agriculture: what does the swiss public expect? presentation dairy press tour switzerland 2013...
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AGRICULTURE: WHAT DOES THE SWISS PUBLIC EXPECT?PresentationDairy Press Tour Switzerland 2013
Sermin Faki, Parliament correspondent«Zentralschweiz am Sonntag»
What does the public expect?
•Good and healthy products for a reasonable price!
• (Well, it’s not that simple. Sorry.)
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Imaginations of Agriculture
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Imaginations of Agriculture
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Average size of farms in comparison
Imaginations of Agriculture
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Imaginations of Agriculture• Swiss are convinced that
• regulations concerning animal welfare and environmentally friendly production are stricter than abroad
• Swiss food is produced closer to nature than abroad
• Swiss agricultural products have a higher quality than imported goods
• Swiss agricultural products are worth their (high) price
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Surveys show that …• ethical husbandry• environmentally sound farming• production of healthy food and security of supply
… are the most frequently mentionedexpectations. Also important are
• reasonable income for farmers• preservation of cultural landscape
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Fragmentation of the Swiss public
37%
36%
27%
3 different types
Conservatives Ecologists Reformers
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University of St. Gallen, 2007
Conservatives• preserve the traditional agriculture and the rural culture
• small, familiy driven farms
• security of supply (self-sufficiency) is more important than ecology and animal welfare
• so opening-up of the Swiss market
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Reformers• market-oriented
• use of technological progress (including GM)
• ecomomization of agriculure
• opening-up of the market
• no strict regulations considering animal welfare and environmentally sound production (prices and competitiveness)
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Ecologists• animal welfare and environmentally sound production
• preservation of traditional species and breeds
• preservation of precious land
• Ecologits are themselves fractioned in reformers and conservatives.
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Why this fragmentation?• urban vs rural population
• high prices
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dairy food, eggs
fruits and veg meat0
50
100
150
200
250
CHEU 27
OECD
Why this fragmentation?• consumers are also tax payers• 3.35 billion Swiss Francs subsidies per year
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Outlook• Bad news for traditional farmers:
• urban population will grow
• due to high spending power self-sufficiency isn’t a big deal
• Therefore reform-oriented fraction will grow.
Thank you!
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