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The objective of this study is to analyze the determinants of agricultural production in Cameroon, a country with very high agricultural potential. The authors conduct this study using data from FAO (FAOSTAT, 2022), the World Bank (WDI, 2022), and Cameroon's Ministries of Rural Development (for budgetary data on public agricultural expenditures). The econometric results show that in Cameroon, the increase in agricultural output is largely sustained by the expansion of the rural population and that a series of factors contribute to the decline in agricultural production, including rural education, low institutional levels and the isolation of rural areas. According to the results of this study, if Cameroon wants to accelerate its agricultural growth, the redistribution of uncultivated arable land to farmers, the integration of agricultural training units into rural secondary education programs and the enforcement of laws protecting land ownership must be at the heart of economic policies. L'objectif de cette étude est d'analyser les déterminants de la production agricole au Cameroun, un pays à très fort potentiel agricole. Les auteurs mènent cette étude à partir des données de la FAO (FAOSTAT, 2022), de la Banque mondiale (WDI, 2022) et des ministères du developpement rural du Cameroun (pour les données budgétaires relatives aux dépenses publiques agricoles). Les résultats économétriques montrent qu'au Cameroun, l'accroissement du produit agricole est soutenu en grande partie par l'expansion de la population rurale et qu'une série de facteurs contribue à la baisse de la production agricole entre autres, l'éducation en milieu rural, le faible niveau des institutions et l'enclavement des zones rurales. Au regard des résultats de cette étude, si le Cameroun veut accélérer sa croissance agricole, la redistribution des terres arables non cultivées aux agriculteurs, l'intégration des unités de formation aux métiers de l'agriculture dans les programmes d'enseignement secondaire en milieu rural et l'application des lois protégeant la propriété foncière doivent être au cœur des politiques économiques.

As an essential urban matter, food has always been highly relevant in issues of social and environmental justice. Current debates around food call for a better understanding of the relationship between global and local food production and social and environmental justice. Specifically, discussions on urban greening concepts are considering whether and how social justice and sustainability goals can be achieved. This has become a pressing issue due to a growing awareness of negative effects and social imbalances in the production, consumption, and disposal of food. The article explores the normative foundations and constructions of “good and just food” that are considered appropriate to a sustainable food system and the power techniques related to personal and environmental responsibility that feature in the work of the German food policy councils seeking to initiate a transformation process. Using a governmentality approach based on Foucault, this article seeks to fill gaps in the literature regarding food policy councils and, thereby, contribute to our understanding of the local manifestations of global policy projects that address environmental and social justice in green cities.

Die persönliche Ernährungsweise beeinflusst Umwelt- und Klimaschutz. Um das Ernährungssystem in eine nachhaltige Richtung zu transformieren, bedarf es dem Einsatz ernährungspolitischer Maßnahmen. Im Rahmen des Forschungsprozesses wird untersucht, inwiefern ein Werbeverbot für nicht nachhaltige Lebensmittel eine solche Transformation unterstützen kann.

The article presents the results of the assessment of Russia's food security in 2020-2021 based on the available statistical data and sociological monitoring of the population's 'food well-being' conducted since 2015 by the Center for Agro-Food Policy of the RANEPA. The authors believe that the pandemic risks for Russian agriculture were limited, and agricultural production ensured a high level of food self-sufficiency. Although the physical access to food remained at the same level, the economic access has deteriorated; however, Russian families managed to keep their usual diet by redirecting the money saved due to the pandemic restrictions to food consumption. Rising food prices have become the most important problem under the crisis, and to solve it, the Russian government has used a wide range of measures - from reducing duties on food imports and temporary bans on food exports to setting marginal retail prices for certain food products. The sociological assessment of the population's 'food well-being' (the all-Russian telephone survey) showed that the families' requirements to the access to food are rather modest due to the huge credit of patience and sustainable practices of adaptation to the objective social-economic restrictions. Given the achieved indicators of Russia's food self-sufficiency according to the Food Security Doctrine, the state should shift its focus from food self-sufficiency (and increasing exports) to the economic access of the population to food.

The importation of foreign models is part of Brazil’s institution building story, owing to its Portuguese colonisation and the influence of European countries and the United States. After the transition to democracy and the Constitution of 1988, the scenario began to change. The country developed social policy innovations that rose to a national scale when the Workers’ Party took office. These innovations started to spread globally, and international organisations began to recommend Brazilian social policies. Examples of Brazilian policies that have been transferred are the Family Allowance and the National School Feeding Programs. How has Brazil moved from importing foreign institutions to becoming a Southern country reference in terms of social policies? The main argument here is that Brazil, while building itself into a rising power, has developed new patterns of policy transfers that have so far been overlooked by the field literature. Through a process-tracing analysis of Brazil’s social policy diffusion, we have been able to identify different forces that facilitate these transfers, such as a quest for international legitimacy, the role of “policy ambassadors,” the joint efforts of various national institutions, Brazilians occupying positions in international organisations, and the creation of institutions designed for these policy transfers.

In the highly concentrated and consolidated 21st century food systems, a broad range of stakeholders are rarely involved in food-related decision-making processes. One innovative institutional response is the establishment of food policy councils (FPCs). These institutions are often initiated by civil society actors and seek to transform prevailing agro-industrial food systems. They aim to raise awareness for alternative practises of food consumption and production, and they try to shape food policies at different governance levels. FPCs have been acclaimed for their democratic potential in the past. This study uses the five key dimensions of food democracy identified by Hassanein (2008) to assess the ways in which FPCs might represent loci for practising food democracy. This is achieved by taking one of the first FPCs in Germany as an example. During a two-year study period (2016–2018), the emergence of the FPC Oldenburg was studied through participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Data analysis reveals examples of, as well as challenges related to, all five dimensions of food democracy. In addition, the in-depth analysis of the case also illustrates the importance of taking additional aspects into account, i.e., openness and transparency. Looking at an additional dimension of food democracy, which covers the “How?” of the deliberative process, might allow for a more nuanced analysis of the democratic potential of food initiatives in the future.

The food democracy discourse has emerged as a normatively grounded critique of an increasingly transnational agri-food system and its dominant co-regulatory mode of governance, where private and public norms and standards interact with public policy and regulation in complex ways. Analyzing competing agri-food discourses through a legitimacy lens can contribute to understanding how authority is transferred from traditional, hierarchical and state-centered constellations to a range of novel agri-food governance arrangements. This article reconstructs and compares the legitimacy constructions articulated in the co-regulation and the food democracy discourses, generating three key findings: first, there are two distinct articulations of food democracy discourse, which we label liberal and strong food democracy; second, while conceptualizations of legitimacy in the liberal food democracy and the co-regulatory discourse share many commonalities, legitimacy in the co-regulatory discourse relies more heavily on output, while the liberal food democracy discourse is more sensitive to issues of input and throughput legitimacy; third, the strong food democracy discourse articulates a critical counter-model that emphasizes inclusive deliberation which in turn is expected to generate a shared orientation towards the common good and countervailing power.

Argentina's initial social policy response to Covid-19 focused on protecting employment, wages and basic living conditions. Key policies included cash transfers and food programs for vulnerable families, wage subsidies for private sector workers and subsidized loans for firms and self-employed workers. The government also dictated a set of new regulations on employment, prices and housing, among others, to reduce the social costs of the pandemic. This paper offers an overview of Argentine social policy response measures taken up until September 2020. It focuses on the social policy instruments specifically oriented to the most vulnerable workers and families, including a new cash transfer program for adults with no regular income (Emergency Family Income or IFE), reaching about 8.6 million people in the first round. Overall, Argentina's social policy response involved multiple instruments aimed to operate on several fronts; however, the social and economic costs remain very high and are still unfolding.

Today's food systems face multiple environmental, economic, and social challenges. In this context, agroecology is considered a holistic approach to looking at food systems and proposing solutions to these challenges. However, a unified understanding of what agroecology means is lacking, and the term is used by people with different visions and goals. This paper addresses the understanding of agroecology in Switzerland and identifies challenges, opportunities, and policy needs for an agroecological transformation of the Swiss food system. To answer the research questions, twelve qualitative guided interviews were conducted with actors in the Swiss food system who deal with agroecology. The interviews show that agroecology can be understood mainly as a guiding principle for future sustainable food systems, which can be used to describe different alternative agricultural systems (agroecosystem level) and to strive for a transformation of the food system (food system level). Although many challenges, especially prevailing power relations and narratives, as well as social and political challenges, still limit agroecology in Switzerland, the country also offers a wide variety of opportunities that could promote agroecology at both the agroecosystem level and the food system level. A range of policy changes could set favorable conditions for an agroecological transformation of the Swiss food system. For changes at the agroecosystem level, existing policy instruments such as the direct payment system are suitable, which would have to be designed more agroecologically. For a transformation of the entire food system, on the other hand, there is a need for stronger systems thinking in politics and networking of the different food system actors to work on solutions together., Heutige Ernährungssysteme sind vielfältigen ökologischen, ökonomischen und sozialen Herausforderungen ausgesetzt. Agrarökologie gilt in diesem Zusammenhang als ein holistischer Ansatz, Ernährungssysteme zu betrachten und Lösungsvorschläge für diese Herausforderungen hervorzubringen. Ein einheitliches Verständnis, was Agrarökologie bedeutet fehlt allerdings und der Begriff wird von Personen mit unterschiedlichen Visionen und Zielen genutzt. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem Verständnis von Agrarökologie in der Schweiz und identifiziert Herausforderungen, Chancen und politische Handlungsnotwendigkeiten für eine agrarökologische Transformation des Schweizer Ernährungssystems. Um die Forschungsfragen zu beantworten, wurden zwölf qualitative Leitfadeninterviews mit Akteur*innen des Schweizer Ernährungssystems durchgeführt, die sich mit der Agrarökologie auseinandersetzen. Die Interviews zeigen, dass Agrarökologie vor allem als Leitprinzip für zukünftige, nachhaltige Ernährungssysteme verstanden werden kann, mit welchem verschiedene alternative landwirtschaftliche Systeme beschrieben werden können (Agrarökosystemebene) und eine Transformation des Ernährungssystems angestrebt wird (Ernährungssystemebene). Obwohl viele Herausforderungen, besonders vorherrschende Machtverhältnisse und Narrative sowie soziale und politische Herausforderungen die Agrarökologie in der Schweiz noch hemmen, bietet die Schweiz auch verschiedenste Chancen, welche die Agrarökologie sowohl auf der Agrarökosystemebene als auch auf der Ernährungssystemebene fördern könnten. Unterschiedliche Veränderungen in der Politik könnten günstige Rahmenbedingungen für eine agrarökologische Transformation des Schweizer Ernährungssystems setzen. Für Veränderungen auf der Agrarökosystemebene bieten sich bestehende politische Instrumente wie das Direktzahlungssystem an, welches agrarökologischer ausgerichtet werden müsste. Für eine Transformation des gesamten Ernährungssystems hingegen braucht es in der Politik ein stärkeres Systemdenken und eine Vernetzung der unterschiedlichen Akteur*innen des Ernährungssystems, um gemeinsam an Lösungen zu arbeiten.

Despite initial concerns of catastrophic outcomes, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown measures did not severely affect regional agriculture in Central Asia and the Caucasus. They did, however, affect food supply chains in terms of demand and logistics. Food prices were volatile throughout 2020 and particularly high in countries with currency depreciation. However, the on-going COVID-19 pandemic as a human and health crisis presents an ever increasing risk to the economies of Central Asia and the Caucasus. The global implications of the pandemic, combined with a decline in oil and gas exports and migrant remittances, could impede recovery and undermine economic stability in the region. Policymakers should avoid disrupting domestic food supply chains and placing barriers to trade through export bans and quotas. At the same time, they must ensure food security and reduced price volatility through diversified trade networks. Deeper domestic value chains and efficient management of public and private food stock reserves will better prepare countries to face the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Better-informed and targeted policy responses to a pandemic require improved national systems of nutrition research and monitoring, and timely availability of data not only relating to production but also to other levels of the agrifood chain.

The increasing demand for halal products, including goods and services, every year, especially for food and beverages, has resulted in a growing need for products with halal guarantees. Along with the increasing trend of the global demand, it has resulted in an increase in producers of halal food and beverages in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. In addition the demand for halal tourism is also increasing. Indonesia is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. However, there are still many Muslim consumer actors and Muslim producer actors who do not yet have an awareness of the importance of complying with the provisions of Islamic law in consuming and producing goods and services. There are still many restaurants and hotels that serve food and drinks that are not certified halal. There are still many food, medicinal and cosmetic products that are not halal certified. But now many secular countries such as France, Canada, Australia, the United States, Britain are also halal certified with the aim of meeting the Muslim demand for halal products for food and beverage, including for halal tourism. Starting from the development of the halal industry both in the fields of food, beverages andservices, an International Seminar was held, which provides a more complete understanding of halal products, current halal developments and can serve as motivation to produce halal products, providing research results from the topic of halal development. The international seminar, entitled International Conference on Halal Development, listed speakers from several countries able to provide an overview of the halal development of several countries. This book contains a selection of papers from the conference

Несмотря на изначальные опасения по поводу катастрофических последствий, пандемия COVID-19 и связанные с ней карантинные меры не оказали существенного влияния на сельское хозяйство в регионах Центральной Азии и на Кавказе. Однако они повлияли на продовольственные производственно-сбыто-вые цепочки через спрос и логистику. Цены на продовольствие были нестабильными в течении всего 2020 года и особенно высокими в странах, где произошло обесценивание национальной валюты. Однако продолжающаяся пандемия COVID-19, представляющая собой гуманитарный кризис и кризис в области здравоохранения, несет все больший риск для экономики стран Центральной Азии и Кавказа. Последствия пандемии глобального масштаба в сочетании с сокращением экспорта нефти и газа и денежных переводов мигрантов могут препятствовать восстановлению и подорвать экономическую стабильность в регионе. Лицам, определяющим политику, следует избегать нарушения внутренних цепочек поставок продовольствия и создания торговых барьеров посредством запретов и квот на экспорт. В то же время они должны обеспечивать продовольственную безопасность и снижать волатильность цен за счет диверсифицикации торговых связей. Более глубокие внутренние цепочки создания стоимости и эффективное управление государственными и частными запасами продовольствия лучше подготовят страны к преодолению последствий продолжающейся пандемии. Для более обоснованных и целенаправленных правительственных мер по минимизации последствий пандемии необходимы усовершенствованные национальные системы исследований и мониторинга в области питания, а также своевременное наличие данных, касающихся не только производства, но и других звеньев агропродовольственной цепочки.

Since the late 1950s, nutrition experts have debated whether foods enriched with micronutrients such as protein could alleviate world hunger. Industrial production of such 'wonder foods' began in the 1960s, making the food industry an actor in international food aid. Following a brief review of the history of scientific nutrition research, the article analyzes the first boom of fortified foods between the 1950s and the 1970s. With particular reference to the NGO CARE and the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP) with its product Incaparina, it shows how the conflict-ridden cooperation between humanitarian actors, governments, business and science developed. In addition to looking at contemporary debates about prices, quality controls and marketing strategies, consumer perspectives must be considered in order to understand the success or failure of new products. After a temporary slump in euphoria from the 1970s onwards, ›wonder foods‹ have experienced a revival since the 1990s - mainly because the networks between governments, nutrition experts, international organizations and the food industry were further cultivated and greater consideration was given to the needs of consumers. Seit den späten 1950er-Jahren diskutierten ErnährungsexpertInnen, ob mit Mikronährstoffen wie Protein angereicherte Nahrungsmittel den Hunger auf der Welt lindern könnten. Die industrielle Produktion solcher "Wonder Foods" begann in den 1960er-Jahren. Damit wurde die Lebensmittelindustrie zu einem Akteur in der internationalen Nahrungsmittelhilfe. Nach einem kurzen Rückblick auf die Geschichte wissenschaftlicher Ernährungsforschung analysiert der Aufsatz den ersten Boom angereicherter Nahrungsmittel zwischen den 1950er- und den 1970er-Jahren. Am Beispiel der NGO CARE und des zentralamerikanischen Ernährungsinstituts INCAP mit seinem Produkt "Incaparina" wird gezeigt, wie sich die konfliktreiche Kooperation zwischen humanitären Akteuren, Regierungen, Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft entwickelte. Neben dem Blick auf zeitgenössische Debatten über Preise, Qualitätskontrollen und Marketingstrategien müssen insbesondere KonsumentInnenperspektiven einbezogen werden, um Erfolg oder Scheitern neuer Produkte zu verstehen. Nach einem temporären Einbruch der Euphorie ab den 1970er-Jahren erlebten "Wonder Foods" seit den 1990er-Jahren ein Revival - vor allem deshalb, weil die Netzwerke zwischen Regierungen, ErnährungsexpertInnen, internationalen Organisationen und Lebensmittelindustrie weiter gepflegt wurden und die Bedürfnisse von KonsumentInnen mehr Berücksichtigung fanden.

Die Transformation des kommunalen Ernährungssystems in Richtung Nachhaltigkeit hat einen hohen Koordinationsbedarf zwischen verschiedenen staatliche und nichtstaatlichen Akteuren und ihren raumentwicklungsrelevanten Aktivitäten. Verantwortliche Planungsakteure betreten in der Koordination dieser Aktivitäten mitunter Neuland und zeigen Kreativität und Risikobereitschaft, um Instrumente der Raum- und Regionalentwicklung oder auch aus angrenzenden Planungsbereichen für die Steuerung des Ernährungssystems einzusetzen und anzupassen. Interessanterweise erweisen sich nicht die staatlichen Planungsakteure als Schlüsselakteure für transformative Aktivitäten im Ernährungssystem, sondern intermediäre Akteure aus der regionalen Wirtschaft, die eine enge Verknüpfung zwischen zivilgesellschaftlichen oder staatlichen Akteuren leisten. Voraussetzungen, dass staatliche und nicht-staatliche Akteure sich für die Transformation des Ernährungssystems einsetzen sind (1) Wissen über Zusammenhänge von Ernährung und Nachhaltigkeit sowie ein Bewusstsein für die Problematik, (2) eine gemeinsame oder geteilte Werteorientierung, (3) Innovationsbereitschaft und Offenheit gegenüber neuen oder ungewohnten Lösungsvorschlägen sowie (4) positive Erfahrungen und Erlebnisse bezüglich der Wirksamkeit des eigenen Handelns. The transformation of local food systems towards sustainability requires a great deal of coordination between the different state and non-state stakeholders, aligning activities that are related to spatial development. The planning actors responsible are in places breaking new ground with the coordination of these activities. They demonstrate creativity and a willingness to take risks in order to employ and adapt instruments of spatial and regional development or those of neighbouring planning fields to steer and manage the food system. Interestingly, it is not the state planning actors who prove key for transformative activities in the food system, but intermediary regional economic players who accomplish close links between actors from civil society and the state. For state and non-state actors to commit to the transformation of the food system, there are certain prerequisites: (1) knowledge about links between food and sustainability and awareness of the problem, (2) common or shared values, (3) a readiness to innovate and openness towards new or unusual proposals, and (4) positive experiences of the effectiveness of one's own actions.

Nichts, jenseits der Luft zum Atmen und dem Wasser zum Trinken, ist für die menschliche Existenz so grundlegend wie die Ernährung, kaum etwas so essentiell wie die regelmäßige Nahrungsaufnahme. Doch während Empfehlungen für Ernährungsumstellungen zum Veganismus oder zu vermeintlich "natürlichen" Paleo-Diäten in Teilen der westlichen Öffentlichkeiten auf fruchtbaren Boden fallen und der Wunsch nach Selbstoptimierung das Alltagsverhalten vieler Menschen beein­flusst, berichten Ärzt:innen und Gesundheitsexpert:innen in aller Welt über wachsende Probleme mit Fettleibigkeit und damit verbundenen Krankheiten. Nach Daten der OECD von 2017 hat Übergewicht in der Altersgruppe der 15- bis 74-Jährigen in allen Mitgliedsländern während der letzten drei Dekaden kontinuierlich zugenommen. Während in Frankreich und Italien im Jahr 2017 etwa 40 Prozent der Bevölkerung als übergewichtig galten, erreichten die Werte in den USA und Mexiko fast 70 Prozent. Im OECD-Durchschnitt gilt zudem eine von fünf Personen nicht nur als übergewichtig, sondern als fettleibig.

This research provides a single explanation for: (i) the persistence of malnutrition and (ii) the increased prevalence of metabolic disease (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease) among normal weight individuals with economic development. Our model is based on a set point for BMI or bodyweight that is adapted to conditions of scarcity in the pre-modern economy, but which subsequently fails to adjust to rapid economic change. During the process of development, some individuals thus remain at their low-BMI set point, despite the increase in their consumption, while others who have escaped the nutrition trap (but are not necessarily overweight) are at increased risk of metabolic disease. The model and the underlying biological mechanism, which are validated with micro-data from India, Indonesia and Ghana can jointly explain inter-regional (Asia-Africa) differences in nutritional status and the prevalence of diabetes.

Uruguay’s social policy response to Covid-19 built on a strong social protection system and a favorable social situation that existed before the pandemic arrived. The country’s favorable position in the region enabled the government to gradually reformulate key existing social policies to cover a broad proportion of the population. The newly installed government’s response occurred within the country’s structurally divided social protection architecture, which covers both formal workers and families not covered by the social security system. However, efforts in the two parts of the system have not been equally effective and there remains a portion of the population not covered by any of these social protection policies.

Past approaches to food security in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were informed by concerns about food availability. They aimed at domestic self-sufficiency and self-sufficiency by proxy (via farmland investments abroad). These strategies have failed. Water scarcity at home increasingly compromises agricultural production. Farmland investments abroad have not matched ambitious related announcements due to a complex mixture of commercial, socio-economic and political factors. They do not contribute meaningful quantities to the Gulf countries’ food imports. The failure of such strategies has prompted a shift of focus instead towards value chain management as a means to secure food availability. Rather than trying to fight food import dependence, the Gulf countries now accept and manage it. However, malnutrition that leads to high levels of obesity and diabetes constitutes a risk factor in the face of COVID-19. Food accessibility for vulnerable population segments such as migrant labour is another issue that requires yet further policy measures, such as safety nets – whose expansion would be politically controversial if not impossible, however.

Contemporary governance is marked by increased attention for participation of non-governmental actors (NGAs) in traditionally governmental activities, such as policy-making. This trend has been prevalent across food policy processes and reflects a key feature of food democracy. However, the role of governmental actors in facilitating and responding to this participation remains a gap in the literature. In this article, we ask how civil servants frame the participation of NGAs in policy processes. Drawing on ethnographic research, we introduce the case of civil servants working on an urban food policy for the municipality of Ede (the Netherlands). Our analysis uncovers two competing frames: 1) highlighting the responsibility of the municipality to take a leading role in food policy making, and 2) responding reflexively to NGAs. The analysis provides insights into how the framing of participation by civil servants serves to shape the conditions for participation of NGAs. It further sheds light on related practices and uncovers existing tensions and contradictions, with important implications for food democracy. We conclude by showing how, in the short term, a strong leadership role for civil servants, informed by the responsibility frame, may be effective for advancing policy objectives of the municipality. However, the reactive frame illustrates that civil servants worry this approach is not effective for maintaining meaningful participation of NGAs. This remains a key tension of participatory municipal-led urban food policy making, but balancing both municipal responsibility and an open and reactive attitude towards the participation of NGAs is useful for enhancing food democracy.

With the overall intention of stimulating the debate on food democracy, this thematic issue aims to shed fresh light on the complex relationship between food and democracy in different contexts. New theoretical perspectives and empirical analyses are presented that explore, sharpen, question, and expand the potential of food democracy as both, an analytical lens onto the state and development of contemporary food systems, and as a political idea for transforming the dominant agri-industrial food system. In this editorial to the thematic issue “New Perspectives on Food Democracy,” we briefly recapitulate the existing debate on food democracy, explain the goals and overarching questions of the thematic issue and provide an overview of the assembled articles.

Данный отчет представляет основные моменты земельной реформы и аграрной реструктуризации в Туркменистане. В первой части отчета основное внимание уделяется описанию хода аграрной реформы с представлением хронологии основных осуществленных мер аграрной политики, а также рассмотрена организация поставки материалов и ресурсов в сельскохозяйственное производство. Центральная часть отчета отведена на описание изменений в структуре посевов, а также динамики развития различных категорий сельскохозяйственных производителей и их вклад в развитие аграрного сектора и продовольственной безопасности страны. Как показывает исследование, земельная реформа и аграрная реструктуризация в стране в целом проводились со значительными функциями государства в регулировании этих процессов. На основе реформирования сельского хозяйства за период с 1992-2013 гг. общая посевная площадь в стране возросла на 25 %, в то время как, крестьянские объединения остаются основной категорией в сфере производства сельскохозяйственной продукции, базирующейся на арендной системе земледелие с целью выполнения государственного заказа стратегических культур.

Основная цель данной статьи – представить изменения в хлопковом секторе Таджикистана и роль диверсификации в сельском хозяйстве с момента обретения независимости. В первой части данной статьи представлена информация об изменениях в госрегулировании производства хлопка с момента независимости, включая динамику закупочных цен на хлопок-сырец, а также описание особенностей процесса приватизации хлопкоочистительных заводов. Также представлена картина изменений в основных категориях сельскохозяйственных производителей и их вклад в производство сельскохозяйственной продукции, и дано описание организационных изменений, которые произошли в секторах поставки материалов и производственных ресурсов. В следующей части статьи представлены вопросы государственной политики и меры по продовольственной безопасности по основным сельхозкультурам и их влияние на структуру сельского хозяйства. В этом плане дана оценка недавних реформ в сельскохозяйственном секторе, направленных на диверсификацию производства сельскохозяйственных культур; а также отражены вопросы продовольственной безопасности и экспорта сельхозпродукции на новые рынки.

How can research contribute more directly to promoting and leading to sustainable solutions and projects? This article suggests that one of the most important research approaches capable of achieving this is the Action Research approach. This involves the researcher taking on a number of roles when working with other actors (e.g. citizens, farmers, local elected officials, citizen associations, government representatives. . . with the specific set of actors depending upon the nature of the subject being investigated and for which solutions are sought). The roles that the researcher can play involve providing appropriate information to the other actors, providing counseling to them, organizing and animating meetings with the actors, and accompanying the whole process involving all the actors. These roles are essentially played out by the researcher when the other actors request the researcher to assume whichever roles they consider to be significant. The fundamental notion is that through this process the actors appropriate the sustainable solutions as their own, and the researcher helps them achieve this. This article is based on: a) a synthesis of pertinent research using the Action Research approach (specifically in relation to sustainable agricultural systems in periurban territories), and b) specific research undertaken by the two co-authors of the article, all in the context of periurban agricultural systems during the last 8 years, as well as on some of their publications. The necessary characteristics of Action Research and the researchers involved are identified, namely: a) patience; b) an emphasis on process; and c) an emphasis on participation on the part of multiple actors.

В период независимого развития в Узбекистане производство пшеницы достигло восьмикратного роста, в то время как ее посевные площади увеличились почти в три раза. Рост валовых показателей не привел к улучшению качества пшеницы и повышению рентабельности ее производства для фермерских хозяйств. Существующая арендная система землепользователя перегружена дополнительными обязательствами для арендаторов, что снижает их мотивацию. При этом надо иметь в виду, что официальная статистика по производству пшеницы не достоверна. Главный вопрос для сельского хозяйства Узбекистана не в том, какая форма организации сельскохозяйственного производства лучше и не в размерах земельных участков, а в механизме закупок сельскохозяйственной продукции для государственных нужд и гарантиях прав собственности для субъектов сельскохозяйственного производства. Реформы в системе обязательного государственного заказа по хлопку и пшенице могли бы повысить стимулы к эффективному землепользованию у фермеров и расширить их возможности по диверсификации производства за счет увеличения посевов альтернативных культур (плодоовощные, кормовые и пр.), и тем самым увеличить экспортный потенциал сельскохозяйственного сектора.