SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

McVittie, Alistair; Moran, Dominic; Hall, Clare.

The provision of services in rural areas is constrained by a number of issues arising from the remoteness of such areas and the relative sparsity of rural populations. These factors combine to increase the cost of supply and reduce the demand for services, which consequently threatens the viability of service provision whether by the public or private sectors. A possible to solution to these issues lies in the co-location of rural services, which in general means that two or more distinct services are located within the same premises thus reducing the delivery costs associated with one or more of these services. Beyond the simple economics of service provision lies the existence of non-market elements of services in terms of benefits to local communities...

Investigation of the factors influencing adoption of GM crops at country level

Palavras-chave: Community/Rural/Urban Development; Public Economics.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/7977

Hall, Clare; Toma, Luiza; Moran, Dominic.

With the possible exception of nuclear technology, few scientific breakthroughs have generated the level of emotive debate that has surrounded the roll-out of agricultural biotechnology. Initial discussion about the environmental impacts of agricultural genetic modification, are now frequently juxtaposed with counter-claims that the technologies could actually be part of a wider global environmental solution in relation to climate change mitigation and food shortages. This study tests whether there are any consistent messages on why some countries seem to be advancing adoption of the technology, while others are not. We consider the range of claims in existing literature on adoption tendencies and then use structural equation modelling to test and estimate...

Public Attitudes to the Welfare of Broiler Chickens

Palavras-chave: Genetically modified crops; Structural equation model; Global adoption.; Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; Environmental Economics and Policy; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; International Relations/Trade; Land Economics/Use; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/50366

Hall, Clare; Sandilands, Victoria.

This paper reports results from two workshops held in York, England that investigated public attitudes towards the welfare of broiler chickens. At the outset the majority of participants admitted that they knew little about how broiler chickens are reared and were shocked at some of the facts presented to them. Cognitive mapping and aspects of Q methodology were used to reveal the range of variables that participants believed affected chicken welfare, the causal relationships between those variables, and what variables were considered most and least important. While some participants focused on the importance of meeting basic needs such as access to food, water, light and ventilation, others highlighted the role of welfare regulations and public opinion....

CONSUMER CLUSTERS AND FOOD SAFETY INFORMATION NEEDS

Palavras-chave: Animal welfare; Broiler chickens; Cognitive mapping; Public attitudes; Q methodology.; Livestock Production/Industries; Consumer/Household Economics.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/45998

Hall, Clare.

The work presented here was conducted as part of an EU-funded five year project investigating pathogens in the food chain, called "Control and prevention of emerging and future pathogens at cellular and molecular level throughout the food chain". Using a questionnaire, research was carried out with consumers in four countries to investigate food safety information needs and information source preferences. The work combined cluster analysis with a social marketing approach. Cluster analysis revealed that the majority of respondents can be allocated to one of eight clusters based on their information needs relating to food safety behaviour and pathogen knowledge. The respondents associated with each of the clusters can be described in terms of...

The non-market benefits of rural service provision

Palavras-chave: Consumer/Household Economics; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety.

Ano: 2010

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/109426

McVittie, Alistair; Moran, Dominic; Hall, Clare.

The provision of services in rural areas is constrained by a number of issues arising from the remoteness of such areas and the relative sparsity of rural populations. These factors combine to increase the cost of supply and reduce the demand for services, which consequently threatens the viability of service provision whether by the public or private sectors. A possible to solution to these issues lies in the co-location of rural services, which in general means that two or more distinct services are located within the same premises thus reducing the delivery costs associated with one or more of these services. Beyond the simple economics of service provision lies the existence of nonmarket elements of services in terms of benefits to local communities of...

A Structural Equation Model of Farmers Operating within Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) in Scotland

Palavras-chave: Community/Rural/Urban Development.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/46008

Toma, Luiza; Barnes, Andrew Peter; Willock, J.; Hall, Clare.

Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) offers a theoretical basis for developing an understanding of the relationships between attitudes and behaviour. This paper imposes the SEM framework to a compulsory regulation which focuses on reducing diffuse water pollution, namely Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ). We use a data set collected through a farm survey within NVZs in Scotland in 2007. The model includes six latent variables expressing farmers’ nitrate reducing behaviour, nitrate reducing and profit maximizing behavioural propensities and the underlying determining factors, namely attitude (risk perception) and socio-economic latent variables (access to information and stocking density). The results indicate that the model has an adequate fit to the data and...

Identifying farmer attitudes towards genetically modified (GM) crops in Scotland

Palavras-chave: Nitrate Vulnerable Zones; Structural equation modeling with latent variables; Scotland; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/43643

Hall, Clare.

Consumer attitudes towards genetically modified (GM) food are well documented but there has been much less focus on farmer attitudes to GM technology in agriculture. This paper reports findings from a study investigating farmers’ attitudes to GM crops in Scotland. Results from a Q methodology study reveal three discourses, one apparently pro-GM and demonstrating an expectation of benefits, the second representing a more uncertain position, wary of the potential risks of the technology but likely to be reluctant adopters, and the third describing a group who demonstrate a somewhat fatalistic attitude towards the issue of GM technology adoption and impact. The paper also reports findings from a postal survey conducted as part of the Q methodology study....

Investigating consumer knowledge and behaviour in the context of functional foods

Palavras-chave: Genetically modified crops; Farmers; Q methodology; Attitudes; Scotland; Technology adoption; Farm Management.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/45993

Hall, Clare.

The future of functional foods will depend on the extent to which they are accepted by consumers. Results are presented from a questionnaire that investigated consumers’ self-reported knowledge, behavioural intentions and purchasing behaviour regarding functional foods. Findings are that two thirds of UK respondents, just less than half of Danish respondents, almost two thirds of Spanish respondents, and 88% of Polish respondents say they buy one or two functional food items per week. Between 30-55% of respondents say they understand functional foods reasonably well (UK 55%; Denmark 30%; Spain 43%; Poland 49%). A number of factors were related to respondents’ stated intention to purchase probiotics. If someone in the household had suffered food poisoning...

Farmer Responses to Nitrate Vulnerable Zone Designation in Scotland

Palavras-chave: Consumers; Knowledge; Behaviour; Functional foods; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/58024

Barnes, Andrew Peter; Willock, J.; Hall, Clare; Luiza, Toma.

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) were introduced in response to the Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC) which states that all EU countries must reduce the nitrate in drinking water to a maximum of 50mg/l. Farmers within a designated NVZ must adhere to strict rules over the timing and application of nitrogen from organic and inorganic sources. In Scotland, four NVZ regions were designated in 2003, covering around 14% of the land area. This paper outlines the results of a recent study to understand farmer activities in response to and attitudes towards NVZ regulations. A telephone survey of 177 farmers was administered, supplemented by four workshops held in each NVZ region. This was to explore, both quantitatively and qualitatively, farmer behaviour and attitudes...

INVESTIGATING USER PREFERENCES FOR SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS OF SCOTLAND: A TERRITORIAL APPROACH

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/36767

Hall, Clare; Moran, Dominic; McVittie, Alistair.

Territorialisation of rural policies requires moving from a sectoral approach to service provision, and policies that focus exclusively on health and education, for example, to an understanding of overall service provision and quality, differentiated by rural area definition, not primarily by sector. An investigation of the expectations of stakeholders in rural Scotland, relating to availability, quality and accessibility of services, revealed that preferences were often different within different areas. The results input to the debate about the need to territorialise rural policy, and provide information for allocation decisions relating to resources aimed at creating sustainable rural communities in Scotland.