Assessing eco-efficiency and the determinants of horticultural family-farming in southeast Spain.

Eco-efficiency is currently receiving ever increasing interest as an indicator of sustainability, as it links environmental and economic performances in productive activities. In agriculture these indicators and their determinants prove relevant due to the close ties in this activity between the use of often limited natural resources and the provision of basic goods for society. The present paper analyzes eco-efficiency at micro-level, focusing on small-scale family farms as the principal decision-making units (DMUs) of horticulture in southeast Spain, which represents over 30% of fresh vegetables produced in the country. To this end, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) framework is applied, computing several combinations of environmental pressures (water usage, phytosanitary contamination, waste management, etc.) and economic value added. In a second stage we analyze the influence of family farms' socio-economic and environmental features on eco-efficiency indicators, as endogenous variables, by using truncated regression and bootstrapping techniques. The results show major inefficiency in aspects such as waste management, among others, while there is relatively minor inefficiency in water usage and nitrogen balance. On the other hand, features such as product specialization, adoption of quality certifications, and belonging to a cooperative all have a positive influence on eco-efficiency. These results are deemed to be of interest to agri-food systems structured on small-scale producers, and they may prove useful to policy-makers as regards managing public environmental programs in agriculture.

Determinants of Food Safety Level in Fruit and Vegetable Wholesalers' Supply Chain: Evidence from Spain and France.

Food safety management in short supply chains of fruit and vegetables, controlled by large retailers, has been widely studied in the literature. However, when it comes to traditional long supply chains, which include a greater number of intermediaries and wholesalers who, in some cases, play a dual role as resellers and producers, the mechanisms which promote the use of safety certifications have yet to be clearly defined. The present study intended to fill this gap in the literature and shed light on the food safety level that exists in this channel. In addition, this work attempted to identify the existence of differences between both sales systems. For this purpose, the empirical research studied the most important variables that influence the food safety level of some of the main European fruit and vegetable wholesalers. A survey was thus designed and later applied to Spanish and French intermediaries working in key wholesale markets and in the southeast of Spain, which is the leading commercialization area of these products in Europe. The results revealed the positive influence of specific customers (big retailers) on establishing stricter safety controls within wholesale companies. It was also observed that specific wholesalers also play an important role in the system, namely those dedicated to importing, but which are also responsible for quality and safety inspection of agri-food products exported from third countries into the European Union.