About the SPAA research network
Agriculture and the agri-food industry have changed and are still changing at an extraordinary pace. Productivity gains have been spectacular, but technological changes and exploitation of economies of scale in farm input manufacturing, primary production, food processing, distribution and retail activities have paved the way to a wave of globalization and consolidation that is behind the declining trend in the number of farms and the rising indices of industry concentration. As a result, competition and coordination issues along agri-food supply chains and rural development are of greater concern now than in the past. Consumer demand has also changed over time, with consumers eating more often away from home, having less time for meal preparation and being increasingly preoccupied by the health and nutrition link, food safety, the geographical origin of their food and the environmental consequences of agricultural and food production methods.
SPAA brings together an impressive group of experts to conduct research on a wide range of issues affecting the performance and structure of agriculture and agri-products industry and to communicate their research results to government, industry, the general public and the academic community.
The main areas of research of the SPAA network are:
- Marketing Arrangements and Supply Chain Performance
- External Drivers of Competitiveness
- Micro Decisions and Performance
- Farm management systems, business risk and environmental externalities
- Farm heterogeneity, demographics and policy