Research in ten countries (in Africa, America and Europe) has shown that organic research promotes evidence-based policy development. A seven countries study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2008) on how governments can assist organic sectors, provided guidelines...

This chapter applies the concepts of transaction cost economics and social embeddedness to examine the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in distribution channels for agricultural produce in Mexico. Two producers were selected for case studies: a cluster of banana growers...

Trade in agricultural products has become more and more internationalized and globalized. A global trading system is now both more free and fair than ever before, which will boost global prosperity and contribute significantly to global economic development. Favourable conditions for international...

This chapter focuses on alliances and resistances within niches at the regional scale, and on the specific processes which allow them to overcome barriers and enable an emerging transition. The case studies presented in this chapter are alternative agri-food networks (AAFNs) in three regions of...

FAO launched the Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) in 1994 to assist member countries in their efforts to reduce the prevalence of hunger and malnutrition. Over a period of 14 years (1994-2008), the programme was implemented in 106 countries and mobilized US$890 million. Having learned...

This chapter investigates the current state of distribution channels and markets for agricultural commodities in Albania. Priority is given here to an assessment of the following sectors of the agricultural industry: dairy products; olives and olive oil; meat; fruit and vegetables; and grapes, wine ...

The first part of this chapter presents an analysis of the main trends in consumption of agri-food products in Albania, and other key issues, such as supply. Data are presented on consumer patterns and dynamics over the past few decades for the main food categories, along with comparisons with the...

This chapter provides a review on Albania's agricultural trade over the last 15 years (1996-2010). The five main sections of the chapter examine: (1) Albania's performance in terms of national and agricultural trade; (2) the main traded agricultural products and the main trading partners; the trade ...

This chapter shows how the substantial changes experienced by Albania in the last 20 years have decisively conditioned the trends of the agro-food system in terms of production, consumption, and trade balance. It looks at the impact of the collapse of planned-economy supply chains and land...

This chapter provides an overview of the agricultural sector in the Serbian economy, covering land resources, farm structure, production, prices and income. The most important indicators of the agricultural sector in Serbia are compared with other Western Balkan countries (including Romania and...