Alexandre Florindo Alves (p)

Cecilia Nardi

The study deals with the transition to organic agriculture in the Northwest region of the State of Paraná (Brazil), focusing on challenges and marketing aspects. The first contribution is to provide additional local knowledge, which is widely recognized due to regional and local specificities. Second, it contributes by bringing some results that can be described as rare in the scientific literature, mainly related to marketing issues. The main objective of the study is to identify relevant aspects faced by producers during the transition to organic production. It is worthwhile because this process has regional characteristics, and knowledge of them can assist both new producers entering the transition process and policy makers. The research was conducted with seven out of seven family-owned certified small farms in one municipality, using two rounds of interviews. This approach enabled the inclusion of producers who were in transition at the time of the first round, but had achieved formal certification by the time of the second round. Recent certification (less than 2 years) allowed for a more accurate collection of information when producers had a fresher memory of the transition process. Organic production consists mainly of leafy vegetables. Production destinations (final consumers or not) are mainly local (in the community) and include residents (direct sales or street markets), markets/supermarkets, restaurants, hospitals and government programs. The route to these destinations can be direct or through a cooperative. The properties are mainly located in peri-urban areas. Key findings include stability or decrease in productivity during the early stages of transition and issues related to agricultural practices and use of inputs. Marketing has faced obstacles such as the lack of price premium during the transition period, the difficulty of selling certified products at organic prices due to the size of the local market, and problems with contractual rigidity when selling to government programs. Despite small or no price premium, market access is easier once certification is achieved. Despite the challenges of the transition process, the outlook for organic production in the region is promising. The study also suggests improvements in public policies and provides recommendations for future research on costs and certification.

Cecilia Nardi (p), Aletheia Amalia Donald, Julia Vaillant

Nejla Ben Arfa

This paper investigates the impact of rural feeder road rehabilitation intervention implemented in the framework of the Western Growth Poles Development Project of World Bank and Government of Democratic Republic of Congo, on agricultural productivity in villages of Bas-Congo province. Using road-level and village-level survey data collected before and after the road rehabilitation treatment (2016-2019), I document that rehabilitation of rural roads improves inputs accessibility and stimulates the commercialization of agricultural production. I validate these findings with two falsification exercises, a test for the sample selection bias and a number of robustness checks. Moreover, I document the distributional impact of road rehabilitation intervention on agricultural productivity, based on villages socioeconomic features and main cultivated crops. To address the potential nexus between agricultural productivity and conflict, I combine geo-referenced village and roads data with spatial data on conflict events, occurred in the period of analysis. Results suggest a positive relationship between agricultural productivity and violent events associated with rapacity and predation. However, the presence of rural road rehabilitation intervention seems mitigating the agricultural production-induced violence.

Mohamed Ghali (p), Nejla Ben Arfa (p), Giffona Justinia Hanitravelo, Soazig Di Bianco, Abdul Rahman Saili

Francisco J. Velazquez

Digital technologies are increasingly recognized as essential for enhancing productivity, sustainability, and competitiveness in agriculture. However, their adoption remains limited and uneven across regions, with the reasons behind adoption or non-adoption still not fully understood, particularly in certain production systems.
This study focuses on cattle breeding, pig farming, and vegetable farming systems, which have received relatively little attention, with a specific emphasis on the Grand-Ouest of France (Brittany, Pays de la Loire, and Normandy). This region, a major hub for livestock and vegetable production, presents a unique context where both large-scale and small family-run farms coexist, leading to varied adoption patterns of digital technologies. The objective is to analyze the factors influencing the adoption of digital technologies, distinguishing between farmers’ motivations and the structural determinants shaping their decisions, while considering regional specificities. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining a multinomial regression model applied to data from the 2020 French agricultural census with qualitative analysis from 49 semi-structured interviews conducted in the Grand-Ouest.
The results highlight three main motivations: improving productivity and management, reducing labor intensity, and enhancing environmental sustainability. These motivations are influenced by structural and demographic factors, such as farm size, legal status, and the farmer’s educational level. Larger farms, particularly in the Grand-Ouest, are better equipped to adopt digital tools, often facilitated by strong cooperative networks and access to training programs.
However, significant barriers persist. High costs, limited internet access in rural areas, and tool complexity hinder adoption, especially for smaller farms and those engaged in short supply chains or organic farming—common in the Grand-Ouest. This regional disparity underscores the need for targeted public policies to reduce financial barriers, improve digital infrastructure, and strengthen local training and cooperative networks.
By highlighting these regional dynamics, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of digital technology adoption in agriculture and provides actionable insights for policymakers and stakeholders seeking to promote sustainable and inclusive agricultural innovation in France.

Francisco J. Velazquez (p), David Martin-Barroso (p), Juan Andrés Núñez-Serrano, Jacobo Núñez

Alexandre Florindo Alves

This paper analyzes the role that Protected Designations of Origin have played in the Spanish wine sector as an element of enhancement and value generation, and as a consequence, becoming a tool that has partially prevented the depopulation of rural areas.

To test this hypothesis, a difference-in-differences model is used, with the dependent variable being the population at the municipal level with a dataset of population at municipality level from 1850 to 2020

With this information and other control variables we first evaluate the effect of Protected Designations of Origin in population dynamics.

In a second analysis we focus on a more recent period (1982-2020), when the majority of current Protected Designations of Origin were established following the adoption of European Union regulations. Additionally, it allows for the use of more precise information at the municipal level from Population and Agricultural Censuses, Agricultural. This allows the incorporation of demographic (age and gender structure), economic (activities chosen by the population, mobility, etc.), and other factors related to agricultural and livestock activity (importance of other productions, property structure, etc.) that could also have contributed to altering the depopulation trend.

The analysis is complemented with location and agglomeration characteristics used in the fist analysis. The results show the relevance of the creation of these Protected Designations of Origin in slowing down, or even halting, rural depopulation. The effect is particularly strong in rural areas far from large cities, with certain economic and agricultural activity characteristics. On the other hand, demographic determinants appear to play a marginal role.

To explore whether the mechanism by which Protected Designations of Origin recognition in the wine sector becomes a factor in population retention in the territory could be the generation of economic activity linked to the sector, several complementary analyses are conducted with the second sample, enhanced with information obtained from the Agricultural Farms Structure Surveys (National Statistics Institute of Spain)) and the Surveys on Crop Areas and Yields (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food). The first assesses the role of Protected Designations of Origin recognition in the agricultural land dedicated to vineyards for wine production. The second analyzes whether there is an effect on job creation linked to the wine sector in the protected areas. Finally, the effect on agricultural yields and profitability is examined.