The role of cooperatives in food safety management of fresh produce chains: Case studies in four strawberry cooperatives

The impact of farmers' participation in green cooperative production on green performance-A study based on the moderating effect of environmental regulation

Based on 491 farmers joining in cooperatives microscopic data in Jiangxi Province,the paper uses Ordinary Least Squares to test the influence mechanism of cooperative green production on green performance, and takes environmental regulation as a regulatory variable to explore the relationship between cooperative green production and cooperative green performance. The results have shown that: (1) The green production cooperatives have a significant positive impact on their green performance, and the impact of green production on economic performance, social performance and ecological performance gradually strengthens from weak to strong; (2) Environmental regulations have a positive regulatory effect on the relationship between cooperative green production and cooperative green performance, among which three types of environmental regulations, namely, incentive, restraint and guided, can strengthen the positive relationship between green production and green performance.

Adoption of on-farm feed safety practices among livestock farmers: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

Compliance with feed safety standards and practices on the farm promotes sustainable livestock production and can positively affect the environment and human health. This study aims to examine farmers' on-farm adoption of feed safety practices and determine the differences in adoption according to the socio-economic characteristics of farmers. An online survey was conducted to collect the study data. The study participants consisted of 442 livestock farmers in Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia. The study findings revealed that farmers highly adopted categories of feed purchasing (77.9 %) and feed mixing and distribution (75.05 %), whereas they were considered as a moderate level adoption regarding feed storing (70.9 %). The cluster analysis results showed two main patterns of adoption- "high adopters" and "moderate adopters"-based on the average level of adoption for 25 feed safety practices examined. The cluster of "high adopters" accounted for 59.9 % of the sample and had higher average adoption in all practices examined. The findings revealed that there are significant differences between the two segments of farmers, corresponding to gender, membership in livestock association, extension contact, raising sheep, and feeding system. This study proposes the regular monitoring of farms to ensure strict adherence to feed safety regulations, with the implementation of awareness and capacity development initiatives pertaining to feed safety concerns.

Will Joining Cooperative Promote Farmers to Replace Chemical Fertilizers with Organic Fertilizers?

This study examines whether cooperatives can assist more than 200 million farmers in China, who are facing tightening resources and environmental constraints, in adopting green farming practices. A framework for counterfactual analysis was established to quantify the impact of farmers joining cooperatives on the reduction in chemical fertilizer consumption and the use of organic fertilizers. The study's conclusions are based on data from 712 farmers in four counties in Shandong and Henan provinces. Joining a cooperative can have a positive impact on farmers' selection of environmentally friendly production methods, which increases the likelihood of farmers reducing chemical fertilizer application by 35.6% and organic fertilizer application by 22.0%. It can also reduce the cost of chemical fertilizer application by an average of $209.2/ha. The extent to which smallholder farmers use chemical and organic fertilizers after joining cooperatives depends on the size of their farming operations and their perception of green production.

A bibliometric analysis of food safety governance research from 1999 to 2019

Although the number of food governance-related studies increased rapidly in the recent decade, the current academic research still lacked systematic integration of food safety governance. To clarify the development trends of research therein, this study summarized research articles concerning food safety governance by the Web of Science Core Collection. An in-depth bibliometric analysis was then conducted through CiteSpace to summarize the current characters and hot spots of food safety governance research, and predicted future research trends. Results showed that food safety governance was multidisciplinary, which included environmental science, food science, economics, and agriculture. The United States had the largest number of relevant articles, and Wageningen University was the most influential scientific research institution. Among all the journals in this field, Food Policy ranked the first in publication volume and co-citation frequency. The development of food safety governance research was divided into three processes, namely the separate formulation of the standards for public and private sectors, the joint implementation of these standards, and co-governance by multiple sectors. The most popular research hot spots in this field were food safety policy integration and public-private partnership of food safety governance. Lower- and middle-income countries focused more on food supply and food system design, and regrettably not on food safety. Higher-income countries cared more about food safety and food nutrition. Besides, researchers of higher-income countries also concentrated on consumers' voices in participating in food safety governance. Food safety co-governance, online food governance, the willingness to buy safe food, and food safety governance under pandemics were considered as future research directions.

Improving Vegetable Safety in China: Does Co-Regulation Work?

In the last decade, vegetable safety issues have received growing attention from both consumers and public authorities in China, as vegetable safety hazards pose a serious threat to public health. In 2017, the Industry & Trade Bureau in China implemented a “Market Renovation Program”. This program includes the renovation of wholesale and wet markets, the formal registration of all stallholders in these markets and the introduction of a rapid test for pesticides residues. We apply the co-regulation framework to assess the implementation and results of the renovation program on the safety of vegetables. A mixed methods approach is used to investigate the effects of the renovation program. The qualitative study elaborates on the implementation of the renovation program and the behavioural changes of stakeholders in handling vegetables through interviews and field observations. The quantitative results confirm that the renovation program has a positive impact on vegetable safety. In conclusion, this study shows that the key factor for the success of the renovation program is the transition of authority from the local, public authority to the market management.