IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v14y2024i5p726-d1389973.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Collaboration to Address the Challenges Faced by Smallholders in Practicing Organic Agriculture: A Case Study of the Organic Sorghum Industry in Zunyi City, China

Author

Listed:
  • Sheng Wu

    (Institute of Modern Agricultural Development, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Science, Guiyang 550025, China)

  • Shanwei Li

    (Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China)

Abstract

In many developing countries, organic agriculture is increasingly recognized as a key strategy for promoting rural economic development and improving farmer welfare. It is primarily smallholders who form the foundation of organic production in these areas. However, these farmers face significant challenges in adopting organic farming methods. The aim of this paper is to investigate solutions to the challenges encountered by smallholders. This research utilizes an integrated approach and includes a case study of the organic sorghum sector in Zunyi, China. The findings indicate that (1) a robust partnership has been established between enterprises, government, and farmers in the organic sorghum industry in Zunyi. Enterprises purchase the sorghum, cover organic certification costs, and partially fund material inputs, while local government facilitates organization, coordination, and technical support, with farmers responsible for production. (2) This collaboration has catalyzed high-quality development in the industry, benefiting all stakeholders. (3) Through this collaborative model, common challenges faced by smallholders, such as obstacles in obtaining certification, income fluctuations, and unfair market conditions, have been mitigated. Consequently, smallholders secure stable and reliable income as they benefit from favorable contract prices for organic sorghum and the assumption by enterprises of most material input costs. This study offers valuable empirical evidence that can guide the expansion of organic agriculture in similar regions and countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheng Wu & Shanwei Li, 2024. "Collaboration to Address the Challenges Faced by Smallholders in Practicing Organic Agriculture: A Case Study of the Organic Sorghum Industry in Zunyi City, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-24, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:5:p:726-:d:1389973
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/5/726/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/5/726/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joyce Thamaga-Chitja & Sheryl Hendriks, 2008. "Emerging issues in smallholder organic production and marketing in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 317-326.
    2. Eva-Marie Meemken & Matin Qaim, 2018. "Organic Agriculture, Food Security, and the Environment," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 39-63, October.
    3. Lili Geng & Shaocong Yan & Qi Lu & Xiaomeng Liang & Yufei Li & Yongji Xue, 2023. "A Rural Land Share Cooperative System for Alleviating the Small, Scattered, and Weak Dilemma in Agricultural Development: The Cases of Tangyue, Zhouchong, and Chongzhou," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-17, August.
    4. Chenchen Ren & Xinyue Zhou & Chen Wang & Yaolin Guo & Yu Diao & Sisi Shen & Stefan Reis & Wanyue Li & Jianming Xu & Baojing Gu, 2023. "Ageing threatens sustainability of smallholder farming in China," Nature, Nature, vol. 616(7955), pages 96-103, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hao Li & Shuqi Yang & Juping Yan & Wangsheng Gao & Jixiao Cui & Yuanquan Chen, 2024. "From Conventional to Organic Agriculture: Influencing Factors and Reasons for Tea Farmers’ Adoption of Organic Farming in Pu’er City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Yuying Yang & Yubin Wang, 2024. "The Impact of Government Subsidies and Quality Certification on Farmers’ Adoption of Green Pest Control Technologies," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Meike Weltin & Silke Hüttel, 2023. "Sustainable Intensification Farming as an Enabler for Farm Eco-Efficiency?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 315-342, January.
    2. Huang, Yong & Elahi, Ehsan & You, Jiansheng & Sheng, Yuhua & Li, Jinwei & Meng, Anchan, 2024. "Land use policy implications of demographic shifts: Analyzing the impact of aging rural populations on agricultural carbon emissions in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    3. Johan Swinnen & Alessandro Olper & Senne Vandevelde, 2021. "From unfair prices to unfair trading practices: Political economy, value chains and 21st century agri‐food policy," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(5), pages 771-788, September.
    4. Martín-García, Jaime & Gómez-Limón, José A. & Arriaza, Manuel, 2024. "Conversion to organic farming: Does it change the economic and environmental performance of fruit farms?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    5. Zineb Hakkoum & Farah Minaoui & Amer Chabili & Mountasser Douma & Khadija Mouhri & Mohammed Loudiki, 2025. "Biofertilizing Effect of Soil Cyanobacterium Anabaena cylindrica –Based Formulations on Wheat Growth, Physiology, and Soil Fertility," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-20, January.
    6. Stavros Kalogiannidis & Simeon Karafolas & Fotios Chatzitheodoridis, 2024. "The Key Role of Cooperatives in Sustainable Agriculture and Agrifood Security: Evidence from Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-20, August.
    7. Chiara Mazzocchi & Guido Sali, 2022. "Supporting mountain agriculture through “mountain product” label: a choice experiment approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 701-723, January.
    8. Anna Lungarska & Thierry Brunelle & Raja Chakir & Pierre‐Alain Jayet & Rémi Prudhomme & Stéphane De Cara & Jean‐Christophe Bureau, 2023. "Halving mineral nitrogen use in European agriculture: Insights from multi‐scale land‐use models," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(3), pages 1529-1550, September.
    9. Cecilia Castaldo & Matilde Giaccherini & Giacomo Pallante & Alessandro Palma, 2024. "Unveiling Shades of Green Food beyond Labels. Evidence from an Online Experiment to Climate Adaptation," CESifo Working Paper Series 11161, CESifo.
    10. Iliriana Miftari & Rainer Haas & Oliver Meixner & Drini Imami & Ekrem Gjokaj, 2022. "Factors Influencing Consumer Attitudes towards Organic Food Products in a Transition Economy—Insights from Kosovo," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, May.
    11. Maurer, Rainer, 2023. "Comparing the effect of different agricultural land-use systems on biodiversity," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    12. Koen Deconinck & Marion Jansen & Carla Barisone, 2023. "Fast and furious: the rise of environmental impact reporting in food systems," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 50(4), pages 1310-1337.
    13. Weerahewa, Jeevika & Dayananda, Dasuni, 2023. "Land use changes and economic effects of alternative fertilizer policies: A simulation analysis with a bio-economic model for a Tank Village of Sri Lanka," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    14. Seifert, Stefan & Wolff, Saskia & Hüttel, Silke, 2023. "Eco-Efficiency of Agricultural Landscapes--Insights from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany," GEWISOLA 63rd Annual Conference, Goettingen, Germany, September 20-22, 2023 344236, GEWISOLA.
    15. Xiao Lin & Zhengfeng Huang & Yun Ye & Jingxin Dong & Hongxiang Feng & Pengjun Zheng, 2023. "Effects of Aging on Taxi Service Performance: A Comparative Study Based on Different Age Groups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-20, November.
    16. Lu, Yongquan & Liu, Guilin & Xian, Yuyang & Tang, Jiaqi & Zhong, Liming, 2024. "Climate change brings both opportunities and challenges to rural revitalization in China: Evidence from apple geographical indication predictions," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    17. Chang, Huayi & Zhang, Junbiao, 2024. "Income growth versus labor loss: The joint impacts of rural-urban migration and off-farm employment on household energy use in rural China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    18. Debuschewitz, Emil & Sanders, Jürn, 2021. "Bewertung der Umweltwirkungen des ökologischen Landbaus im Kontext der kontroversen wissenschaftlichen Diskurse," 61st Annual Conference, Berlin, Germany, September 22-24, 2021 317076, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    19. Radu Lucian Pânzaru & Daniela Firoiu & George H. Ionescu & Andi Ciobanu & Dragoș Mihai Medelete & Ramona Pîrvu, 2023. "Organic Agriculture in the Context of 2030 Agenda Implementation in European Union Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-31, July.
    20. Berna Türkekul & Canan Fisun Abay, 2024. "Understanding Why Farmers Leave: Validating Key Indicators for Farm Exit in İzmir, Türkiye," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-20, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:5:p:726-:d:1389973. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.