Adaptation strategies and performances of three producer groups during times of change: lessons learned from the application of the Conditions-Strategies-Performances (CSP) concept in three case studies

Summary

In the analysis, we will
- identify the most significant changes over time in relevant market, regulatory, institutional and territorial conditions,
- assess the social, economic and other resources available among different groups of primary producers,
- relate conditions and resources to the (adaptation) strategies pursued (e.g. regarding the management of the chain and risks), and
- explore the (potential) impacts of the resulting (or expected) changes on social, economic and environmental performances.
The analysis aims at capturing the interrelationships between external and internal conditions, (adaptation) strategies and (sustainability) performance. A first important step in the analysis is to express conditions, strategies and performances in absolute and/or relative terms, and to relate them to different points in time. This will then allow us to relate the producer groups’ strategies to change in conditions on the one hand and to performances on the other. The three illustrative cases are a grain farmers’ association in Lower Saxony, Germany, a group of carp producers using traditional ponds in Franconia, Germany, and a beef farmers’ association in Uppland, Sweden. In all three cases, attention will also be paid to relate adaptation strategies to decision-making and to identify limitations in available data and check possibilities to overcome them. With our discussion, we aim to highlight the particular challenges. We want to highlight the particular importance of business-level actions and their dynamics as an additional level in the analysis.