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The Importance of Agrarian Clusters for Rural Areas - Results of Case Studies in Eastern Germany and Western Poland
Abstract
The analysis of spatial concentrations of manufacturing industries and the development of cluster models is a major research area of Economic Geography. But up to now there are hardly any studies of the development of cluster-like structures of agriculture in rural areas. This article analyses to what extent cluster-like structures can be found in rural areas, which linkages are important elements of cluster formation and whether included firms have a better position in competition compared to other firms.
... Access to agricultural knowledge and farm information is one of the crucial components of improving smallholder agricultural production (Bryan et al., 2009;Krell et al., 2021). Dannenberg and Kulke (2005) advocated the inclusion of local knowledge in the regional agrarian systems in addition to the external linkages. Krone and Dannenberg (2018) illustrated a simplified mobile phone-based communication model. ...
The Interactive Information Dissemination System (IIDS), a unique mobile-based agro advisory system (MBAS), was put under study in the Design Science Research approach with 2820 farmers in Garo Hills of Meghalaya, India. The study aims to design and develop a user-centric MBAS (m4AgriNEI) for augmenting sustainable smallholder farming systems in hilly regions. The outcomes are critically analysed in the form of learning and experiences to make some necessary modifications to the design. The deployment of the initiative helped to make the m4AgriNEI more user-centric to satisfy the information demand of the resource-poor, smallholder tribal farming communities of the eastern Himalayas. A majority of beneficiaries (70.32%) provided positive responses on advisories through the IIDS generated feedback system. The study suggests the future scaling of MBAS initiative by adding a better knowledge management system, a robust feedback system, a way to track farmer-to-farmer (F2F) communication, and a public-private-community partnership (PPCP) approach.
... Various authors in Africa, particularly, South Africa (D'Haese & Van Huylenbroeck, 2005) and Kenya (Dannenberg & Nduru, 2013), Latin America (Ghezán et al., 2002;Reardon & Berdegué, 2002), developing countries and the world in general have exemplified how small scale and large scale farmers have either been excluded or included in the supermarket chain. Recent studies revealed that small-scale producers are involved in the supermarket chain (Bienabe & Vermeulen, 2007;Dannenberg & Kulke, 2005;Kirsten & Sartorius, 2002;Louw et al., 2008). For example, a study in India indicated that supermarkets procure their products directly from small-scale producers (Harper, 2010). ...
This paper systematically sheds light on the procurement systems, the selection criteria of Supermarket agrifood suppliers, and the impact of procurement systems on producers. A systematic search of literature from 2000 to 2022 was carried out. Fifty-two peer-reviewed research articles were identified from the Scopus database. The review findings revealed a positive impact on the income, productivity, and efficiency of the suppliers of supermarkets. Supermarkets used a combination of procurement systems (modernised and traditional) but primarily used the modernised method. Most studies reported that pricing and quality of food, the safety of produce, quantity, supply stability, delivery timeliness, and trust connections determine whether supermarkets buy from small or large producers. From the study, it is suggested that, to attract and maintain consumers in the underdeveloped areas, supermarket managers have to practice a just-in-time inventory management system where stocks will be kept low and also integrate vendor relationship management to reduce the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables sold at the Supermarket.
... In particular, bioenergy clusters have been created in Poland (Rasmussen, Giełczewski, Wójtowicz, & Rosemarin, 2020), as well as in Austria and Germany (Plieninger, Thiel, Bens, & Hüttl, 2008). Clusters, which are defined as spatial proximity between companies and branches, take into account the following advantages of agglomeration: low transport costs and a possibility of intangible relations, for example information and experience exchange (Dannenberg & Kulke, 2005). ...
Development of the world economy requires energy supply, which under stable growth must be based on alternative energy resources. Bioenergy is an integral part of energy security supply in volatile countries. It can satisfy a considerable part of energy demand of agribusinesses and other companies as well as facilitate problem-shooting in energy, ecological and social sectors in some regions. Enhancing bioenergy in Ukraine is one of the strategic ways in the development of the alternative energy sector, taking into account high volatility of the country and significant potential of biomass available for energy production. This research intends to determine conditions and mechanisms of development and functioning of bioenergy clusters based on preliminary specification of the bioenergy potential of the territories, taking into account modern marketing approaches. This article contains evaluation of the bioenergy production growth in countries such as China, Germany, France, the USA, Canada, Brazil and Ukraine. The feasibility of the cluster approach for Ukrainian bioenergy development has been proved. In order to combine Ukrainian regions according to all types of energy resources the authors applied the method of clustering analysis. The key point of the method implies that, based on the given set of indicators which are defined as the main characteristics of the object, every object of the population belongs to a similar class. Therefore, in order to study the efficiency of usage of bioenergy resources in a particular region, it is necessary to classify a set of indicators to identify standard forms. To systemize Ukrainian regions, the Isodata algorithm Isodata, based on the types of the economic and energy potential of biomass, is taken into account. To implement the analysis, the following indicators are considered: the biomass energy potential of primary cell waste, the biomass energy potential of trimming, the biomass energy potential of refining, the energy potential of wooden biomass, the mold biomass potential, the energy potential of bioenergy crops, the corn energy potential (biogas). Market players organize groups with regard to their industries, territories and other factors, namely clusters which are likely to become effective tools in while carrying out scale projects under tough competition. In the minor energy sector cooperation between research and manufacturing enterprises, which satisfies energy needs both of cities and individual customers, is growing. This approach perfectly meets all requirements of the regional development of Ukrainian bioenergy. The main goal of bioenergy clusters is to develop competitive advantages of regions by increasing all types of biomass and biofuel production. This implies the following priorities: creation of a database of agribusiness enterprises, which potentially are members of the cluster and corresponding infrastructure, establishment of marketing communications in order to inform members and potential investors about bioenergy advantages, introduction of regional databases by means of webpages, newsletters, public discussions etc., enhanced vocational training of bioenergy industry employees and investment attraction to finance bioenergy projects. As a result, the authors of the paper propose a classification of Ukrainian regions based on the indicators of the economic energy potential of wastes and energy crops in agribusinesses, which is the basis for cluster formation. Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Khmelnitsky and Chernihiv regions refer to the first type with the biggest bioenergy potential, which makes it possible to create 2 energy clusters by combining central-west and north-east regions. Such a methodology gives an opportunity to satisfy the needs of the regions and districts which need additional energy resources taken from own biomass. Priority tasks of the bioenergy cluster include: development of the database of agribusiness entities which potentially are the cluster members and corresponding infrastructure, informing members and investors about bioenergy benefits, creation of the regional information database identifying the resources, capacity and the transport system, vocational training, investment attraction in order to implement bioenergy projects. Based on clusters, economic relations build up a competitive and sound investment climate to support the economy, which, in turn, provides high living standards. The authors have defined the procedure for exercising the cluster initiative and determined the structure of marketing support for cluster projects.
... Agro-industrial clusters should focus on environmental protection. The role of cluster structures in the development of rural areas cannot be overestimated [8][9]. ...
The article examines the regions of the North Caucasus in the context of the implementation of cluster projects. The functions and possibilities of clustering, the versatility of approaches to its definition in domestic and foreign publications are considered. Favorable preconditions for the formation of agro-industrial clusters in combination with agritourism (favorable natural and climatic conditions, operating agro-holdings, significant labor resources, rich cultural and historical heritage, etc.), as well as constraining factors (lack of a unified mechanism for the formation of regional agro-industrial clusters, insufficient activity of the business community in terms of generating ideas and implementing initiative projects, weak involvement of the population in dialogue with the business community and government authorities, etc.). A model of an interregional agro-industrial cluster has been proposed, the core of which will be agricultural holdings operating in the north-east of the Caucasus.
... Autores comoMaldonado (2009) han definido el clúster como la concentración de productos y servicios relacionados entre sí, que se ubican dentro de una zona geográfica relativamente definida, y donde es posible conformar un polo productivo especializado con ventajas competitivas regionales. La idea principal detrás de la confirmación de un clúster apunta a la proximidad espacial entre compañías y unidades suplementarias tales como proveedores e instituciones, entre otros, generando no solo ventajas de aglomeración -como bajos costos de transporte y transacciones-sino también un intercambio inmaterial, como la experiencia e información a través de la interacción de los actores involucrados(Dannenberg y Kulke, 2005).Existen numerosos ejemplos empíricos en la literatura que defienden la importancia de la aglomeración de las empresas en un espacio geográfico como una forma de crear y mantener ventajas competitivas (Cecatto y Persson, 2002), donde la cooperación mutua permite el intercambio de experiencias, incidiendo en la competitividad de las unidades involucradas pero también de toda la región. ...
Desde la década de los noventa del siglo pasado, el clúster del aguacate en el Estado de Michoacán, México, presenta importantes transformaciones vinculadas a la presencia de nuevos actores: inversión extranjera directa, estrategias de promoción y comercialización y procesos de producción inocuos, consolidándose como uno de los productos agrícolas más competitivos a nivel nacional. El objetivo del presente artículo es analizar el surgimiento, desarrollo e impacto económico del clúster del aguacate. La metodología se basa en el reprocesamiento de información primaria y secundaria, revisión de literatura, páginas web de empresas comercializadoras y promotoras del producto y entrevistas a actores clave de la industria, así como varias visitas a las diferentes zonas aguacateras. Para la información estadística se recurrió a los datos de la Secretaría de Agricultura de México, incluyendo censos agrícolas; informes de fundaciones agropecuarias; la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (FAO), y la Junta Estatal de Sanidad Vegetal. Concluimos que, tras varias generaciones, los productores se transformaron en empresarios, conservando aún su vínculo y trabajo con el campo. Por su parte, las oportunidades comerciales han permitido una derrama económica generalizada en la región con implicaciones sociales y ambientales, delineando nuevas líneas de investigación.
... [a]REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH BIOENERGY Actors in the field typically assemble in bioenergy clusters. Clusters, defined as spatial proximity between companies and supplementary units, are considered to imply advantages of agglomeration such as low transportation costs and the possibility of immaterial exchange relationships, for example the exchange of information and experience (Dannenberg and Kulke, 2005). Often these clusters have become famours as 'bioenergy villages' or 'bioenergy regions'. ...
... Some sectors may be behind employment generating clusters such as the agro-tourism cluster of Périgord (De Soucey, 2010), as well as the equine sector in France (cluster Hippolia in the department of Calvados) and Kentucky (United-States) (Garkovich et al., 2008). Some Polish clusters raise questions about the relationship between forms of subsistence farming (the productivity of which remains low) and agro-industries employing lowpaid migrant (and even illegal) workers which need large quantities of agricultural products to generate economies of scale (Dannenberg and Kulke, 2005). ...
Agricultural employment, in sharp decline in Europe, is the subject of little recent scientific work, and few studies focus specifically on livestock farming. Labour and employment factors must be considered to respond appropriately to the livestock farming “crisis” in Europe and to assess the room to manoeuvre of public policies to adapt this sector to the diverse challenges facing it. We have conducted a review to assess the combined effects on ruminant livestock employment and famers' work at the European level. In the first section, employment in ruminant livestock farms is quantified and the main differences between livestock sectors and regions are identified. We have showed that in France, livestock activities mobilize 41% of the French agricultural workforce at the national level, but due to territorial diversity, there are significant variations across the country. In Europe, while all countries are affected by a reduction in the livestock workforce, employment trends also vary de- pending on the animal sector. In the second section, we analyse trends in farmers’ work that could explain the evolution of agricultural employment in terms of slowing or accelerating the reduction in the livestock work- force. Our results highlighted supply-driven factors and demand-driven factors tend to increase the number of livestock workers. Some structural and institutional changes play a greater role as both an accelerator and moderator of the decline in livestock workers. The third section focuses on the effects of livestock employment on other industries. We show that the indirect and induced effects of livestock farming vary according to activity sector. Dairy farms have higher induced effects, especially at the national level. The development of processing activities can be limited locally by the low appeal of most of the jobs. In the conclusion, we highlight four major issues concerning employment and work in the livestock sector at the European level.
Vor dem Hintergrund des Klimawandels sowie den negativen Umweltwirkungen einer in vielen Bereichen industrialisierten Produktion steht die Landwirtschaft in Deutschland vermehrt im kritischen Fokus einer breiten Öffentlichkeit (Feindt et al. 2019). Ein gestiegenes gesellschaftliches Interesse an gesunden Lebensmitteln, ökologischer Nachhaltigkeit sowie Belangen des Tierwohls treffen hierbei auf Fragen der ökonomischen Rentabilität der Produktion und damit der Einkommenssicherheit der Landwirte sowie bezahlbarer Verbraucherpreise für alle Bevölkerungsschichten (vgl. Dannenberg 2020). Hinzukommt eine fortschreitende Globalisierung sowie ein immenser politischer Einfluss auf europäischer (EU-Agrarsubventionen) und nationaler Ebene (z. B. Energiewende), der den Agrarsektor in Deutschland in den letzten Jahrzehnten grundlegend verändert hat.
Vidiek je územie, ktoré je organickou súčasťou regionálneho priestoru. Má svoje charakteristické črty, ktorými sú prirodzená krajina so špecifickým využitím najmä odvetviami primárneho sektora, nízka hustota obyvateľstva, rozdrobená sídelná štruktúra, diverzifikovaná ekonomická štruktúra, sociálna kohézia a bohatstvo kultúrnych tradícií. Má však aj problémy vyplývajúce práve z nízkej hustoty obyvateľstva a nízkej intenzity ekonomických aktivít. Vidiecke regióny a vidiecke obce ťažko zachytávajú globálne rozvojové impulzy, dostávajú sa do rozvojových problémov. Vzniká priestorová nerovnováha, ktorá neumožňuje efektívne využívať územný kapitál vidieka a vytvára tlak na verejné zdroje. Rozvoj vidieka je v ekonomickom, sociálnom aj environmentálnom zmysle významnou témou jednotlivých súčastí regionálnej vedy, ale aj ekonomickej a politickej praxe. Autori sa v tejto knihe pokúsili zhrnúť svoje poznatky o faktoroch, procesoch, politikách a nástrojoch týkajúcich sa ekonomického a sociálneho rozvoja vidieka. Predkladaná učebnica načrtáva teoretické východiská, identifikuje rozvojový potenciál ako aj rozvojové problémy vidieka. Naznačuje spôsoby ich riešenia vrátane metodických nástrojov na ich praktické riešenie. Sú to samozrejme rámcové problémy omnoho komplexnejšej problematiky, ktorá je predmetom ďalšieho skúmania. Je určená pre študentov Slovenskej poľnohospodárskej univerzity v Nitre, ktorí študujú predmet „Rozvoj vidieka“, pre študentov iných univerzít a vysokých škôl, ktorých daná problematiky zaujíma, ale aj pre pracovníkov verejnej správy na všetkých úrovniach riadenia.
Territorial governance is of growing interest in an endogenous development perspective, in which organizational and institutional arrangements are supplied by the actors themselves to ensure coordination. This study was carried out in the Campos de Cima da Serra in southern Brazil, where the Serrano cheese is produced. It is an informal production. In fact, new consumers' preferences for young instead of matured cheese, and national hygiene standards that are incompatible with small-scale and artisanal production make the legalization of the sales impossible for the producers. The aim of the study is twofold. First, it brings forward the territorial and value chain governance approaches from French-and German-speaking literatures. Second, based on the analysis of institutional arrangements, it assesses the quality of territorial governance processes. For that end, the institutional arrangements implemented in the states of Santa Cata-rina and Rio Grande do Sul, in the Campos de Cima da Serra, were analyzed. Results show that two different strategies are adopted: In Santa Catarina, there is a strong coordination between all municipalities, whereas in Rio Grande do Sul, municipalities are acting independently, leading to less effective governance. However, institutional arrangements in both states are facing a lack of dynamism. They suffer especially from little mobilization of producers and little involvement of local authorities. The extension services are the central actors of the collective action, following a top-down model. Thus, the achievement of collective action would require more participatory governance through the integration of the different actors in the process, as well as support from the larger institutional environment.
The transition to market economy has brought far-reaching structural changes for the Polish agriculture. The areas mostly affected are those parts of Poland where agricultural land was extensively nationalized after the Second World War, i.e. the former eastern territories of Germany, including the parts of western Poland to the east of the Oder and Neisse rivers, directly adjacent to the present Land of Brandenburg. The closure of the state farms and the cessation of agricultural subsidies have resulted in many changes in the economic and social structure of rural areas. High unemployment, the closing-down, and the loss of significance of many small-scale farms, as well as the creation of a new class of medium-and large-scale farmers are characteristic features of the current transformation process.
Since the beginning of the industrial age rural regions in Germany had been struck with fundamental changes. In most of the rural regions a lot of problems arose in economic and demographic developments as well as in the field of agriculture. Nowadays, our economic and social system again is involved in a process of epochal change - on the way to the post-fordistic informational age. Although it is not yet possible to precisely forecast the future development, different actual tendencies can be noted which might give rural regions a chance to overcome existing structural problems in the future.