Diversification and specialisation as development strategies in organic farms

Summary

Unsatisfying economic performance, continuous work overload or the entrance of the younger generation are often the starting point for reorientation of the farm’s organisation in order to increase the farm’s efficiency. Theoretically, farmers are faced with two main options when looking for a viable farm strategy: diversification or specialisation. Based on a quantitative and qualitative survey of 40 farms, the results show that the decision to either diversify or specialise is usually a multi-dimensional issue. Only the analyses of the interactions between many different factors may help to understand the decision processes on farms. One central result of the study is that the personality of the farmer is the key driving factor in the decision on specialisation or diversification. The study also reveals that, whereas cost reduction is observed to be a valuable strategy in conventional farming, it seems to be of very limited relevance in organic farming in Germany.