Organizational Forms and Agri-Environmental Practices: The Case of Brazilian Dairy Farms

Tiago Teixeira da Silva Siqueira, Danielle Galliano, Geneviève Nguyen and Ferenc Istvan Bánkuti
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Tiago Teixeira da Silva Siqueira: INRAE UMR 1114 EMMAH, Department Agroecosytem, Dom St Paul, 84914 Avignon, France
Geneviève Nguyen: INRAE UMR 1248 AGIR, 24, Department Actions and Transitions, Chemin de Borde-Rouge, 31326 Castanet Tolosan, France
Ferenc Istvan Bánkuti: Department of Animal Science, State University of Maringá, Maringá, PR 87020-900, Brazil

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: Understanding the relationship between the organizational characteristics of a farm and its environmental performance is essential to support the agro-ecological transition of farms. This is even more important as very few studies on the subject have been undertaken and as there is a growing diversity of organizational forms of farms that differ from the traditional family model. This paper proposes a comprehensively integrated approach of dairy farms in Brazil. A case study of six archetypes of farms with contrasted organizational characteristics is developed to explore the relations between, on the one hand, farms’ organizational structure and governance, and on the other hand, the adoption of agri-environmental practices. Results show that the adoption of agri-environmental practices varies across the wide range of farm’s organizational forms—from the family to the industrial models. Farms with limited internal resources depend more specifically on external sectoral or territorial resources to implement environmental practices. If the environment is conducive to the creation of incentives and coordination mechanisms underlying learning processes, farms will adopt agri-environmental practices, regardless of they are organized. The creation of local cooperatives, farmer’s networks and universities extension programs can strengthen farmers’ absorption, adaptation and transformation capacities and boost the adoption of environmental practices. Finally, considering farms as heterogeneous organizational forms in terms of human capital, resources, market, and informational access is essential to accelerate the agroecological transition.

Keywords: farm; organization; governance; adoption; agroecology; practices; regulation; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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