Blauw, Emiel (2023) The rise of bottom-up initiatives in the Dutch agricultural sector. Master thesis.
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Abstract
This research looks into what room there is for sustainable innovation within the Dutch agricultural planning system. According to the literature research, existing power structures, state-dependency and path-dependency make sure that production-based agriculture is desired, which has consequences for farmers, consumers and the environment while leaving little room for sustainable innovation to be promoted. Environmental measures are present in the current version of the Common Agricultural Policy, but these are often ineffective and can even work counterproductive. Given this institutional context, four promising sustainable agricultural innovations (Agricycling, community-supported agriculture, strip cropping and agroforestry) are researched and scored according to a “Sustainable Innovation Performance Index (SIPI)”. Since institutional context is lacking in existing sustainability monitoring systems of agricultural business models, an index had to be developed for this research. Through interviews with experts, each innovation received a “sustainable innovation” score. According to the performance index, strip cropping is the most promising sustainable innovation due to its versatility in both implementation and environmental performance. This versatility also allows other sustainable innovations such as Agricycling to be applied simultaneously, which is advised to do because this combination allows strip croppings’ potential to be fulfilled. Results show that CSA and agroforestry are not suitable to replace production-driven agriculture, however these projects can play a role in educating society about sustainable food production. The national government can contribute by using its central position to promote sustainable innovation in agriculture via green subsidies.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Environmental & Infrastructure Planning |
| Supervisor: | Kann, F.M.G. van |
| Date Deposited: | 31 Jan 2023 14:22 |
| Last Modified: | 31 Jan 2023 14:22 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4112 |
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