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Multifunctional agriculture, including value-added agriculture, has drawn the attention of different stakeholders (government, farmers) interested in maximising the potential of farming operations and strengthening rural communities. This preliminary study aims to investigate value-added agriculture, including the extent to which food growers consider, or are involved in, this aspect of multifunctional agriculture, from the perspective of orchard operators located in different Australian states.

Orchard operators were contacted through regional growers' associations and by mail. A total of 80, the large majority of whom are small orchardists, participated in the study, completing a questionnaire designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data.

Overall, there is moderate interest among the participating orchard operators in adding value to food production. Respondents also indicate barriers in the form of added expenses, lack of time, knowledge, and markets, to sell value-added products.

This study has only provided preliminary data from a limited number of participants; future research could broaden the scope to gather the insights of more orchard operators or even study other rural food-growing sectors.

With increasing pressures on the farmland, the findings have several implications, in particular, the need to understand the cost-benefits involved in value adding activities and potential cost-savings strategies.

In the case of Australian agriculture, little has been discussed about the extent to which value-added food production is being considered among food growers, for instance, using commercial kitchens to process foods that do not sell as “premium.” The present study examines this unexplored dimension and seeks to provide useful preliminary information.

Urban agriculture is increasingly recognized for its potential contribution to more sustainable urban development. Urban agriculture includes the cultivation and raising, processing and marketing of food and non-food crops, medicinal and aromatic herbs, fruit trees, as well as animal products within urban and periurban areas. Urban agriculture positively impacts urban food security, local economic development, environmental management and community building. To reconcile the demands posed by urban growth with urban agriculture activities of high social and economic value, urban agriculture however should be included into land use planning and design, and regulated by municipalities, assuring its proper management and avoiding potential health and environmental risks. Open and green urban spaces could be designed for multifunctional urban agriculture and combine natural habitat, food production, educational, recreational and leisure activities. Such design processes would benefit from broad participation of urban planners and architects, urban farmers, citizens and slum inhabitants as to enhance ownership and engagement, more effectively use available local resources and give the process a higher credibility and wider outreach. This article shares the experience of Rosario, Argentina where the city planners and University staff collaborated with two low-income communities in the design and implementation of a multifunctional neighborhood park, public square and road reserve. A step-by-step participatory design process was followed: starting from initial visioning, defining and relating the various existing and multi-functional land uses desired, to elaborating the site plan, and agreeing on implementation procedures. The article briefly contextualizes the site and its inhabitants, illustrates the design process and the results achieved and highlights some of the problems encountered. Participatory design of open spaces for urban agriculture in Rosario- though a complex process- proved to have contributed to improving socio-economic and environmental conditions in the city, while also serving as a source of inspiration to other cities in the region.

The aim of the study is to analyse the value creation processes in multifunctional wineries. Specifically, the paper poses the following research questions: can the creation of public goods (i.e. multifunctionality) open up new paths of value creation for wineries? And if so, can multifunctionality be only compensated through policy instruments? Or, is there a form of market compensation?

An empirical analysis was carried out on selected wineries that sell directly. The study implemented the “value portfolio” model that identifies specific variables, both internal and external to the farm, which contribute to the value creation. The methodology adopted is a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach that offers a theoretical basis for developing an understanding of the relationships between group of variables.

The empirical analysis confirms the assumptions developed. Indeed, the localized public goods generated by multifunctional farms can benefit from compensation on the market through the direct sale of products and services.

The study’s findings are quite innovative in the field of agricultural economics and open the way for interesting policy implications.

This paper aims to explain a conceptual background for an emerging agrarian discourse in corporate social responsibility (CSR) research. Socially responsible provision of public goods is examined by encompassing a shift in paradigms and approaches from the industrial phase of development with economic/profit dimension, emphasized by the theory of public goods, to the post-industrial phase of development with moral dimension, empowered by knowledge-based economy, sustainability and further development of the theory of CSR.

The paper sets the conceptual foundations for the holistic study of the two confronting conceptions of public goods and CSR by discussing their interconnectivity and distinctions of relevant approaches in the intersecting classical economics and sustainability fields.

Research results show that provision of public goods is still mainly debated from the classical economic paradigms. Nevertheless, author give promising evidence for the possibility to implement holistic studies on confronting economic and moral dimensions in the field of socially responsible provisions of public goods with use of appropriate theories and approaches from both paradigms depending on the context.

This paper presents exceptionally theoretical insights and sophisticated explanations of the background of emerging agrarian discourse in CSR. It gives implications for further research in the field of socially responsible provision of public goods both from theoretical and empirical point of view.

The study proves the enlarged scope of the theory of CSR by conceptualizing the newly emerging discourse in the field, which has been absent from theoretical to empirical CSR research in agriculture.

The paper aims to analyze the relevance of networking and social capital in promoting the adoption of sustainable innovation, then reinforcing trajectories of multifunctional agriculture. It puts forwards a systemic perspective by focusing on agricultural knowledge and innovation systems. More precisely, we share the idea of “micro agricultural knowledge and innovation systems”, by addressing ambidexterity as engine for boosting sustainable innovation.

Empirical analysis is focused on sustainable innovation adopted by young farmers in Italy and on the mediation effect of ambidextrous relations in performing innovation adoption. Ambidextrous relations are analyzed within at the micro-AKIS level, through the lens of social capital. Relationships between social capital and innovation adoption are statistically measured.

The analysis shows how ambidexterity develops a mediation effect, with a strong impact on the farm's innovative capacity. Actually, our results confirm that ambidextrous relations reveal good performance and stimulate innovation and, consequently, farms' competitiveness, alongside the path of multifunctional agriculture. As a consequence, the relevance of networking activity in adoption of sustainable innovation may address possible policy action with the aim to strengthen ambidexterity and farm's innovativeness.

The paper tries to fill a gap in literature, by focusing on micro-AKIS which are explored through the lens of social capital.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the links between olive growing, hospitality and tourism in an emerging olive growing region, as well as challenges olive grove operators face.

A qualitative approach is taken in the form of face‐to‐face and telephone interviews among 23 olive grove operators in Western Australia from a sample of 33 operations identified.

Almost half of the respondents indicated being open to the public in some form, including cellar door sales and hospitality facilities, such as a café. Other respondents are currently in the process of developing hospitality facilities or plan to be associated to tourism. However, some responses identified existing marketing issues and outside competition from cheaper products as current constraints.

That only 23 respondents participated in the study does clearly limit the generalisability of the findings in regards to olive growing in Western Australian or elsewhere. Despite this limitation, this exploratory study provides first insights into an unexplored emerging and increasingly multifunctional industry.

In view of some operators' concerns of being able to market their products in the future, the findings illustrate that the mix of strategies combining the olive products, hospitality and/or tourism could have several positive impacts on this emerging industry for those operators willing and able to pursue such paths.

The current developmental stage of olive growing and its potential for further extending into “olive tourism” or related concepts suggests opportunities for future research.

The purpose of the paper is to provide an analysis of the adoption of Rural Development Policies (Rdp) as the result of entrepreneurial behaviours carried out by family farms with a focus on the Lazio Region of Italy. Family farming is the backbone of the European model of agriculture. Rdp provide family farms with a set of opportunities which, if well exploited, could drum up farm’s development.

An empirical analysis of a data base provided by the Lazion region of Italy on the adoption of Rdp by family farms in the Lazio region for the period of 2007-2013. Cluster analysis is the main analytical tool used.

The results evidence significant differences in the adoption of rural policy on the basis of family life cycle and the composition of the family farm. The empirical analysis underlines the low degree of coherence by farms located in rural areas.

Farmers’ success in accessing funds requires them to be proactive and take a strategic perspective to convince funders that they have a coherent strategy which meets the requirements of the particular Rdp which they are trying to access.

In terms of policy, a more nuanced understanding of the entrepreneurial nature of some practices in a rural setting and how they require multi-agency investigation.

The paper is unique, in that it considers the consumption of policy by farmers who are entrepreneurial in their vision. By consumption of Rdp, we mean the farmer’s strategic capability to obtain funds from regional funding pots for rural development.

The Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model has been used to claim that genetically modified (GM) crops have substantial positive welfare potential for sub‐Saharan Africa. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine these claims with a view to seeing if this type of modelling provides any meaningful basis for agricultural policy recommendations.

One particular study is examined to show that because any possible negative effects of GM foods are ignored, optimistic assumptions are made about increases in productivity and trade, and selective scenarios are used, the modelling must, perforce, result in positive welfare effects.

It is found that, because of the assumptions of the study and the restricted scenarios investigated, all the modelling can do is estimate the size of the supposedly positive benefits. A negative outcome is not possible.

It is argued that the GTAP model is inappropriate for sub‐Saharan Africa and that the sweeping conclusions from this type of stylised modelling trivialize the complex poverty and socio‐economic problems of sub‐Saharan Africa.

It is demonstrated that, in this case, the GTAP model is not only redundant, but also can yield risky policy recommendations for sub‐Saharan Africa as it affects not only the livelihoods of millions of poor Africans but the ecological balance, biodiversity and economic independence of these nations.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the income sources of Italian farm tourism businesses, considering some economic, social and environmental variables that represent internal business factors and highlighting their contribution to the development of this income.

The empirical analysis is based on the Italian section of the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) that includes 365 Italian farm tourism businesses. FADN is an instrument to assess the income of European agricultural holdings and the impacts of the Common Agricultural Policy. The analysis has been carried out through a Multivariate Regression Model.

The results of this paper have showed that some economic variables (food service, direct selling and public subsidies) determine an increase in farm income, whereas an increased number of family employees may have a negative impact on this income.

External factors, such as proximity to urban or cultural centres, may impact on agri-tourism income, but these are not considered in the statistical analyses. Another limit of this paper is the exclusion of tourists’ motivational variables and others mostly referring to the market (pricing policies, promotional strategies, etc.). Furthermore, this paper focuses on a specific country and this could reduce the generalization of its results.

Thanks to the selected regression drivers, farmers who offer tourism services could recognize a priori their entrepreneurial opportunities and understand the variables on which to focus to increase their income, which could be in turn strengthened by policies seeking to develop the endogenous potential.

Agri-tourism can fulfill various functions in the regional economy, with positive implications for the quality of life of rural societies.

On the European level, there is currently a lack of research studying the variables affecting agri-tourism revenue and entrepreneurial choice that mostly define profitability. This may be the first time that FADN data set has been utilized for researching farm tourism businesses in Europe.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a sector-based analysis of the drivers for social entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector.

The paper uses qualitative data from two studies in the Danish region of Northern Jutland. The data include responses from 38 farmers who offered or had considered offering social services. The analytical framework is taken from a review of the limited literature on Green Care and Social Farming and social entrepreneurship theory.

Strong and consistent tools for the categorisation of farmers’ social entrepreneurship have been developed. However, these tools have merely been used descriptively rather than to create proactive agriculture policies to facilitate social entrepreneurship. In Region Northern Jutland social entrepreneurship in farming is driven by a combination of tradition, close relationships and coincidence. It is ad hoc, with each initiative starting from scratch because no knowledge or experience has been gathered or distributed.

The agricultural sector-based approach to social entrepreneurship will not be discussed against other approaches to social entrepreneurship. This would be a suggestion for another more conceptual kind of article in the future.

A study of social entrepreneurship among farmers has not yet been coupled with a sector-based analytical framework. This paper contributes to the literature of social entrepreneurship by supplementing with an agricultural sector-based approach.