Situating tenure,capital and finance in farmland relations: implications for stewardship and agroecological health in Ontario,Canada

Farmers in Canada are older and more capitalized than ever before. Meanwhile, farmland values continue to rise. These forces together are generating unprecedented shifts in farmland relations, marked by increasing reliance on rental tenure and the rise of hybrid owner–renter consolidating farmers. This paper explores these dynamics in Ontario and asks how they are impacting on-farm agroecological stewardship. To do so, we begin with a review of the land and property relations literature as well as farmland and agricultural change in Ontario. We then briefly review agroecological issues and concepts that are important for linking on-farm agroecological health to aformentioned farmland and agricultural changes. From here, we use survey, interview and soil sample data collected from grain farmers across Ontario to elucidate relatively new shifts in land tenure and use dynamics. We argue that this complex set of forces is interacting to produce an appealing set of conditions for financial investors, while restricting access to farmland for less-capitalized farmers. We then show how these shifts are divesting capital and attention from agroecological health. We conclude with a reflection on how the state has been mediating and contributing to these dynamics, and urgently call for land policy that prioritizes social and ecological principals.     

The global political economy of climate change,agriculture and food systems

The food and agriculture sector is both a major contributor to climate change and especially vulnerable to its worst impacts. This means that much is at stake in what is a complex set of contested political dynamics as new governance agendas are rolled out. On one hand, there is a strong push for ‘climate-smart agriculture’ (CSA) and related initiatives in the area of marine resources such as the idea of the blue economy, as an attempt to bring a range of viewpoints together to address the interrelationship between these ecological and economic systems. On the other hand, critics see these strategies as promotion of more of the same kinds of policies that created stress in the climate–food system in the first place. To unpack these issues, this special forum brings together a collection of papers that highlight three overlapping themes that lie at the centre of these debates, yet which have not been fully acknowledged by those implementing CSA initiatives: the role of power and interests in shaping governance approaches to climate and food systems; the ways in which existing approaches, primarily those promoting open markets and technology, are reinforced in governance initiatives; and the sidelining of questions of inequality.     

Differentiation: old controversies,new insights

There is a long-standing debate about the nature, impact and significance of processes of differentiation in driving agricultural development. This contribution discusses three ways in which such processes have been conceptualized: modernization theories that put markets centre stage, Marxist theories that focus on class, and Chayanovian approaches that highlight the dynamics within farming families. The empirical evidence for testing these concepts is normally derived from agricultural censuses. This paper uses a different database that covers all Dutch farms between 1980 and 2006 and enables us to follow the changes on individual farms. Examination of this data reveals that the actual processes of differentiation that have occurred in this 25-year period differ greatly from the classic conceptualizations. It also challenges the conventional wisdom that agricultural development is mostly driven by larger farms.     

Contested landscapes: the global political economy of climate-smart agriculture

Analysing key initiatives in the area of climate-smart agriculture and the politics which surround them, this paper identifies the dominant discourses shaping the debate through a discussion of discursive sites of power and by mapping the emerging ‘regime complex’ of institutional power that operates at the interface of the climate and agrifood system. This is connected to forms of material power that derive from control over production, finance and technology in the neoliberal food regime by transnational capital. Such an analysis has important implications for which solutions are promoted as part of climate-smart agriculture and which actors are likely to benefit from the flows of technology, finance and institutional support that are mobilised in the struggle to define a viable global agrifood system in a warming world.     

基于扩充化推拉理论的农村劳动力转移影响因素分析

自改革开放以来,农村劳动力转移为中国经济增长贡献了重要力量,但近年来愈演愈烈的"民工荒"现象也反映出农村劳动力转移后劲不足的问题。因此,分析农村劳动力转移的影响因素,为农村劳动力转移扫除路径障碍具有重要的现实意义。基于扩充化的推拉理论,可将农村劳动力转移的影响因素划分为源自农村的推力、源自城镇的拉力和源自制度的摩擦力等三个方面,据此使用最小二乘法(OLS)和Praise-Winsten AR(1)方法进行计量回归,实证结果表明:农村收入水平提升、农业生产力水平提升、农地资源水平下降构成了源自农村的推力;城镇收入水平提升、非农化水平提升、城镇基础设施水平提升构成了源自城镇的拉力;但以劳动力价格扭曲为表现的制度摩擦力,也对农村劳动力转移产生了显著的阻碍。     

Seed wars and farmers’ rights: comparative perspectives from Brazil and India

Drawing on interviews with Indian and Brazilian farmers’ rights activists, lawyers, agronomists and plant breeders, this article aims at better understanding how farmers’ rights are protected on paper and implemented on the ground in these two countries. Brazil and India offer important case studies because they are biologically megadiverse countries, and because small farmers represent an important segment of the rural economy. In this article, I show that India has adopted an ownership approach to farmers’ rights, while Brazil leans towards a stewardship approach. Based on an examination of the progress made in enforcing these rights, I further argue that the stewardship model adopted by Brazil is more conducive to the realization of farmers’ rights, and I explore why this is the case. Finally, I show how farmers’ rights provisions in the Brazilian and Indian legislations represent fragile gains that could be curtailed by several bills currently under discussion in the field of seed and plant variety protection.     

云南少数民族体育产业化的政策选择与社会支撑体系

云南少数民族体育产业的发展,必须遵循产业化发展的一般规律.政府在推进产业化发展过程中,应该从云南少数民族体育的实际出发,制定相应的政策措施,创造促进少数民族体育产业化发展的制度环境与条件.     

关于职业教育的历史定位

职业教育以提高劳动者的素质和职业技能、促进就业、促进企业和整个社会的经济发展为目的,以培养实用人才和熟练劳动者为目标。职业教育是工业化的产物,市场经济和城市化极大地促进了职业教育的发展。职业教育的发展不仅关系到职工个人的职业生涯,而且关系到企业的发展、国家的兴衰。     

对增加农民收入的思考

进入21世纪,增加农民收入成为人们关注的热点。随着经济的发展,农产品供求关系的变化、农民纯收入增幅缓慢、城镇化滞后等因素制约了农民收入的增长。土地承包责任制中产权不清晰以农业为主的产业结构农户分散经营农业剩余劳动力难以转移农业生态环境恶化是影响农民增收的主要问题。因此,走农业可持续发展的道路应从国民经济全局出发,重新思考农民收入的增长,将农业结构战略性调整同城乡社会结构的调整结合起来,实现农业规模经营,实现农业产业化经营,发展农产品多样化、优质化、深加工,转移农村人口,加快城镇化步伐,保护生态环境。     

循环农业视角下的武汉城市圈城乡统筹发展研究

该文阐述了循环农业在武汉城市圈城乡经济发展中的重要作用，分析了循环农业发展的现状、特点及其存在的不足。在此基础上，提出了以武汉城市圈区域一体化的理念为指导，发挥循环农业在统筹城乡发展中的作用的建议。