IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i16p6580-d398912.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Conventionalization of Organic Agriculture: A Multiple Case Study Analysis in Brazil and Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Oscar José Rover

    (Department of Zootechny and Rural Development, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis-SC 88034-001, Brazil)

  • Adevan da Silva Pugas

    (Department of Zootechny and Rural Development, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis-SC 88034-001, Brazil)

  • Bernardo Corrado De Gennaro

    (Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70126 Bari, Italy)

  • Francesco Vittori

    (Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy)

  • Luigi Roselli

    (Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70126 Bari, Italy)

Abstract

The conventionalization of organic agriculture has been described as a process in which organic agriculture increasingly adopts the features of conventional modes of production based on industrial farming methods. The increasing supply of organic products to the large retailers is considered the main driver of conventionalization. This process has negative implications for the agrobiodiversity of organic farming systems. The present study aims to investigate and analyze the impact of retailing strategies on the agrobiodiversity of organic farms. A survey of farms located in rural areas near large urban centers (three metropolitan regions in Southern Brazil and four Italian regions) was undertaken. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The analysis indicates that the farms surveyed maintained a high level of agrobiodiversity and active participation in alternative food networks. Our findings point out that there was a significant and positive correlation between the crop richness index and the share of farm sales through alternative food networks. We conclude that adopting various forms of direct sale is the key factor in stimulating farms’ agrobiodiversity, but proximity to densely populated areas is a necessary precondition for the development of the short food supply chains needed to stimulate the diversification of organic agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Oscar José Rover & Adevan da Silva Pugas & Bernardo Corrado De Gennaro & Francesco Vittori & Luigi Roselli, 2020. "Conventionalization of Organic Agriculture: A Multiple Case Study Analysis in Brazil and Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-13, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:16:p:6580-:d:398912
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/16/6580/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/16/6580/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laurent Glin & Arthur Mol & Peter Oosterveer, 2013. "Conventionalization of the organic sesame network from Burkina Faso: shrinking into mainstream," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(4), pages 539-554, December.
    2. Eve Fouilleux & Allison Loconto, 2017. "Voluntary standards, certification, and accreditation in the global organic agriculture field: a tripartite model of techno-politics," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 1-14, March.
    3. Amy Guptill, 2009. "Exploring the conventionalization of organic dairy: trends and counter-trends in upstate New York," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 26(1), pages 29-42, March.
    4. Giuseppina Rizzo & Massimiliano Borrello & Giovanni Dara Guccione & Giorgio Schifani & Luigi Cembalo, 2020. "Organic Food Consumption: The Relevance of the Health Attribute," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-12, January.
    5. Seufert, Verena & Ramankutty, Navin & Mayerhofer, Tabea, 2017. "What is this thing called organic? – How organic farming is codified in regulations," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 10-20.
    6. Henning Best, 2008. "Organic agriculture and the conventionalization hypothesis: A case study from West Germany," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 25(1), pages 95-106, January.
    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. Ayari Genevieve Pasquier Merino & Gerardo Torres Salcido & David Sébastien Monachon & Jessica Geraldine Villatoro Hernández, 2022. "Alternative Food Networks, Social Capital, and Public Policy in Mexico City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-25, December.
    2. Marcos Ferasso & Miguel Blanco & Lydia Bares, 2021. "Territorial Analysis of the European Rural Development Funds (ERDF) as a Driving Factor of Ecological Agricultural Production," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, October.
    3. Bilgesu Bayir & Aurélie Charles & Aicha Sekhari & Yacine Ouzrout, 2022. "Issues and Challenges in Short Food Supply Chains: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, March.
    4. Caroline Brock & Douglas Jackson-Smith & Subbu Kumarappan & Steve Culman & Cathy Herms & Douglas Doohan, 2021. "Organic Corn Production Practices and Profitability in the Eastern U.S. Corn Belt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Rosalia Stella Evola & Giovanni Peira & Erica Varese & Alessandro Bonadonna & Enrica Vesce, 2022. "Short Food Supply Chains in Europe: Scientific Research Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, March.
    6. Francesca Gori & Alessandra Castellini, 2023. "Alternative Food Networks and Short Food Supply Chains: A Systematic Literature Review Based on a Case Study Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, May.

    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. Laurent Glin & Arthur Mol & Peter Oosterveer, 2013. "Conventionalization of the organic sesame network from Burkina Faso: shrinking into mainstream," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(4), pages 539-554, December.
    2. Ronan Le Velly & Marc Moraine, 2020. "Agencing an innovative territorial trade scheme between crop and livestock farming: the contributions of the sociology of market agencements to alternative agri-food network analysis," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 999-1012, December.
    3. Lee-Ann Sutherland, 2013. "Can organic farmers be ‘good farmers’? Adding the ‘taste of necessity’ to the conventionalization debate," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(3), pages 429-441, September.
    4. Natalia Brzezina & Katharina Biely & Ariella Helfgott & Birgit Kopainsky & Joost Vervoort & Erik Mathijs, 2017. "Development of Organic Farming in Europe at the Crossroads: Looking for the Way Forward through System Archetypes Lenses," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-23, May.
    5. Julia Wojciechowska-Solis & Aleksandra Kowalska & Milena Bieniek & Monika Ratajczyk & Louise Manning, 2022. "Comparison of the Purchasing Behaviour of Polish and United Kingdom Consumers in the Organic Food Market during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-19, January.
    6. Pantelis Zoiopoulos & Ioannis Hadjigeorgiou, 2013. "Critical Overview on Organic Legislation for Animal Production: Towards Conventionalization of the System?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(7), pages 1-18, July.
    7. Le Velly, Ronan & Dufeu, Ivan & Le Grel, Laurent, 2016. "Les systèmes alimentaires alternatifs peuvent-ils se développer commercialement sans perdre leur âme ? Analyse de trois agencements marchands," Économie rurale, French Society of Rural Economics (SFER Société Française d'Economie Rurale), vol. 356(November-).
    8. Kaelyn Stiles & Özlem Altıok & Michael Bell, 2011. "The ghosts of taste: food and the cultural politics of authenticity," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 28(2), pages 225-236, June.
    9. Meiling Wu, 2024. "Conventionalization of Alternative Agriculture and the Intervention of External Investors: Case Sharing Community-Supported Agriculture Farm, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-11, June.
    10. Mohamed Gafsi & Jean-Luc Favreau, 2014. "Diversity of operating logics and sustainability of organic farms [Diversité des logiques de fonctionnement et durabilité des exploitations en agriculture biologique]," Post-Print hal-02076167, HAL.
    11. Charalampos Konstantinidis, 2018. "Capitalism in Green Disguise: The Political Economy of Organic Farming in the European Union," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 50(4), pages 830-852, December.
    12. Théodore Nikiema & Eugène C. Ezin & Sylvain Kpenavoun Chogou, 2023. "Bibliometric Analysis of the State of Research on Agroecology Adoption and Methods Used for Its Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-18, November.
    13. Nesar Ahmed & Shirley Thompson & Giovanni M. Turchini, 2020. "Organic aquaculture productivity, environmental sustainability, and food security: insights from organic agriculture," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(6), pages 1253-1267, December.
    14. Umar Nawaz Kayani & Anamul Haque & Umme Kulsum & Nishat Taslin Mohona & Fakhrul Hasan, 2023. "Modeling the Antecedents of Green Consumption Values to Promote the Green Attitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-15, August.
    15. Shawn A. Trivette, 2017. "Invoices on scraps of paper: trust and reciprocity in local food systems," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(3), pages 529-542, September.
    16. Thomas, Alban & Lamine, Claire & Allès, Benjamin & Chiffoleau, Yuna & Doré, Antoine & Dubuisson-Quellier, Sophie & Hannachi, Mourad, 2020. "The key roles of economic and social organization and producer and consumer behaviour towards a health-agriculture-food-environment nexus: recent advances and future prospects," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 101(1), August.
    17. Hazem Ali & Min Li & Yunhong Hao, 2021. "Purchasing Behavior of Organic Food among Chinese University Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-17, May.
    18. 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.
    19. Manuel González-Rosado & Luis Parras-Alcántara & Jesús Aguilera-Huertas & Beatriz Lozano-García, 2021. "Building an Agroecological Process towards Agricultural Sustainability: A Case Study from Southern Spain," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-16, October.
    20. Bang, Rasmus & Hansen, Bjørn Gunnar & Guajardo, Mario & Sommerseth, Jon Kristian & Flaten, Ola & Asheim, Leif Jarle, 2024. "Conventional or organic cattle farming? Trade-offs between crop yield, livestock capacity, organic premiums, and government payments," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).

    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:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:16:p:6580-:d:398912. 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.