trends, motivations as well as barriers and opportunities towards more sustainable food consumption behaviours in general. The focus is on five product categories: Beef, dairy, salmon, tomatoes and bread. Findings indicate that food consumption behaviours can be largely attributed to price considerations, family eating habits, health concerns or social contexts of consumers. The report highlights that environmental awareness and values play little to no role in the consumption patterns. “Certain changes can only be made by politics, or the EU in this case, which should impose high sustainability limits and standards: for example, banning disposable plastics is a good start. Until certain management practices are allowed, it is difficult to behave more sustainably because everyone else can be more economically competitive” noted one of the experts interviewed for the report. Other actions suggested in the report include fostering stronger communication channels between producers and consumers, with the potential for increasing the resilience of food value chains as well as using behavioural insights to inform strategies and action plans for more sustainable food consumption. The report ’Food consumption behaviours in Europe’ is the first in a series of VALUMICS publications focusing on analysing food consumption. The upcoming reports look into successful interventions for sustainable food behaviour, multi-stakeholder recommendations toward more sustainable food consumption, and food retailer interventions to support this shift.

Nel 2019, il prodotto interno lordo dell'Unione Europea (UE) si è atte-stato a circa 13.900 miliardi di euro a prezzi correnti. In termini reali, il PIL dell'UE nel 2019 è stato superiore del 17% rispetto al livello di un decennio prima . Tuttavia, a causa delle restrizioni attuate in tutto il Mondo nel 2020 per contenere e rallentare la rapida diffusione del virus Covid-19, il PIL sta diminuendo molto rapidamente. Nel 2019 quasi un quarto del PIL dell'UE è stato generato dalla Germania (24,7%), seguita da Francia (17,4%) e Italia (12,8%), poi da Spagna (8,9%) e Paesi Bassi (5,8%).

1. This report presents findings from eight national studies into the governance of five European food value chains: liquid cow’s milk, beef steak, farmed salmon, processed tomato, and bread from wheat. Each study evaluates the governance of the value chain through the different stages of production, processing and retail, following the transformation from farmed/grown commodity to final food product. The studies are situated within broad regulatory frameworks of state-led policies at the European and national level, while also encompassing governance initiatives originating from corporate and societal actors. A Global Value Chains governance approach was used to create an initial characterization of value chain structures and inter-firm relationships. This provided a starting point for further analysis of individual value chain dynamics and relationship interactions. Attention is paid, where relevant, to issues such as value chain structure and product flow, industry structure and concentration, contractual arrangements, price negotiations, trade, consumption patterns and different EU and state led regulatory interventions. The research draws on existing literatures and documentary sources, further exploring stakeholder perspectives through a series of 50 qualitative in-depth interviews across the five value chains. Interviews allowed for a deeper exploration of the different perceptions of relationships dynamics felt by actors across each value chain. 2. The introductory chapter elaborates on the aims of the research task, and on both the conceptual approaches to governance used and the research methods deployed. The chapter also explains in more detail some of the key findings from across the different food value chains studied and reflects on the implications of these findings. There are a total of eight nationally located studies with the findings from each one presented subsequently as a separate chapter in the report: Dairy cows to liquid milk in France, Britain and Germany; Beef cattle to steak in Britain and Germany; Farmed Salmon from Norway; Tomato to processed tomatoes in Northern Italy; and, Wheat into Bread in France. 3. The findings from the studies confirm that the nature of governance in value chains covers inter-firm relations but also includes private governance initiatives and public policy and regulatory interventions. The nature of each food value chain has its own particular features and characteristics more specific to that sector. There are important structural features in each value chain that set boundaries within which the dynamics of governance take place. The actors at key stages of each value chain may be in a better structural position than others, which can give them an advantage in the negotiations and bargaining over contracts. Stakeholders’ views on fairness are focused on price setting and the means by which pricing decisions are made. It was notable that the interviewees very rarely mentioned the types of unfair trading practices, as defined and laid out in the Directive on unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain. Rather, it was the subjective experience of price setting (and related volume agreements, for example) in their particular value chain and sector where concerns around fairness and transparency were most explicitly articulated. There is subjectivity in the views of stakeholders over issues such as price negotiations that must be considered when assessing fairness in value chains. The need for industry, and more particularly for policy makers, is to find the most appropriate mechanisms and interventions (such as interbranch organizations, producer organizations, cooperatives, voluntary codes of practice, mandatory legislation) that will achieve fairer trading and working conditions, and greater transparency and information flow in food value chains. These interventions and mechanisms need to be suitable for each respective agricultural and horticultural sector as well for the agri-food industry as a whole. At both the sector level, and across all food value chains, the important structural features and their impacts on intra-chain bargaining must be taken into account.

There is a wide consensus that capitalisation is one major prerequisite for cooperative’s success (Fulton, 1999; Zeuli and Betancor, 2005; Österberg and Nilsson, 2009). In order to acquire the required capital to implement these growth-related strategies and remain competitive, agricultural cooperatives need to encourage their members to participate on equity raisings. As commented by Chaddad et al. (2005), it has been suggested that financial constraints are the ‛Achilles’ heel’ of cooperatives in an increasingly concentrated, tightly coordinated and capital-intensive food system (Vitaliano, 1983; Cook, 1995). Investments in R&D in Italian cooperatives are usually an insignificant part of the strategies adopted by agri-food cooperatives; this is also common in the majority of non-cooperative, agri-food firms (Bono, 2012). In this regard, the objective of this work is to analyse how members’ commitment can explain the capitalisation of the cooperative and therefore its innovation capacities and performance. Data from 50 agrifood cooperatives from Emilia-Romagna were obtained. Data has been gathered with a web survey sent by e-mail and telephone follow-up contacting was deemed. Results show how the level of members’ commitment can explain the capitalisation of the cooperatives, and this is also positively related with innovation and performance of the cooperative.

Il Rapporto 2014 sul Sistema Agroalimentare dell'Emilia-Romagna rappresenta un importante contributo alla conoscenza di un settore fondamentale dell'economia regionale, un utile strumento per gli operatori e una guida per le politiche degli enti locali. Il Rapporto si apre con due capitoli che descrivono da un lato, lo scenario internazionale e, dall'altro le politiche comunitarie e nazionali, per il settore agroalimentare, che modificano lo scenario nel quale gli operatori saranno chiamati a muoversi dal 2014 al 2020. I principali cambiamenti congiunturali del sistema agroalimentare regionale occupano la parte central del Rapporto, con Quattro capitol dedicati all'agricoltura. Successivamente vengono affrontati gli altri aspetti rilevanti del sistema agro-alimentare regionale partendo dall'industria alimentare, con le dinamiche congiunturali e alcuni approfondimenti strutturali dell'occupazione.

1. This report presents findings from eight national studies into the governance of five European food value chains: liquid cow’s milk, beef steak, farmed salmon, processed tomato, and bread from wheat. Each study evaluates the governance of the value chain through the different stages of production, processing and retail, following the transformation from farmed/grown commodity to final food product. The studies are situated within broad regulatory frameworks of state-led policies at the European and national level, while also encompassing governance initiatives originating from corporate and societal actors. A Global Value Chains governance approach was used to create an initial characterization of value chain structures and inter-firm relationships. This provided a starting point for further analysis of individual value chain dynamics and relationship interactions. Attention is paid, where relevant, to issues such as value chain structure and product flow, industry structure and concentration, contractual arrangements, price negotiations, trade, consumption patterns and different EU and state led regulatory interventions. The research draws on existing literatures and documentary sources, further exploring stakeholder perspectives through a series of 50 qualitative in-depth interviews across the five value chains. Interviews allowed for a deeper exploration of the different perceptions of relationships dynamics felt by actors across each value chain. 2. The introductory chapter elaborates on the aims of the research task, and on both the conceptual approaches to governance used and the research methods deployed. The chapter also explains in more detail some of the key findings from across the different food value chains studied and reflects on the implications of these findings. There are a total of eight nationally located studies with the findings from each one presented subsequently as a separate chapter in the report: Dairy cows to liquid milk in France, Britain and Germany; Beef cattle to steak in Britain and Germany; Farmed Salmon from Norway; Tomato to processed tomatoes in Northern Italy; and, Wheat into Bread in France. 3. The findings from the studies confirm that the nature of governance in value chains covers inter-firm relations but also includes private governance initiatives and public policy and regulatory interventions. The nature of each food value chain has its own particular features and characteristics more specific to that sector. There are important structural features in each value chain that set boundaries within which the dynamics of governance take place. The actors at key stages of each value chain may be in a better structural position than others, which can give them an advantage in the negotiations and bargaining over contracts. Stakeholders’ views on fairness are focused on price setting and the means by which pricing decisions are made. It was notable that the interviewees very rarely mentioned the types of unfair trading practices, as defined and laid out in the Directive on unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain. Rather, it was the subjective experience of price setting (and related volume agreements, for example) in their particular value chain and sector where concerns around fairness and transparency were most explicitly articulated. There is subjectivity in the views of stakeholders over issues such as price negotiations that must be considered when assessing fairness in value chains. The need for industry, and more particularly for policy makers, is to find the most appropriate mechanisms and interventions (such as interbranch organizations, producer organizations, cooperatives, voluntary codes of practice, mandatory legislation) that will achieve fairer trading and working conditions, and greater transparency and information flow in food value chains. These interventions and mechanisms need to be suitable for each respective agricultural and horticultural sector as well for the agri-food industry as a whole. At both the sector level, and across all food value chains, the important structural features and their impacts on intra-chain bargaining must be taken into account.