This thesis is situated in this field of inquiry and studies entrepreneurship in agriculture. It explores how we can further develop both agriculture and sustainable rural areas. Farmers have traditionally played a significant role in rural areas and rural development, and still do. However in pace with societal development and the reduced number of farms and farm production, their role has changed. Today, they are considered as raw material producers, being the first link in a food chain, and active in landscape conservation in the countryside. However, agriculture plays a significant role in rural development and in Sweden, authorities strive for development of sustainable rural areas by encouraging economic growth and innovation within and between companies (business models, value chains etc.).To meet the research purpose, Swedish agricultural entrepreneurship was studied from different perspectives and data was collected with different methods enabling significant triangulation of data. Studies of challenges in entrepreneurship and sustainable rural development were conducted from individual farmer and business perspectives as well as from the individual and organisational levels of actors within the support system, actors such as advisors, authorities, policy makers and officials. Thus, it was possible to explore perspectives on entrepreneurship in agriculture and identify mechanisms and structures affecting value creation for sustainable rural development. Mechanisms can be explained as underlying, invisible and sometimes unconscious and non-rational factors, feelings, norms, values or attitudes that affect behaviour in various ways
Agricultural organizations are faced with continuous processes of change: economic openness, national and international competition between companies, adaptation to new business management models-Corporate Social Responsibility-, changing markets and the need to comply with regulations and certifications. This has led to...
The study examines whether the goal of food security for the population of Sverdlovskaya oblast, one of the mostly industrial northern region in Russia, aiming agricultural productivity improvement and rural poverty reduction, could be achieved by the regional authorities within...
La stratégie de Lisbonne met en avant la nécessité de stimuler la croissance et de créer des emplois dans les zones rurales, elle vise à renouveler les bases de la compétitivité européenne, à augmenter son potentiel de croissance ainsi que...
La presente Tesis doctoral se planteó con cuatro objetivos específicos. El primero era "conocer el estado actual en el que se encuentra el sector agroalimentario incidiendo en aquellos aspectos que pueden influir en mayor medida en el desarrollo de su...
African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security. To achieve...
