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The wide divergence of the people’s expectations and agricultural reality results in conflicts between the agricultural sector and the general public. Contemporary animal husbandry systems are being increasingly critically addressed by media; however, there is no information about peoples’ perceptions and attitudes concentrating precisely on specific animal husbandry systems. The purpose of this paper is to explore citizens’ perceptions, expectations and main points of criticism in regard to intensive pig production in Germany, and to identify and describe distinct population groups reflecting different attitudes.

A mixed method approach combining qualitative focus groups with a quantitative online survey has been employed. Focus groups capture a wide variety of opinions and concerns in an exploratory manner. Based on these findings, the quantitative survey (n=1,500 citizens) allowed the identification and characterisation of population groups with identical attitudes regarding pig husbandry.

Qualitative research uncovered a huge range of criticism on pig husbandry, e.g. lack of space, frequency and prophylactic use of medications as well as a lack of care. A relationship was seen between the lack of space, widespread use of medications and behavioural disorders. Consumer preferences for buying cheap meat were believed to be part of the problem since this behaviour fosters the development of larger farms. Quantitative research confirmed the generally critical perception and identified three population groups. Only one third of the population was really concerned about animal husbandry. Younger people and people with better knowledge of agriculture were stronger opponents of intensive pig husbandry.

Results indicate that increasing people’s knowledge may have an adverse effect on their acceptance of modern farming systems. More communication and better information strategies will probably not improve societal acceptance by itself. Instead, agricultural production systems need to be improved to meet better consumers’ expectations whereas communicating these improvements to consumers and the general public in a well-targeted manner will be required as well.

When considering options for enhancing public acceptance of modern animal husbandry, a combination of different strategies by different stakeholders is needed. The agricultural sector should improve its communication with the general public and rethink its production practices against the background of public expectations. The government and its agencies urgently need to improve monitoring of the compliance of actual production practices with existing laws and to enforce them. Additionally, adjustments of current regulations of animal husbandry in light of public expectations should be considered.

The type of flooring in stalls is an important factor that shapes consumers' overall perception of animal husbandry. Although slatted and straw floors have benefits and drawbacks, consumers strongly prefer slatted over straw floors in pig husbandry. The present study investigates whether information provision can depolarise consumers' implicit and explicit attitudes towards both floor types to enable a more realistic evaluation of pig husbandry systems. Furthermore, this study examines the effectiveness of information depending on different frames and consumers' personality traits.

An experimental laboratory study with 185 German consumers was conducted to investigate the effect of information on implicit and explicit attitudes towards different flooring types. Participants received information on straw and slatted floors in a cognitive or affective frame or about a control topic. Furthermore, it was analysed whether certain consumer groups respond differently to the cognitive or affective frame.

The results demonstrated that information provision is a successful tool for depolarising consumers' implicit and explicit attitudes regarding straw and slatted floors. Although consumers continued to prefer straw floors after receiving information, the magnitude of this preference considerably decreased. Mediation analysis illustrated that implicit and explicit attitudes are highly interconnected. The study found no evidence that the personality traits of consumers moderated the effectiveness of the cognitive or affective frame.

The study proposes that information provision can be a potential avenue for increasing the societal acceptance of conventional methods in pig husbandry and provides recommendations for communicating conditions related to animal husbandry. Furthermore, through the inclusion of an implicit measure, this study overcomes biases of other studies in an agricultural context which usually rely only on explicit measures.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the rationale of Dutch pig farmers concerning animal welfare and animal‐friendly production. It aims to show the interrelations between farmers' production logic, their ideas about good farming and animal welfare and the characteristics of Dutch pig production.

In total, 62 Dutch pig farmers, participating in quality assurance schemes with different focuses on animal welfare, were interviewed about animal welfare, legislation, quality assurance schemes, and possibilities for animal‐friendly production.

Farmers' attitudes towards animal welfare and the implementation of animal welfare measures follow their understanding of good farming practices, which in turn are strongly influenced by the rationale of the market in which they operate. Two groups can be distinguished. Farmers operating in markets that focus on price and production‐efficiency tend to define animal welfare in terms of animal health and optimal zoo‐technical performance. Farmers operating in markets with a broader sense of quality, which incorporates values such as naturalness, animal welfare and care for the environment, define animal welfare in terms of the room the animals have to express natural behaviour.

This article provides insights into the perception of Dutch pig farmers about animal welfare and their readiness to change towards more animal‐friendly production methods. It points to the interrelations between animal welfare attitudes and behaviour, farmers' perception of good farming and the production logic of the farm. These interrelated influences should be borne in mind by policy makers and researchers seeking to raise welfare levels in pig production.

The use of multi-level labels can enhance product visibility by enabling labeling of various items. Moreover, it can better accommodate the diversity on both the producer and consumer sides. However, studies on the willingness to pay (WTP) for premium levels of those animal welfare labels are scarce.

We investigate consumers’ WTP for a four-level animal husbandry label introduced to the market by German retailers in 2019 by conducting an online survey with 1,223 German meat consumers using Van Westendorp’s price sensitivity meter (PSM).

There is a significant increase in WTP for level 3 of the husbandry label, but only a slight increase for level 4. One explanation is that consumers may have the mistaken belief that level 3 already includes outdoor access for animals. As a result of this expectation, consumers may not perceive much added value in level 4, which is reflected in their reluctance to pay a higher price. This is reinforced by the finding that once informed of the criteria, 18% of the participants reduced their WTP for level 3, whereas only 6% considered a discount for level 4. Furthermore, 40% were prepared to pay more for level 4 after being informed of the respective criteria than they had previously stated.

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to analyze and emphasize the importance of clear label communication, particularly for multi-level animal husbandry labels.

Purpose – The chapter examines Leopold Pospisil’s claim that the precolonial way of life of the Me, who live in the central highlands of west New Guinea, in many ways resembled capitalism. Pospisil based his claim on his field work among a group of Me, from 1954.Approach – Formulating a characterization of “capitalism” and using it as a yardstick while scrutinizing the available, early ethnographic literature discussing the Me.Findings – The late precolonial life of the Me appears to have been a hybrid one. It contained capitalist elements: such as a currency, accumulation, and unequal division of capital. But in other respects social reproduction, a noncapitalist element, was primary.Research limitations – An important source of information on the Me are the extensive writings of Sibbele Hylkema who worked among the Me from 1969 to 1994. They are for the most unpublished and consist in part of notes. The Me live in an inaccessible area so there is no other contemporary ethnography by which to update or compare and contrast Hylkema’s findings.Originality/value – This chapter is a Literature Review.

Purpose – Present a history of interaction (1947–1996) between a remote nonmarket rural economy in the Papua New Guinea (PNG) highlands and capitalism, first via colonialism and then in the post-Independence period. The Irakia Awa sought to create an alternative local version of modernity in a context of limited opportunities for participation in the monetized market economy.Design/methodology/approach – Ethnographic, multi-temporal field research, totaling two years in residence, focused on sociocultural changes associated with reallocations of land and labor to cash-cropping (coffee), wage labor migration, and new place-based cash-generating initiatives.Findings – After more than three decades of intensive participation in labor migration, the most lucrative option available for earning cash, Irakians deemed it futile, as well as detrimental to the overall well-being of their home community. They dramatically reduced labor migration levels, increased smallholder coffee production, and set about creating a more modern and inviting village lifestyle.Research limitations/implications – This is the historical experience of one rural community in the remote PNG highlands up to the mid-1990s, but is framed around ongoing issues confronting many rural communities engaging with capitalism in PNG.Originality/value – This account presents original field research and contributes to the growing literature on PNG rural peoples with limited opportunities to participate in the cash market economy within a larger context of government policies and malfeasance that have rendered many rural communities largely “invisible.” It suggests substantial reforms are needed before all citizens can enjoy benefits from engaging with capitalism.

The purpose of this paper is to optimize manure allocation through nutrient budgeting strategy to meet crop nutrient requirements under maximizing economic returns and environmental constraints, and then to evaluate the economic and environmental effects of different nutrient budgeting strategies in animal excreta treatment.

In this study, a holistic integrated “ecological-economic” model is developed. It incorporates the systems of animal-crop production and waste treatment is developed for a pilot pig farm in China in order to simulate the economic and environmental effects of several nutrient budgeting strategies in excreta treatment for resource use.

The results reveal nutrient management deficiencies cause some serious environmental problems. The operations including biogas and composting are economically and environmentally efficient methods for manure management through nutrient budgeting strategy in an intensive animal farming with limited access to cropland. The nutrient budgeting strategy of constrained phosphorus, however, creates better environmental effects and brings more income from the waste treatment than the strategy of constrained nitrogen. The current standard of manure application in cropland which emphasizes on crop requirements for nitrogen should be reconsidered.

The paper is an original work and its methodology makes a meaningful contribution to understanding the relations between different nutrient budgeting strategies and their economic and environmental effects.

Supply chain integration (SCI) is one of the most distinctive dimensions in achieving long‐term competitive advantage in the business world. Although considerable state‐of‐the‐art studies regarding the SCI concept and its dimensions have been conducted, empirical research by using the data from agri‐food firms in China to examine the relationship between SCI and firm performance attract little attention. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of SCI on firm performance in pork supply chains in China.

The study follows a causal research approach and survey methodology to collect data from 229 pork processors. The SCI‐firm performance link is examined in two relationships: the pork processors with their upstream pig (meat) suppliers and with their downstream customers. Partial least squares method was used to test the causal relationships.

The results suggest that internal integration and buyer‐supplier relationship coordination are significantly related to firm performance in both relationships. Information technology integration is not significantly related to both upstream and downstream relationships. Logistics integration significantly contributes to pork processors' performance in relationships with downstream customers.

The extension of the SCI construct contributes to supply chain management theory in the context of China.

This paper aims to facilitate the joint assessment of issues related to the agricultural systems, i.e. agriculture, aquaculture and climate change (CC) response strategies, in the coastal districts with a panel of stakeholders; and to evaluate the level of agreement on the topics under consideration and potentially identify the most promising approaches to assessing CC affecting agricultural systems in the area and identify relevant and adequate response strategies.

Stakeholder Delphi technique – its assessment is an interactive method of qualitative research used to facilitate the interactive participation of varied and conceivably hierarchical and antagonistic stakeholder groups.

The most important result for the province is that the impact of climate change on agro-ecological landscapes (poverty and near river areas) is the duration of cold weather, more frequent and extreme. Moreover, Kendall’s W test gave a score of 0.547, which indicates a “strong” stakeholder agreement and the “confidence in ranks” being “high” in Thai Binh (Vietnam).

The scientific results in this study are intended to serve as relevant knowledge-inputs and direct contributions to capacity-building for the local partners (stakeholders and local authorities). These local partners are engaged in policy-making and effective planning and implementation of climate response measures in the districts in the province of Thai Binh.

This paper aims to synthesize the literature on consumer preferences for farm animal welfare (FAW), with an emphasis on characterizing consumers based on their FAW preferences. The objective is to provide insights into the salient characteristics associated with animal welfare conscious consumers.

The authors conduct a systematic review of the results of published research on consumer preferences for FAW. Approximately 350 papers were reviewed, and 52 were included in the analysis.

The authors’ review suggests that consumers are not homogenous in their preferences for FAW. The authors identify seven themes that enabled them to characterize consumers with higher FAW preferences. These themes (i.e. age, education and income, gender, country and cross-cultural differences, attitudes and consumer and citizen functions) are grouped under four main headings (socio-demographics, ethics and attitudes, product characteristics and public roles).

The authors’ synthesis reflects the findings reported in the literature to this date; the identified characteristics may change with time as new evidence becomes available.

The information collected in this article would be useful to farmers and food and non-food retailers interested in effective product differentiation and marketing strategies regarding FAW standards. It can also inform policymakers about the state of consumer concerns for FAW.

To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study that attempts to develop a systematic profile of consumers based on their FAW preferences.