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The purpose of this paper is to assess the feasibility of risk-contingent credit (RCC) by presenting an experimental and participatory game designed to explain the concept of RCC to Kenyan pastoralists and dairy farmers. The paper investigates the uptake potential of RCC through qualitative assessment of field experiments and focus groups.

The paper presents a method of community engagement through a participatory game played in a series of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The paper also presents theoretical justification of RCC in credit market structure.

The game effectively explains the concept and mechanism of RCC by reflecting local situation and production potential. Participatory exercises within focus group discussions indicate that there exists a strong interest and support for RCC.

The methodology described in this paper can be used in extension programs for promoting innovative rural microcredit in developing countries but should be modified according to the local production and associated weather and market risks.

Micro-insurance and credit program delivery can be improved by the innovative approach of community engagement for explaining financial products.

The earliest known instance of scholarly writing on logistics (in 1901) is actually located in agribusiness. While case illustrations of productivity improvements in logistics in agribusiness have routinely featured in the academic literature since then, such efficiency gains are rarely cast in a broader, strategic perspective – a somewhat surprising omission. Consequently, this study seeks to clarify the relationship between logistics and generic business strategy in dairy organisations/industries by using the New Zealand dairy industry as a case in point. (The focus is more on operations than on distribution and service). We first clarify that the New Zealand dairy co‐operatives and the (export‐oriented) New Zealand dairy industry as a whole, have generally followed a strategy of cost leadership. We then review the various ways in which efficiency has been realised in logistics in the industry, and especially dwell on how the structure (e.g. co‐operative ownership, vertical integration) of the dairy industry has supported and/or hindered the focus on cost leadership. We also examine the extent to which our analysis of supply‐chain efficiency extends to other dairy organisations/industries.

This study aims to explore the degree of Chinese consumers' trust and confidence in the Chinese dairy products supply chain and the relationships between trust and overall confidence in dairy products safety and quality.

This study collected data from 1,278 respondents by field survey from five provinces of China. The data were analyzed using ordered logit model.

This study shows the following results: (1) Chinese consumer confidence in domestic dairy products and trust in actors of the dairy chain are at a moderate-to-low level. (2) Government regulators are considered to take the most responsibility, with both an optimism-enhancing and a pessimism-reducing effect (the former effect is greater), while perceived trust in dairy farmers and retailers has little effect. (3) Perceived care has both an optimism-enhancing and a pessimism-reducing effect, and the former effect is stronger. Competence and openness have an optimism-enhancing effect and a pessimism-reducing effect, respectively. (4) The importance of the three dimensions of trust related to optimism-increasing and pessimism-reduction is limited, except in the case of government regulators.

This study contributes to a better understanding of consumer trust in food safety and also help demonstrate to the actors and institutions involved in the dairy supply chain the best way to improve the performance of their duties to meet the consumers' needs for safe and quality dairy products.

Marketing boards are an integral part of the farm economy in Canada. Their purposes have been debated for decades but seldom from a marketing perspective. Such an approach makes for an interesting way to study them. The purpose of this paper is to assess the pros and cons of marketing boards, suggesting how they can be made more responsive to market forces.

The paper positions the need for Canada to bring agricultural market reforms. The wave toward freer access to world markets makes the study of supply management that more interesting and relevant in the twenty‐first century. A brief history of marketing boards is presented, followed by a discussion of their economic, social and constitutional impacts on Canadian society. Dairy supply management issues are discussed because they serve as the basis for comparative analysis, given that dairy trade liberation has been the most successful. The impact of marketing boards on consumers is well documented.

The research points out that marketing boards lack managerial savvy to make them more efficient and responsive to market changes. Logistical and supply chain management approaches seem to be lacking. A failure to respond to markets has resulted in lost market opportunities, both domestically and abroad. The quota values, the legal and constitutional powers of Canadian marketing boards and the interprovincial trade barriers, among other issues, have stifled entrepreneurship and innovation, all with rising prices to consumers. Trade liberation will not be easy to implement even if it is urgently needed.

Some of the suggested market reforms presented in the paper are bound to have repercussions not only on farmers and their current ways of doing business but on Canadian society as well.

Few studies on marketing boards have been done from a marketing perspective rather than an agricultural economic one. It is the most current review of Canadian marketing boards. Marketing studies are needed to know more about how such boards are managed and function. They need to be more accountable. The recommended managerial studies on boards make the paper unique. While trade liberation is highly recommended for milk and dairy boards to meet world pressure, the paper does not call for their elimination.

This paper aims to examine the planning and policy processes in relation to the pollution in Lake Taupo. This paper describes and explains the manifestation of the tenets of deliberative democracy and the impediments of mobilising the tenets in the planning and policy-making processes.

This interpretive case study makes sense of interview transcripts, minutes of meetings, media reports and public documents and adopts deliberative democratic theory as the theoretical framework for the interpretive analysis.

Some factors fostered and others challenged the mobilization of the tenets of deliberative democracy. Local government processes facilitated the expression of multiple views in relation to the impacts of human activities on the Lake. Confrontations and tensions were inevitable elements of the deliberative processes. Pre-determined outcomes and domination of local authorities, aiming for environmental sustainability of Lake Taupo, posed as challenges to the operation of deliberative democracy. Some stakeholders need to sacrifice more than others, but recognition of pluralism, conflicts and differences is an essential part of deliberative democracy.

There is scarcity of research that empirically examines local government processes in light of deliberative democratic principles. The study also extends environmental and social studies that have explored the arena approach to accountability and decision-making.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of institutional factors in agricultural structural change in the European Union (EU) using the case study of land mobility in Ireland. A range of agricultural land use options are compared in order to examine the effect of domestic and EU policy instruments on land mobility.

Using socio-economic data from the Teagasc National Farm Survey, three hypothetical farms are created using a microsimulation approach to compare incomes across farm systems and land use options. Tax and subsidy policies are applied to derive returns for the hypothetical farms under a variety of land use scenarios.

The analysis finds that in comparing four hypothetical scenarios, leasing out agricultural land on a long-term basis can prove more profitable for cattle and tillage farmers than farming the land. Only dairy farmers derive consistently higher disposable incomes from farming their land as opposed to leasing it out. Changes in CAP rules can also negatively affect farmers taking advantage of Ireland’s tax-based leasing incentives.

A gap in the literature exists in terms of how institutional factors may act to prevent either land supply or demand channels from functioning properly. This paper addresses that gap, using Ireland as a case study.

China has embarked on a major concerted strategy to arrest grassland degradation and livelihood problems in the western pastoral region. The paper aims to provide a framework through which this strategy can be understood and refined into the future.

The paper is based on a typology of grassland policies – technical, administrative, and management – and a discussion of the emphasis that China has and should place on each policy category. Data are drawn from policy documents and interview material collected through extensive fieldwork in large tracts of China's western pastoral region.

China has appropriately pursued “top‐down” technical and administrative policies to address major and immediate degradation‐livelihoods problems. However, longer term solutions to the problems require the strengthening of management structures from the “bottom‐up”, especially amongst herders themselves and other economic factors.

The paper proposes a series of concrete recommendations that may be considered as China refines its grasslands strategy into the future. The emphasis in the paper on the relationships between multi‐dimensional policies is of particular value in addressing multi‐dimensional grasslands‐livelihood problems.

Despite the magnitude and implications of China's recent grasslands strategy, there is a dearth of English language studies on the subject, which this paper aims to fill. The paper includes numerous micro‐level insights gained from extensive fieldwork in the western pastoral region that are not evident in more macro‐level studies.

This study aims to understand New Zealand sheep farmers’ readiness toward sustainability transition by assessing their intentions of transition and adoption of sustainability tools, with information collection considered to mediate the intention–adoption relationship.

Based on the data collected from a survey of New Zealand sheep farmers in 2021, the empirical analysis was developed to investigate farmers’ perceptions of and attitudes toward readiness to move toward a sustainability transition. Structural equation modeling associated with principal component analysis was used to empirically test the theory of planned behavior constructs.

The results show that pressure from the public and the sheep industry, and the perceived controls of transition drive the intention of sustainability transition; farmers with higher intention of sustainability transition are found to be more likely to adopt sustainability tools. However, there is an attitude–behavior gap, wherein positive attitudes toward sustainability transition may not lead to a higher likelihood of adopting sustainability tools. There is no evidence of the mediating role of information collection on the intention–adoption relationship, while a positive effect was found in information collection on the adoption of sustainability tools.

The empirical evidence indicates that policymakers need to help increase the awareness of sustainable production and help farmers overcome barriers to achieving sustainable production by finding ways to turn intentions into adoption.

Being the first attempt to empirically assess farmers’ readiness toward sustainability transition, the study fills the gap of limited understanding of the link between sustainability transition intention and sustainable tools adoption in sustainability transition.

The purpose of this paper is to undertake a qualitative case-based analysis of the factors affecting the capability of primary sector rural entrepreneurs to manage regulation. The authors suggest a conceptual framework to aid understanding of their skill and capability when managing regulation.

Using a multiple case study approach the entrepreneurial skill of rural entrepreneurs is examined in light of three sets of factors: institutional regulatory, social capital and economic market.

The case analysis indicates diversity in the skill of rural entrepreneurs to manage regulation across sub-sectors including dairy and stock farming, fruit growers and vegetable/horticultural producers. The conceptual framework indicates that there are three areas that influence entrepreneurial skill: relationships with national cooperatives, relationships with the institutional regulatory environment and relationships with the economic market environment. This provides the authors with a conceptual framework to aid understanding of the interplay of factors affecting entrepreneurial skill and capability to manage regulation.

This study contributes to the emerging stream of literature highlighting the importance of industry sector context for understanding the complex and differing regulatory effects on entrepreneurs’ skill and hence capability to manage. Case comparisons allow the authors to explain and understand why entrepreneurs that operate similar businesses within the same sector respond differently to regulation.

The purpose of this paper is an attempt to cover available literature on natural resource management, which reflects the involvement of Pakistan communities living in different regions for sustainable management in agriculture, forestry and livestock sectors differentiated by women. In addition, it was also highlighted about the lack of access to productive resources for rural women farmers. The conclusion was drawn and key recommendation were suggested.

It is authors real-life experiences or observations in a given field to support colleagues in a variety of ways including advising, establishing best practices and noting trends.

It was concluded that there are no opportunities such as training of most advanced launched technologies for the sake of better crop production, dairy and fisheries sector sustainable development, as well as the availability of microfinance to support the women farmers in Pakistan rural areas to make them self-dependent.

The opinions and key recommendations are genuine and useful, which should be adopted for the more bright future of women farmers, especially in Pakistan’s rural area.