Hossein Mahmoudi | Shahid Beheshti University (original) (raw)

Papers by Hossein Mahmoudi

Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 2013

Food Reviews International

Natural calamities such as drought, famine, and climate change have collided to create a humanita... more Natural calamities such as drought, famine, and climate change have collided to create a humanitarian crisis. For the Horn of Africa (HoA), famine is among the factors that have caused the worst historical damages to the individual countries. Man-made calamities such as decentralized agricultural, pastoral activities and forest clearing are also root causes for the damage. Institutional arrangements (IAs) on land tenure systems and agricultural land conversion (ALC) as a part of this problem will be analyzed in this paper. Poor IAs on land are considered the main cause of insecure land tenure which diminishes the productivity of agriculture in this region, and this, specifically in times of drought, exacerbates famine. Accordingly, the paper explores the idea that to what extent poor IAs on land tenure systems can explain the famine in the HoA. IAs on land comprise two main functions: land quality management and regulation and standard-setting for land utilization. The types of IAs for land often differ. The “optimal” arrangement depends on political, economic, social, climatic, geographical, and technical factors that together form a complex system of IAs

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 2013

Organic agriculture is being promoted in Iran to address environmental problems resulting from th... more Organic agriculture is being promoted in Iran to address environmental problems resulting from the use of chemical materials in agriculture. Despite many advantages of organic agriculture, the results of several case studies show that its adoption rate is still very low among farmers. The purpose of this paper is to review previous studies that investigated the main factors influencing and challenging the adoption of organic agriculture. The review included journal articles and conference papers from 2007 to 2012. The results show that Iranian farmers have strong motives for the adoption, yet face challenges in certifying, marketing, and accessing reliable technical information and credits. Given the review of factors that govern farmers' adoption of organic agriculture, key mechanisms for promoting farmers' adoption are discussed. Further research is needed to learn how to bring these mechanisms into play in Iran.

Journal of Hydrology, 2020

To control and reduce the effects of drought, it is essential for farmers to do drought risk mana... more To control and reduce the effects of drought, it is essential for farmers to do drought risk management so as to cope with climate change. The purpose of this study was to "assessing farmers' drought risk management behavior (FDRMB) in downstream of Karkheh Dam basin, Iran". For this purpose, the "protection motivation theory (PMT)" was used to measure FDRMB. This theory consists of six variables i.e. "perceived vulnerability (PV)", "perceived severity (PS)", "self-efficacy (SE)", "response cost (RC)", "response efficacy (RC)", and "intention (IN)". This research included a descriptive-correlational and causal relationship that was conducted by a survey. The study population included farmers who were members in the water user association in downstream of Karkheh Dam (N = 3668), out of which, 350 users were sampled by Krejcie and Morgan's table and by the stratified random sampling method, respectively. In accordance with the PMT, for the variables affecting FDRMB a causal framework was designed. Findings from the path analysis indicated that the six variables in PMT might explain 0.473 of the FDRMB variance. Besides, SE had the highest effect in FDRMB (β = 0.503). As a general conclusion, policies need to make farmers take their own risk management decisions and have access to a variety of tools and strategies.

Journal of Environmental Management

Journal of Water and Climate Change

Climate change is expected to disproportionately affect farmers by further exacerbating the risks... more Climate change is expected to disproportionately affect farmers by further exacerbating the risks that they face. These risks have a huge negative impact on their livelihood. However, mounting evidence has revealed that farmers can effectively manage this negative impact by adapting their farming practices to climate change. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the farmers' ongoing adaptation measures, and to identify factors that influence their choice of adaptation methods in wheat production in the Kermanshah district in Western Iran. A sample of 350 farmers living in this region was selected through a multi-stage stratified and random sampling method. Principal component analysis revealed that three components play a role in the farmers' decisions on adaptation methods, namely, farm production practices, farm financial management, and government programs and insurance. The relative influence of the factors listed under each of the three components was assessed u...

Environmental Science & Policy

A B S T R A C T The amount of rainfall in Mazandaran province of Northern Iran is high. Mazandara... more A B S T R A C T The amount of rainfall in Mazandaran province of Northern Iran is high. Mazandaran has man-made water reservoirs called Ab-bandan, to collect rainfall for irrigating rice farms during the growing seasons. However, rice farms face water scarcity because only a small amount of rainfall is being stored in Ab-bandans, while either the remaining water runs off into the sea, or causes water-logging or flooding. This research addresses Ab-bandans governance gaps in the Mazandaran province, using the 'Multi-level Governance Framework' introduced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). A modified Delphi technique with face-to-face interviews and a ranking round is used to identify Ab-bandans governance gaps. The identified gaps are classified into seven categories by applying the OECD's framework. In each of the categories there is one most important gap: the lack of a specific law for Ab-bandans, lack of long-term and strategic planning, low recognition of Ab-bandans at the national level, insufficient budget, lack of water user associations, lack of research in practice, and lack of using technology. The findings show that lack of a specific law for Ab-bandans in the country's water law is the most acute gap of all. In addition, the analysis highlights the fact that the policy category is the most critical one. The identified gaps are interlinked and exacerbate each other, therefore, a holistic perspective is needed to understand and resolve them. This study recommends a reform in the country's water law, improved linkage between levels of government, cooperation among organizations involved in Ab-bandans management, and participation of local stakeholders in planning.

The aim of this study is to examine the current situation of Iranian organic fig growing and expo... more The aim of this study is to examine the current situation of Iranian organic fig growing and exportation. SWOT analysis was applied to the production, processing, storage, exports and structure of market competition and distribution aspects. The data were gathered using two methods, consisting of firstly of documentary studies and secondly a survey study. The research instrument used was a questionnaire. The results have been presented in a SWOT frame, and the results from this research are divided into four categories as follows.

Agriculture has always been an important sector of the Iranian economy. For this reason, the inve... more Agriculture has always been an important sector of the Iranian economy. For this reason, the investigation of consumers' demands and priorities in relation to organic products is our concern since no study has been conducted in this area in Iran. This paper aims to investigate consumers' knowledge concerning organic foodstuffs and the factors influencing consumption of organic product in the families of Mashhad so that some recommendations may finally be presented. In fact, while organic farming has been promoted as an environmentally-friendly approach and has been developed during the last few years in most developed countries, there is little emphasis placed on this in developing countries such as Iran. In order to identify consumer demand for organic foods, 180 respondents were interviewed by means of a questionnaire.

If one should compare the complexity of the geo-physical landscape of Iran with another nation it... more If one should compare the complexity of the geo-physical landscape of Iran with another nation it would be Spain. Both countries have a vast central tableland, arid summers, and are often bitterly cold in winter. Both also have wild mountainous areas that are infertile. However, in Iran the scale is larger (Iran is over three times the size of Spain), the mountains are loftier (more than 4'000 meters), and the extremes of heat and cold are more pronounced. The country itself is an elevated plateau (more than 1'000 meters above sea level) set between two ...

Food Reviews International

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) believes that open access contributes to... more The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) believes that open access contributes to its mission of reducing hunger and poverty, and improving human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture.

Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2013

While much has been published on the advantages of organic agriculture, less has addressed its po... more While much has been published on the advantages of organic agriculture, less has addressed its potentials and challenges to fight undernourishment in developing countries. This article aims at reviewing the main potentials and challenges of this approach when dealing with "undernourishment" as a multifaceted concept in developing countries. Accordingly, 2 main issues of the concept which are "food security" and "food safety" are discussed in the context of both developed and developing countries to understand their different food policies' priorities. Next, the main potentials, challenges and tradeoffs of the organic approach are analyzed to understand whether the approach is capable to provide a secure or a safe food-production system which can meet the food policy priorities in developing countries. With respect to food security, the article concludes that conventional and biotechnological approaches still produce higher yields than organic agriculture. However, considering the many advantages of organic agriculture, it can in a long run, be more conducive than now to meet food security. Thus, conventional approach is still needed to feed the hungers in developing countries [corrected]. Accordingly, the article emphasizes on the importance of providing farmers in developing countries with the possibility of implementing different approaches. Therefore, policy makers should be aware of a realistic and gradual transition from the other approaches to the organic that should be projected only in "long run," and after conducting a series of risk assessment studies on the bases of both "crop-case" and "region-case."

Elsevier, 2020

To control and reduce the effects of drought, it is essential for farmers to do drought risk mana... more To control and reduce the effects of drought, it is essential for farmers to do drought risk management so as to cope with climate change. The purpose of this study was to “assessing farmers' drought risk management behavior (FDRMB) in downstream of Karkheh Dam basin, Iran”. For this purpose, the “protection motivation theory (PMT)” was used to measure FDRMB. This theory consists of six variables i.e. “perceived vulnerability (PV)”, “perceived severity (PS)”, “self-efficacy (SE)”, “response cost (RC)”, “response efficacy (RC)”, and “intention (IN)”. This research included a descriptive-correlational and causal relationship that was conducted by a survey. The study population included farmers who were members in the water user association in downstream of Karkheh Dam (N = 3668), out of which, 350 users were sampled by Krejcie and Morgan's table and by the stratified random sampling method, respectively. In accordance with the PMT, for the variables affecting FDRMB a causal framework was designed. Findings from the path analysis indicated that the six variables in PMT might explain 0.473 of the FDRMB variance. Besides, SE had the highest effect in FDRMB (β = 0.503). As a general conclusion, policies need to make farmers take their own risk management decisions and have access to a variety of tools and strategies.

Decision making in agricultural production is a complex process in which many risks such as natur... more Decision making in agricultural production is a complex process in which
many risks such as natural, economic and social ones need to be considered. Climate
change is one important example for complex risks causing ambiguities. How can farmers
be supported to pro-actively deal with and adapt to climate change? A comprehensive
answer to this question can create a good potential for an improved risk communication
and governance within agricultural sector. The aim of this paper is to conceptually argue
farmers’ risk perceptions, roles and tasks that intervention agents such as agricultural
advisory services may adopt in order to support farmers’ risk management and adaptation
to climate change. Two specific approaches namely ‘risk communication’ and ‘social
learning’ in the frame of risk governance were discussed followed by conclusions drawn
on cross-cutting insights and deficits in research and practice.

Public participation in climate change policy requires a clear understanding of the issues. This ... more Public participation in climate change policy requires a clear understanding of the issues. This is essential if an informed society is to achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. Women, due to the type of activities they perform in the household, may have a prominent and leading role in this sphere and thus constitute a group holding great potential to support policies to deal with adaptation to climate change. The purpose of the present study is to assess gender-related awareness of climate change issues and the engagement of citizens in climate change mitigation based on eco-feminism theory to the socio-cultural features of citizen households in Iran. To this end, 310 residents of Quemshahr in Mazandaran province (Iran) were selected with a random sampling method. The results show that while women's behavioral engagement in tackling climate change is high, men exhibit a high level of cognitive dimension of engagement in tackling climate change. Furthermore, the results show that the level of citizens' engagement varies by education and age. Based on the research findings, activities to promote environmental education and understanding of climate change mitigation policies are proposed to increase the level of knowledge of the target group.

Critical Reviews in Biotechnology

Although some important features of genetically modified (GM) crops such as insect resistance, he... more Although some important features of genetically modified (GM) crops such as insect resistance, herbicide tolerance, and drought tolerance might seem to be beneficial for small-scale farmers, the adoption of GM technology by smallholders is still slight. Identifying pros and cons of using this technology is important to understand the impacts of GM crops on these farmers. This article reviews the main opportunities and challenges of GM crops for small-scale farmers in developing countries. The most significant advantages of GM crops include being independent to farm size, environment protection, improvement of occupational health issues, and the potential of bio-fortified crops to reduce malnutrition. Challenges faced by small-scale farmers for adoption of GM crops comprise availability and accessibility of GM crop seeds, seed dissemination and price, and the lack of adequate information. In addition, R&D and production costs in using GM crops make it difficult for these farmers to adopt the use of these crops. Moreover, intellectual property right regulations may deprive resource poor farmers from the advantages of GM technology. Finally, concerns on socio-economic and environment safety issues are also addressed in this paper.

Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/07388551.2014.990413

While ecological sustainability of organic agriculture (OA) has been frequently investigated, the... more While ecological sustainability of organic agriculture (OA) has been frequently investigated, there are limited studies on its social sustainability, especially in developing countries. Given significant benefits of OA, screening the potential social risks associated with OA seems necessary. This paper introduces a socio-political ambiguity approach based on a hybrid model of ‘risk and social impact assessment’ for screening the risks of OA. As a case study, the paper focuses on the OA development in Iran using qualitative research to elicit opinions and judgments of farmers, consumers, and policy-makers. The results of the study revealed that there are serious ambiguities and risks associated with OA. This paper demonstrates that risks (especially social risks) of OA have received too little attention and were considered as can be neglected.

Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 2013

Food Reviews International

Natural calamities such as drought, famine, and climate change have collided to create a humanita... more Natural calamities such as drought, famine, and climate change have collided to create a humanitarian crisis. For the Horn of Africa (HoA), famine is among the factors that have caused the worst historical damages to the individual countries. Man-made calamities such as decentralized agricultural, pastoral activities and forest clearing are also root causes for the damage. Institutional arrangements (IAs) on land tenure systems and agricultural land conversion (ALC) as a part of this problem will be analyzed in this paper. Poor IAs on land are considered the main cause of insecure land tenure which diminishes the productivity of agriculture in this region, and this, specifically in times of drought, exacerbates famine. Accordingly, the paper explores the idea that to what extent poor IAs on land tenure systems can explain the famine in the HoA. IAs on land comprise two main functions: land quality management and regulation and standard-setting for land utilization. The types of IAs for land often differ. The “optimal” arrangement depends on political, economic, social, climatic, geographical, and technical factors that together form a complex system of IAs

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 2013

Organic agriculture is being promoted in Iran to address environmental problems resulting from th... more Organic agriculture is being promoted in Iran to address environmental problems resulting from the use of chemical materials in agriculture. Despite many advantages of organic agriculture, the results of several case studies show that its adoption rate is still very low among farmers. The purpose of this paper is to review previous studies that investigated the main factors influencing and challenging the adoption of organic agriculture. The review included journal articles and conference papers from 2007 to 2012. The results show that Iranian farmers have strong motives for the adoption, yet face challenges in certifying, marketing, and accessing reliable technical information and credits. Given the review of factors that govern farmers' adoption of organic agriculture, key mechanisms for promoting farmers' adoption are discussed. Further research is needed to learn how to bring these mechanisms into play in Iran.

Journal of Hydrology, 2020

To control and reduce the effects of drought, it is essential for farmers to do drought risk mana... more To control and reduce the effects of drought, it is essential for farmers to do drought risk management so as to cope with climate change. The purpose of this study was to "assessing farmers' drought risk management behavior (FDRMB) in downstream of Karkheh Dam basin, Iran". For this purpose, the "protection motivation theory (PMT)" was used to measure FDRMB. This theory consists of six variables i.e. "perceived vulnerability (PV)", "perceived severity (PS)", "self-efficacy (SE)", "response cost (RC)", "response efficacy (RC)", and "intention (IN)". This research included a descriptive-correlational and causal relationship that was conducted by a survey. The study population included farmers who were members in the water user association in downstream of Karkheh Dam (N = 3668), out of which, 350 users were sampled by Krejcie and Morgan's table and by the stratified random sampling method, respectively. In accordance with the PMT, for the variables affecting FDRMB a causal framework was designed. Findings from the path analysis indicated that the six variables in PMT might explain 0.473 of the FDRMB variance. Besides, SE had the highest effect in FDRMB (β = 0.503). As a general conclusion, policies need to make farmers take their own risk management decisions and have access to a variety of tools and strategies.

Journal of Environmental Management

Journal of Water and Climate Change

Climate change is expected to disproportionately affect farmers by further exacerbating the risks... more Climate change is expected to disproportionately affect farmers by further exacerbating the risks that they face. These risks have a huge negative impact on their livelihood. However, mounting evidence has revealed that farmers can effectively manage this negative impact by adapting their farming practices to climate change. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the farmers' ongoing adaptation measures, and to identify factors that influence their choice of adaptation methods in wheat production in the Kermanshah district in Western Iran. A sample of 350 farmers living in this region was selected through a multi-stage stratified and random sampling method. Principal component analysis revealed that three components play a role in the farmers' decisions on adaptation methods, namely, farm production practices, farm financial management, and government programs and insurance. The relative influence of the factors listed under each of the three components was assessed u...

Environmental Science & Policy

A B S T R A C T The amount of rainfall in Mazandaran province of Northern Iran is high. Mazandara... more A B S T R A C T The amount of rainfall in Mazandaran province of Northern Iran is high. Mazandaran has man-made water reservoirs called Ab-bandan, to collect rainfall for irrigating rice farms during the growing seasons. However, rice farms face water scarcity because only a small amount of rainfall is being stored in Ab-bandans, while either the remaining water runs off into the sea, or causes water-logging or flooding. This research addresses Ab-bandans governance gaps in the Mazandaran province, using the 'Multi-level Governance Framework' introduced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). A modified Delphi technique with face-to-face interviews and a ranking round is used to identify Ab-bandans governance gaps. The identified gaps are classified into seven categories by applying the OECD's framework. In each of the categories there is one most important gap: the lack of a specific law for Ab-bandans, lack of long-term and strategic planning, low recognition of Ab-bandans at the national level, insufficient budget, lack of water user associations, lack of research in practice, and lack of using technology. The findings show that lack of a specific law for Ab-bandans in the country's water law is the most acute gap of all. In addition, the analysis highlights the fact that the policy category is the most critical one. The identified gaps are interlinked and exacerbate each other, therefore, a holistic perspective is needed to understand and resolve them. This study recommends a reform in the country's water law, improved linkage between levels of government, cooperation among organizations involved in Ab-bandans management, and participation of local stakeholders in planning.

The aim of this study is to examine the current situation of Iranian organic fig growing and expo... more The aim of this study is to examine the current situation of Iranian organic fig growing and exportation. SWOT analysis was applied to the production, processing, storage, exports and structure of market competition and distribution aspects. The data were gathered using two methods, consisting of firstly of documentary studies and secondly a survey study. The research instrument used was a questionnaire. The results have been presented in a SWOT frame, and the results from this research are divided into four categories as follows.

Agriculture has always been an important sector of the Iranian economy. For this reason, the inve... more Agriculture has always been an important sector of the Iranian economy. For this reason, the investigation of consumers' demands and priorities in relation to organic products is our concern since no study has been conducted in this area in Iran. This paper aims to investigate consumers' knowledge concerning organic foodstuffs and the factors influencing consumption of organic product in the families of Mashhad so that some recommendations may finally be presented. In fact, while organic farming has been promoted as an environmentally-friendly approach and has been developed during the last few years in most developed countries, there is little emphasis placed on this in developing countries such as Iran. In order to identify consumer demand for organic foods, 180 respondents were interviewed by means of a questionnaire.

If one should compare the complexity of the geo-physical landscape of Iran with another nation it... more If one should compare the complexity of the geo-physical landscape of Iran with another nation it would be Spain. Both countries have a vast central tableland, arid summers, and are often bitterly cold in winter. Both also have wild mountainous areas that are infertile. However, in Iran the scale is larger (Iran is over three times the size of Spain), the mountains are loftier (more than 4'000 meters), and the extremes of heat and cold are more pronounced. The country itself is an elevated plateau (more than 1'000 meters above sea level) set between two ...

Food Reviews International

The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) believes that open access contributes to... more The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) believes that open access contributes to its mission of reducing hunger and poverty, and improving human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture.

Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2013

While much has been published on the advantages of organic agriculture, less has addressed its po... more While much has been published on the advantages of organic agriculture, less has addressed its potentials and challenges to fight undernourishment in developing countries. This article aims at reviewing the main potentials and challenges of this approach when dealing with "undernourishment" as a multifaceted concept in developing countries. Accordingly, 2 main issues of the concept which are "food security" and "food safety" are discussed in the context of both developed and developing countries to understand their different food policies' priorities. Next, the main potentials, challenges and tradeoffs of the organic approach are analyzed to understand whether the approach is capable to provide a secure or a safe food-production system which can meet the food policy priorities in developing countries. With respect to food security, the article concludes that conventional and biotechnological approaches still produce higher yields than organic agriculture. However, considering the many advantages of organic agriculture, it can in a long run, be more conducive than now to meet food security. Thus, conventional approach is still needed to feed the hungers in developing countries [corrected]. Accordingly, the article emphasizes on the importance of providing farmers in developing countries with the possibility of implementing different approaches. Therefore, policy makers should be aware of a realistic and gradual transition from the other approaches to the organic that should be projected only in "long run," and after conducting a series of risk assessment studies on the bases of both "crop-case" and "region-case."

Elsevier, 2020

To control and reduce the effects of drought, it is essential for farmers to do drought risk mana... more To control and reduce the effects of drought, it is essential for farmers to do drought risk management so as to cope with climate change. The purpose of this study was to “assessing farmers' drought risk management behavior (FDRMB) in downstream of Karkheh Dam basin, Iran”. For this purpose, the “protection motivation theory (PMT)” was used to measure FDRMB. This theory consists of six variables i.e. “perceived vulnerability (PV)”, “perceived severity (PS)”, “self-efficacy (SE)”, “response cost (RC)”, “response efficacy (RC)”, and “intention (IN)”. This research included a descriptive-correlational and causal relationship that was conducted by a survey. The study population included farmers who were members in the water user association in downstream of Karkheh Dam (N = 3668), out of which, 350 users were sampled by Krejcie and Morgan's table and by the stratified random sampling method, respectively. In accordance with the PMT, for the variables affecting FDRMB a causal framework was designed. Findings from the path analysis indicated that the six variables in PMT might explain 0.473 of the FDRMB variance. Besides, SE had the highest effect in FDRMB (β = 0.503). As a general conclusion, policies need to make farmers take their own risk management decisions and have access to a variety of tools and strategies.

Decision making in agricultural production is a complex process in which many risks such as natur... more Decision making in agricultural production is a complex process in which
many risks such as natural, economic and social ones need to be considered. Climate
change is one important example for complex risks causing ambiguities. How can farmers
be supported to pro-actively deal with and adapt to climate change? A comprehensive
answer to this question can create a good potential for an improved risk communication
and governance within agricultural sector. The aim of this paper is to conceptually argue
farmers’ risk perceptions, roles and tasks that intervention agents such as agricultural
advisory services may adopt in order to support farmers’ risk management and adaptation
to climate change. Two specific approaches namely ‘risk communication’ and ‘social
learning’ in the frame of risk governance were discussed followed by conclusions drawn
on cross-cutting insights and deficits in research and practice.

Public participation in climate change policy requires a clear understanding of the issues. This ... more Public participation in climate change policy requires a clear understanding of the issues. This is essential if an informed society is to achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. Women, due to the type of activities they perform in the household, may have a prominent and leading role in this sphere and thus constitute a group holding great potential to support policies to deal with adaptation to climate change. The purpose of the present study is to assess gender-related awareness of climate change issues and the engagement of citizens in climate change mitigation based on eco-feminism theory to the socio-cultural features of citizen households in Iran. To this end, 310 residents of Quemshahr in Mazandaran province (Iran) were selected with a random sampling method. The results show that while women's behavioral engagement in tackling climate change is high, men exhibit a high level of cognitive dimension of engagement in tackling climate change. Furthermore, the results show that the level of citizens' engagement varies by education and age. Based on the research findings, activities to promote environmental education and understanding of climate change mitigation policies are proposed to increase the level of knowledge of the target group.

Critical Reviews in Biotechnology

Although some important features of genetically modified (GM) crops such as insect resistance, he... more Although some important features of genetically modified (GM) crops such as insect resistance, herbicide tolerance, and drought tolerance might seem to be beneficial for small-scale farmers, the adoption of GM technology by smallholders is still slight. Identifying pros and cons of using this technology is important to understand the impacts of GM crops on these farmers. This article reviews the main opportunities and challenges of GM crops for small-scale farmers in developing countries. The most significant advantages of GM crops include being independent to farm size, environment protection, improvement of occupational health issues, and the potential of bio-fortified crops to reduce malnutrition. Challenges faced by small-scale farmers for adoption of GM crops comprise availability and accessibility of GM crop seeds, seed dissemination and price, and the lack of adequate information. In addition, R&D and production costs in using GM crops make it difficult for these farmers to adopt the use of these crops. Moreover, intellectual property right regulations may deprive resource poor farmers from the advantages of GM technology. Finally, concerns on socio-economic and environment safety issues are also addressed in this paper.

Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/07388551.2014.990413

While ecological sustainability of organic agriculture (OA) has been frequently investigated, the... more While ecological sustainability of organic agriculture (OA) has been frequently investigated, there are limited studies on its social sustainability, especially in developing countries. Given significant benefits of OA, screening the potential social risks associated with OA seems necessary. This paper introduces a socio-political ambiguity approach based on a hybrid model of ‘risk and social impact assessment’ for screening the risks of OA. As a case study, the paper focuses on the OA development in Iran using qualitative research to elicit opinions and judgments of farmers, consumers, and policy-makers. The results of the study revealed that there are serious ambiguities and risks associated with OA. This paper demonstrates that risks (especially social risks) of OA have received too little attention and were considered as can be neglected.