AJAD Volume 21 Issue No. 1 June 2024

Research shows that external factors dominate the key determinants of eco-innovation (EI) adoption in organizations in the agriculture sector. Studies are needed to understand the link between internal organizational capabilities and EI adoption. Given the heterogeneity in the types of agricultural cooperatives based on their origin, this study sought to fill this gap by exploring how opportunity, motivation, and ability affect the adoption of EI by agricultural cooperatives. Using a qualitative methodology, we examined seven farming cooperatives in Vietnam and found three dominant drivers of cooperatives’ formation: market, technology, and authority. Market-driven cooperatives are characterized by the presence of opportunity, motivation, and ability; technology-driven ones by motivation and ability; and authority-driven ones by motivation only. This study contributes to the literature on agricultural cooperatives and EI. It offers recommendations to leaders of cooperatives and policymakers.

Sustaining rice farming in rural Indonesia is increasingly difficult as younger generations move away from agriculture. This study examined the motivations of 82 rice farmers in Margokaton Village, Yogyakarta, using Alderfer’s Existence-Relatedness-Growth (ERG) theory and Spearman’s rank correlation analysis. Findings reveal a moderate overall motivation level, with relatedness needs—such as community ties and farmer group support—scoring highest. 

Key motivating factors included education, side jobs, positive perception of farming, and land ownership. In contrast, low paddy productivity, declining household income, and extensive farming experience were negatively associated with motivation. Cultural influences, such as parental encouragement and land inheritance traditions, also shaped farmers’ willingness to continue rice cultivation.

Strengthening social support systems and improving economic incentives may enhance motivation to remain in farming. The study offers insights for policies promoting agricultural sustainability and generational renewal in Indonesia’s rice sector.

This study analyzes the strawberry value chain in the Cordillera Administrative Region of the Philippines in light of longstanding supply chain inefficiencies and the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a two-phase framework, the research first mapped the value chain—from input provision to marketing—highlighting the roles, relationships, and constraints among key actors. Value-added analysis revealed disparities, with consolidators capturing the most gains and farmers the least. Building on a SWOT assessment, the second phase developed a set of intervention models categorized into five areas: resource, market, product, process and technology, and human capital development. These models were refined through stakeholder consultations and aligned with existing government and institutional programs. Recommended actions include strengthening planting material systems, supporting product diversification, improving access to markets through digital and physical platforms, and expanding training and organizational support. Despite limitations in data collection due to mobility restrictions, the study presents practical strategies for enhancing the efficiency, inclusiveness, and adaptability of the strawberry value chain.

Farming systems provide information about the complexity of agriculture at the household level in a region. In Temanggung, Indonesia, the Java Arabica Sindoro-Sumbing (JASS) coffee intercropped with tobacco and vegetables provides an interesting interaction study. Despite its potential, no in-depth research has been conducted on farming systems and the level of good agricultural practices (GAP) adoption in JASS plantations. Thus, this study sought to analyze farming systems and determine the level of GAP adoption by the JASS coffee farmers in Tlahab, Temanggung, Central Java Province. One hundred fifty-eight purposively sampled farmers were interviewed in depth, classified as specialist, rainforest, and diversified coffee farmers. The study employed agrarian system diagnosis as tool for analyzing farming systems, and calculated GAP adoption using the chi-square test. Before 1999, the simple farming system consisted of planting tobacco and red beans during the dry season, switching to corn during the rainy season, and keeping livestock for emergency savings and manure. However, erosion was a major problem because few wood trees existed, prompting farmers to grow JASS coffee in large quantities  as a conservation plant and a new income source. After 2000, JASS coffee was grown alongside tobacco and red beans during the dry season, followed by more diverse cropping during the rainy season. Plant spacing and intercropping had more than 75 percent adoption rate, water and soil conservation, along with growing shade trees, had 30 to 50 percent adoption, while fertilizing and pruning had less than 25 percent. Specialist coffee farmers dominated the practice of GAP cultivation and had higher yield and income from coffee cherries than the two other farmer types.

The COVID-19 restrictions have caused economic losses that affected food availability and accessibility, thereby compromising people’s lifestyles and putting the already existing poor households into severe food insecurity. As such, national government agencies and local government units in the Philippines provided emergency cash assistance and food aid as safety nets during the pandemic to help vulnerable households cope with the impending economic crisis and to improve food security in the country. This cross-sectional study assesses the association of social safety net programs with household food security (i.e., food secure, consistently food insecure, and newly food insecure) in Cavite province, Philippines. Findings show that being beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and the Social Amelioration Program are associated with being consistently and newly food insecure. Furthermore, households that obtained food from the community pantry, a volunteer-led movement during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic are also associated with food insecurity. On the other hand, the households that were provided with food packs, across different socioeconomic conditions, are not significantly associated with food insecurity. The study also affirms that households most vulnerable to food crises in the context of COVID-19 are those who are consistently food insecure and were already exposed to critical food and dietary deprivations before the onset of the pandemic. There is much to be done to improve the safety net programs in the country. The study results can add information and policy recommendations toward strengthening the services for vulnerable population groups to withstand short- and long-term food system disruptions and eventually build food-resilient households and communities.

COVID-19 has disrupted Indonesia’s agricultural food supply chain, leading to the massive mintage and exertion of digitalization in the food and agriculture (agrifood) sector. This study systematically mapped the landscape of agrifood digital technology studies and startups in Indonesia and its relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic evidence evaluation was harnessed for this study to obtain data, which were translated into thematic and interactive maps. The study shows that COVID-19 has hampered some agrifood activities but has positively accelerated the development of digital technologies in the sector. The Government of Indonesia has issued national initiatives and policies that support implementing digital technologies in the agrifood sector. The digital technologies studied and utilized in Indonesia’s agrifood industry are websites, the Internet of Things (IoT), global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) technology, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and robotics. About 22.8 percent of the reviewed literature discusses the ripple effects of COVID-19 on the digitalized agrifood sector in the country. Most startups are in the form of farmers’ advisory, mechanization platforms, digital marketplace, e-commerce, traceability, food delivery, and peer-to-peer lending. Both the studies and applications are primarily concentrated on Java island and have benefited from digital technologies, such as IoT, blockchain, AI, smartphone or Android, mobile apps, GPS/GIS, and drones. Startup companies have applied strategic measures to cope with the implications of the pandemic, such as suspending some of their activities.

Based on a multicountry research done in 2016–21, this book provides new insights on the socioeconomic mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of aging agriculture both in developed and developing economies. This work contributes significantly as a good reading material for tertiary education, for advanced research in rural-social studies, and in formulating public policies in agricultural economic development.