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The international journal devoted to agricultural science, policy and strategy.


Editor: Dr David Lister

This journal is covered by Thomson Reuters ISI.

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Editorial coverage

Outlook on Agriculture, published quarterly, provides analysis, reviews and commentary for an international and interdisciplinary readership. Special attention is paid to food policy and strategic developments in food production; the role of agriculture in social and economic development; agriculture and human health; and environmental issues. Further details are available at www.ippublishing.com. Articles should be in the region of 4,000 words. Submissions of research notes and shorter pieces will also be welcome.

Submissions - Notes for authors

Please send all submissions to Dr David Lister, c/o Outlook on Agriculture, IP Publishing Ltd, 258 Belsize Road, London NW6 4BT, UK. Dr Lister may also be contacted by e-mail at outlookonagric(at)btinternet.com or on tel +44 560 248 8726

Length and presentation of contributions

Articles should be in the region of 4,000 words. Research notes and shorter pieces will also be considered for publication. In addition, papers derived from work done under the EU Research Framework Programme will be readily considered. Submissions should be double-spaced, printed on one side of the paper, and sent in triplicate. Authors should supply a floppy disk, specifying the software used, and taking care that the disk version is exactly the same as the hard copy supplied.

The text should be ordered under appropriate sub-headings (not numbered paragraphs or sections) and where possible these should not be more than 800 words apart. Three levels of sub-heading are possible.

The title page should show the names and addresses of the authors, their professional status and affiliation and the address (including e-mail) to which correspondence should be sent. As this page will not be sent to referees, the title of the article (without author names) should be repeated on the first text page.

An abstract should be provided, comprising 80-100 words.

Between 3 and 6 keywords should appear below the abstract, highlighting the main topics of the paper. References should follow the Harvard system. That is, they should be shown within the text as the author's surname (or authors' surnames) followed by a comma and the year of publication, all in round brackets: for example, (Smith, 1998). At the end of the article a bibliographical list should be supplied, organized alphabetically by author (surnames followed by initials - all authors should be named). Bibliographic information should be given in the order indicated by the following examples: 

  • Articles: Maskey, R. (2001), 'Population growth and food production: issues, problems and prospects', Outlook on Agriculture, Vol 30, No 3, pp 155–160.
  • Books: Henry, J.G., and Heinke, G.W., eds (1989), Environmental Science and Engineering, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Notes should be numbered consecutively in the text and typed in plain text at the end of the paper (not as footnotes on text pages).

Tables should be reduced to the simplest form and present only essential data. They should be submitted on separate sheets at the end of the article. The use of vertical rules in tables should be avoided.

For illustrations, line drawings and black and white photographs are acceptable. Authors are asked to supply originals of line drawings for reproduction. Photographs should be glossy prints with good contrast.

Prior Publication

Articles are received on the understanding that they are original contributions, and have not been published officially, either in print or electronic form, or submitted for publication elsewhere. In this respect, ‘discussion’ or ‘working’ papers, conference presentations and proceedings are not considered to be official publications, unless they have been formally deemed so by conference organizers, or presented as edited works through recognized publishing channels. If in doubt, authors are asked to draw the attention of the Editor to any prior dissemination of the paper in their letter of submission.

Refereeing

Other than research notes, reports, and personal opinion pieces, articles will be refereed. Papers by authors who are not academics (eg submissions from industry) will also be subject to review before acceptance, but their distinct nature and aims will be fully taken into account.

Copyright

Unless otherwise indicated, submissions are received on the understanding that they are original contributions,, and have not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. The editor reserves the right to edit or otherwise alter contributions, but authors will see proofs before publication. Authors will be asked to assign copyright, where possible, to IP Publishing Ltd. Relevant authors’ rights are protected.

Editorial Board

  • Editor: Dr David Lister, c/o IP Publishing Ltd, 258 Belsize Road, London NW6 4BT, UK. E-mail: outlookonagric(at)btinternet.com
  • Associate Editor: Dr Roger Atkin, Long Ashton, North Somerset, UK

Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor P.K. Aggarwal
    Indian Agricultural Research Institute, India
  • Dr Loek Boonekamp
    Directorate for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Trade and Markets Division, OECD, France
  • Professor Deng Xi-Ping
    Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
  • Dr C. Devendra
    Consulting Tropical Animal Production Specialist, Malaysia
  • Professor Neville G. Gregory
    Royal Veterinary College, UK
  • Dr R. C. Hardwick
    Brussels, Belgium
  • Dr Alfred Hartemink
    ISRIC - World Soil Information
    The Netherlands
  • Professor M.G.K. Jones
    State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Murdoch University, Western Australia
  • Dr Jill M. Lenné,
    Consulting Tropical Agriculture Specialist, Fyvie, UK
  • Professor Alan Malcolm
    Chief Executive, Institute of Biology
  • Dr Antoinette Mannion
    Department of Geography, University of Reading, UK
  • Dr S.D. Morgan Jones
    Director, Lethbridge Research Centre, Canada
  • Professor Guido van Huylenbroeck
    Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Belgium
  • Professor J. Van Staden
    Research Centre for Plant Growth & Development, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

JUNE 2009 ISSUE (VOL 38, NO 2)

SPECIAL ISSUE: INNOVATIONS IN FARMING SYSTEMS APPROACHES

Guest Editors: B. Dedieu, I. Darnhofer, S. Bellon, K. de Greef, F. Casabianca, L. Madureira, R. Milestad, M. Paine, P. Steyaert, D.J. Stobbelaar and S. Zasser-Bedoya

108 Introduction

111 Adaptability through spatial management: a case study of livestock farms in the Massif Central, France

Alain Gueringer, Hélène Rapey, Marie Houdart, Geneviève Bigot, Etienne Josien and Fabrice Landré

119 Farmers’ adaptation capacities in the eastern rainforest of Madagascar: from forest-clearers to environmental managers

Aurélie Toillier and Sylvie Lardon

127 Livestock farming systems in urban mountain regions: differentiated paths to remain in time

Nathalie Cialdella, Laurent Dobremez and Sophie Madelrieux

137 Reflexive interactive design and its application in a project on sustainable dairy husbandry systems

A.P. Bos, P.W.G. Groot Koerkamp, J.M.J. Gosselink and S. Bokma

147 Learning as changes in activity systems: the emergence of on-farm biogas production for carbon credits

Marco Antonio Pereira-Querol and Laura Seppänen

157 How information becomes a resource for action in an uncertain and complex world: sense-making and contingency in the knowing process

Marie- Angélina Magne and Marianne Cerf

167 The Dutch pork chain: a commodity system resisting threats from the market and society

Karel de Greef and François Casabianca

175 Sustainable local food production and consumption: challenges for implementation and research

Martin Schönhart, Marianne Penker and Erwin Schmid

183 Ecology and culture: the territorial anchorage of Corsican cheese producers’ knowledge

Rémi Bouche and Pascale Moity-Maïzi

189 Use and assessment of the ‘new’ rural functions by land users and landowners of the Montado in southern Portugal

Diana Surová and Teresa Pinto- Correia

195 The Agri-environmental Footprint: assessing the agri-environmental performance of farms in participatory and regionally adaptive ways

Karlheinz Knickel and Nadja Kasperczyk

205 Ecological networks implemented by participatory approaches as a response to landscape fragmentation: a review of the German literature

Silja Tiemann and Rosemarie Siebert

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Title: Adaptability through spatial management: a case study of livestock farms in the Massif Central, France

Author(s): Alain Gueringer, Hélène Rapey, Marie Houdart, Geneviève Bigot, Etienne Josien and Fabrice Landré

Abstract: This paper analyses the forms and adaptability of the assignment and management of farm territories in mountain areas of the French Massif Central, where permanent grassland and cattle farming predominate. The spatial management of 33 farms, and its links with cattle management and other farming system conditions, were investigated. In-depth analyses of four of those farms are presented. The case studies confirm the role of known factors influencing land use, but also reveal that more complex and interrelated factors, such as equipment, labour and buildings, affect the spatial management of farms. Spatial management emerges as a key element in the fodder security of the system.

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Title: Farmers’ adaptation capacities in the eastern rainforest of Madagascar: from forest-clearers to environmental managers

Author(s): Aurélie Toillier and Sylvie Lardon

Abstract: Since 1996, contractual forest management involving the local population has been proposed as a solution to deforestation and poverty in Madagascar. This article highlights the way in which two contrasting farming systems can be adapted to conservation constraints without threatening sustainability. The authors show that farmers’ adaptation capacities are heterogeneous among local communities and that a knowledge of the factors influencing this variability can help in the design of guidance for farms to enable them to develop sustainably in line with current perceptions of agriculture’s role in land management and forest conservation.

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Title: Livestock farming systems in urban mountain regions: differentiated paths to remain in time

Author(s): Nathalie Cialdella, Laurent Dobremez and Sophie Madelrieux

Abstract: The objective in this paper is to identify driving forces and favourable factors that ensure the persistence of mountain livestock farms over time. The paths and processes of change are studied in a sample of 14 existing livestock farms near Chambéry in the Savoie, adopting a retrospective approach going back to the 1950s. The authors focus on key factors: workload, dairy restructuring and off-farm job opportunities. The results show that in this area, livestock farms have persisted thanks to the integration of other farming or off-farm activities in the farm–family system during at least one phase of their history.

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Title: Reflexive interactive design and its application in a project on sustainable dairy husbandry systems

Author(s): A.P. Bos, P.W.G. Groot Koerkamp, J.M.J. Gosselink and S. Bokma

Abstract: Sustainable development in modern animal husbandry faces a multiplicity of challenges. If addressed separately, the solutions might well contradict one another. To avoid this conflict, there is a need for structural change in production and consumption systems. Such change cannot be attained by technological innovation alone, but demands a reorientation of the existing socio-technical regime. This paper presents reflexive interactive design (RIO in Dutch) as a systematic approach towards that end, and shows the first steps of its application in a project to deliver designs for sustainable dairy production and to contribute to a reformation of the current dairy production system.

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Title: Learning as changes in activity systems: the emergence of on-farm biogas production for carbon credits

Author(s): Marco Antonio Pereira-Querol and Laura Seppänen

Abstract: On-farm biogas production (BP) has many environmental benefits for agricultural systems. The authors describe the evolution of a system as a learning process within BP, the outcome of which is the development of a programme of sustainable swine production. According to cultural–historical activity theory, learning is understood as a transformation of the motivating object of an activity system and its structure. First, the authors present the theoretical concepts of an activity system, including its contradictions and expansion, and then describe the methodology used in the study for data collection and analysis. The historical data and accompanying analysis are then presented in temporal phases, followed by an identification of what triggered learning and expansion during the process, and an explanation of how the nature of the activity changed. Finally, the authors reflect on what such a theoretical analysis of an activity can bring to the notion of social learning.

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Title: How information becomes a resource for action in an uncertain and complex world: sense- making and contingency in the knowing process

Author(s): Marie-Angélina Magne and Marianne Cerf

Abstract: Following their study of how farmers look for and make sense of information to develop their farming projects, the authors argue that more attention should be paid to sense-making and contingency in the knowing process to increase the stakeholder’s capacity to act in an uncertain and complex world. Their analysis shows that sense-making is contingent on the way farmers characterize the here and now as problematic and depends on the purposes and functions they assign to information resources. It also suggests that farmers assign purposes according to the development of their productive activity and of their own identities and capacities.

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Title: The Dutch pork chain: a commodity system resisting threats from the market and society

Author(s): Karel de Greef and François Casabianca

: The Dutch pork sector can be characterized as one massive, homogeneous commodity system, resisting diversification. A closer look at innovation strategies and initiatives leads to the conclusion that efforts are being made to enhance sustainability (including economic viability) through diversification, but the effects on system diversity are small; several initiatives have failed to alter the situation of a uniform commodity system dominating more than 95% of production volume. Explanations for the inertness of the commodity system were found in the lack of vertical integration and the dominance of the existing system (‘regime’ in innovation theory). Constraints include ‘commodity thinking’ and self-enhancing processes such as lock-ins.

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Title: Sustainable local food production and consumption: challenges for implementation and research

Author(s): Martin Schönhart, Marianne Penker and Erwin Schmid

Abstract: Local food systems (LFS) are considered as alternative approaches to mainstream food systems in industrialized countries. The authors apply the normative concept of sustainable development as an analytical framework within which to critique and summarize common arguments in favour of LFS and to confront them with contradicting evidence from empirical case studies. Most of the expected effects turn out to be bidirectional. For sustainable implementation, trade-offs have to be evaluated. Several path dependencies may also hamper successful implementation. It is clear that scientific evaluation is crucial for sound policy guidance. Therefore, an orientation towards holistic ex ante assessments is suggested.

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Title: Ecology and culture: the territorial anchorage of Corsican cheese producers’ knowledge

Author(s): Rémi Bouche and Pascale Moity-Maïzi

Abstract: Given that the core concern of any localized agri-food system (LAFS) is its heritage, the know-how historically encapsulated in agri-food products can determine their territorial entrenchment. The authors consider this know-how as a complex resource that can be exploited through interactions among technical, relational, cultural and cognitive components. They analyse the know-how associated with the LAFS of cheese production in Corsica, combining anthropological and systemic approaches to explore the concept of territorially anchored collective know-how. The paper emphasizes that knowledge about interactions between potential collective resources, such as that relating to animal husbandry and cheese production, does not necessarily belong to the same cultural phase or have the same transience as a historical building process.

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Title: Use and assessment of the ‘new’ rural functions by land users and landowners of the Montado in southern Portugal

Author(s): Diana Surová and Teresa Pinto-Correia

Abstract: The objective of the study discussed in this paper was to produce knowledge about how the Montado, an agrosilvopastoral system dominant in southern Portugal, supports and can better support ‘new’ rural functions associated with leisure and recreation. The Montado is recognized as a multifunctional landscape, although future management conditions are still to be defined. A qualitative survey was carried out through personal interviews with land users and landowners of this specific system. Results regarding visitor profiles, current activities in the Montado, perceived limitations and improvements suggested by land users, as well as landowners’ attitudes towards ‘new’ functions, are presented and discussed.

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Title: The Agri-environmental Footprint: assessing the agri-environmental performance of farms in participatory and regionally adaptive ways

Author(s): Karlheinz Knickel and Nadja Kasperczyk

Abstract: The monitoring and assessment of agri-environmental (AE) changes and impacts can help to reconcile different land use interests. This paper presents a common methodological framework for assessing changes and, related to that assessment, the effectiveness of AE schemes. The authors use a quantitative farm-level Agri-environmental Footprint Index (AFI), which aggregates the measurement of a range of farm and landscape-level indicators. The involvement of stakeholders is critically important in regionally customizing the index and its actual application. Such involvement raises the awareness of stakeholders about the multifunctionality of landscapes. This research builds on the results of the EU-funded AE-Footprint project.

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Title: Ecological networks implemented by participatory approaches as a response to landscape fragmentation: a review of the German literature

Author(s): Silja Tiemann and Rosemarie Siebert

Abstract: The ecological network concept is an approach to counteract biodiversity loss by connecting core nature conservation areas. This article analyses the role of stakeholder involvement in, the conditions for and approaches to the practical implementation of ecological networks in Germany. The results are based on a literature review compared with results from a survey of experts. A policy model (the ‘policy cycle’) is used for structuring the data. The results show that participatory approaches play different roles in all stages of the policy cycle, and are also necessary at each stage to enable the implementation of a well accepted and ‘functional’ ecological network.

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