The research group focuses on analyzing the factors that affect the behaviour of actors in the agri-food sector. We aim not only to contribute to the research field but also to provide credible information for policy-makers. Our research is interdisciplinary and mainly based on economic, sociological, and psychological theories. For empirical research, we use standard quantitative and qualitative research methods. Usually, our research is based on questionnaire surveys.
People
Group leader: Miroslava Bavorová (FTA, CZU)
Consultants:
- Tomáš Ratinger (FTA, CZU and Technology Centre of the Czech Academy of Science)
- Jan Banout (FTA, CZU)
- Jiří Hejkrlík (FTA, CZU)
Post-doctoral researchers:
Associated Researchers :
- Elena V. Ponkina (Altai State University, Russia).
- Ilkay Unay-Gailhard (Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies, Germany).
- Sven Gruener (Marti-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg)
- Jan Těšitel (METCENAS)
- Vilém Semerák (CERGE-EI)
- Zuzana Bednaříková (Purdue University, USA).
- Zuzana Boukalová (FEP, CZU and METCENAS)
- Drini Imami (Agriculture University of Tirana, Faculty of Economy and Agribusiness, Albania
- Edwin Zhllima (Agriculture University of Tirana, Faculty of Economy and Agribusiness, Albania)
-
Daniele Cavicchioli (Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP) – University of Milan)
- Danilo Bertoni (Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP) – University of Milan)
In addition to Ph.D. candidates and MSc students. Their names and research topics are found in the research areas section.
Research areas
The research aim of our group is to better understand people’s behaviour in the agri-food sector. This aim is structured around four cross-cutting research areas. Research area 1 – Environment and Agriculture focuses on the study of the adoption and diffusion of “sustainable” innovations, climate change adaptations, and water issues. While research area 2 – Youth, Labour and Migration investigates the intention of young people to live in rural areas and their motivations to work in the agricultural sector. The research area 3 – Compliance deals with law compliance behaviour and food quality and safety issues. Finally, research area 4 – Food Consumption and Food Security explores the food consumption behaviour and food security issues.
In addition to the main research themes, our group conduct the analysis of: Value Chains and Commercialization, Agricultural and Food Policies; Economics of Farm Businesses and Local and Regional Food Systems in Rural and Urban Communities.
Our research extends geographically to cover most of the continents! Current students are conducting their studies in Europe and Russia (Albania, Czech Republic, Moldova, Republic of Macedonia and Russia); Africa (Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Zambia); Asia (Iraq, Nepal, Syria, Vietnam and Yemen); and South America (Colombia).
Currently, PhD and MSc students in our research group are addressing the research areas through their scientific work:
- Environment and Agriculture
- Anh Phuong Nguyen (Coffee Production and Adaptation to Climate Change – Vietnam)
- Binod Gurung (Flood Risk Management – Nepal)
- Iretioluwase Emmanuel Adesida (Agricultural Inputs Policies: E-Wallets – Nigeria)
- Mustapha Yakubu-Madaki (Food Security and Adaptation to Climate Change – Nigeria)
- Pius Nnahiwe (Extension Services – Nigeria and Kenya)
- Steffen Muench (Tea Production and Certification and Adaptation to Climate Change – Nepal)
- Sylvester Amoako Agyemang (Inputs Policies and Impact Analysis – Ghana)
- Olasoji Oluwaseyi (Adaptation Strategies on Climate Change among Maize Farming Households - Nigeria)
- Peter Maes (Behavioral Drivers for adoption of Conservation Agriculture practices among Smallholder Farmers - Albania)
- Youth, Labour and Migration
- Bernard Kwamena Cobbina Essel (Entrepreneurship – Ghana)
- Daria Luchikhina (NEETs and Entrepreneurship – Czech Republic)
- Ibrahim Salman (Factors influencing farm succession – Syria)
- Lenka Hofierková (Job satisfaction in agriculture – Ukraine)
- Yessika Alejandra Garcia (Factors affecting rural-urban migration of youth – Colombia)
- Compliance
- Ugur Guller Andac (Effect of education and training on food safety knowledge by butchers – Turkey)
- Food Consumption and Food Security
- Bulus Barnabas (Child Labour and Food Security – Nigeria)
- Evgenyia Volodina (Consumers Behaviour and Etnocentrism – Russia)
- Giri Prasad Kandel (Food Security and Adaptation to Climate Change – Nepal)
- Kindah Ibrahim (Food Security and Agriculture Linkages – Syria)
- Niga Rzgar Abdalla (Food Security – Iraq)
- Taisir Obad (Food Security – Yemen)
Other Research Topics
- Irene Franceline Mbouwe (Women empowerment in Shea butter value chain – Cameroon)
- Maxim Gorgan (Land Consolidation – Republic of Macedonia)
Projects
- COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) - Rural NEET Youth Network: Modeling the risks underlying rural NEETs social exclusion. (2019-2022).
- International Credit Mobility: Syria (2019-2021).
- International Credit Mobility: Albania (2019-2021)
- Bosnia Herzegovina (2019 and 2020) and Ukraine (2019-2021) – Donor: Czech Development Agency
-
PROVIding smart DElivery of public goods by EU agriculture and forestry. (2017-2019) . onor: EU H2020 research project (together with Tomáš Ratinger).
-
KULUNDA project. “How to prevent the next "Global Dust Bowl"? Ecological and Economic Strategies for Sustainable Land Management in the Russian Steppes: A Potential Solution to Climate Change”. Duration: 2011-2016. Donor: BMBF (Ministry of Education and Research, Germany).
Cooperation/Networking
- Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
- Martin-Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
- Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information (IAEI), Prague, Czech Republic.
- Altai State University, Barnaul, Russia.
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Agriculture, Greece.
- University of Perugia, Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, Italy.
- Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Slovak Republic.
- Agriculture University of Tirana, Faculty of Economy and Agribusines, Albania.
- Tishreen University of Latakia, Syria.
Publications
Books (script)
- Quantitative Research Design in the Social Sciences: A Text Book for Development Economics Graduate Students. (Ongoing Project)
Journal articles
- Bavorova M, Bednarikova Z, Ponkina E, Visser O. 2021. Agribusiness social responsibility in emerging economies: Effects of legal structure, economic performance and managers' motivations. Journal of Cleaner Production: In Press. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125157.
- Muench S, Bavorova M, Pradhan P. 2021. Climate Change Adaptation by Smallholder Tea Farmers: a Case Study of Nepal. Environmental Science & Policy 116: 136-146. DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.10.012.
- Bavorova M, Unay-Gailhard I, Ponkina EV, Pilarova T. 2020. How sources of agriculture information shape the adoption of reduced tillage practices?. Journal of Rural Studies, 79: 88-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2020.08.034.
- Ratinger T, Čamská K, Pražan J, Bavorová M, Vančurová I. 2020. From elite-driven to community-based governance mechanisms for the delivery of public goods from land management. Land Use Policy (In Press – Available Online). DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104560.
- Bednarikova Z, Bavorova M, Ponkina EV. 2020. Entrepreneurial intention of agriculture undergraduates in Russia. Agricultural and Resource Economics 6: 5-22. DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.302965.
- Yakubu Madaki M, Bavorova M. 2019. Food safety knowledge of food vendors of higher educational institutions in Bauchi state, Nigeria. Food Control 106: 106703. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.06.029.
- Nkomoki W, Bavorova M, Banout J. 2019. Factors Associated with Household Food Security in Zambia. Sustainability 11: 2715. DOI: 10.3390/su11092715.
- Brosig S, Bavorova M. 2019. Association of attitudes towards genetically modified food among young adults and their referent persons. PLoS ONE 14: e0211879. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211879.
- Martino G, Toccateli D, Bavorova M. 2019. An analysis of food safety private investments drivers in the Italian meat sector. Agricultural Economics Czech, 65: 21-30. DOI: 10.17221/352/2017-AGRICECON.
- Unay-Gailhard I, Bavorova M, Bednarikova Z, Ponkina EV. 2018. v“I don’t want to work in agriculture!” The transition from agricultural education to the labor market in rural Russia. Rural Sociology 84: 315-349. DOI: 10.1111/ruso.12245
- Nkomoki W, Bavorova M, Banout J. 2018. Adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and food security threats: Effects of land tenure in Zambia. Land Use Policy, 78: 532-538. DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.07.021.
- Pilarova T, Bavorova M, Kandakov A. 2018. Do farmer, household and farm characteristics influence the adoption of sustainable practices? The evidence from the Republic of Moldova. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 16: 367-384. DOI: 10.1080/14735903.2018.1499244.
- Fietz A, Bavorova M, Grüner S, Hirschauer N. 2018. Compliance with Food Safety Laws in Germany: Food Businesses in Berlin. Law & Policy 40:267-285. DOI: 10.1111/lapo.12105.
- Bavorova M, Traikova D, Doms J. 2018. Who are the Farm Shop Buyers? — A Study in Naumburg, Germany. British Food Journal 120: 255-268. DOI: 10.1108/BFJ-02-2017-0055.
Theses & Dissertations
- Defended MSc Theses
Vukomba F. 2020. Migration and agriculture [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Salman I. 2020. Factors Influencing Intention to Work in Agriculture in Syria – The case of Latakia [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Nathalie Asheri Mbuyeh. 2020. Adopting effective strategies to cope with land degradation in Cameroon [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Moyo T. 2020. Socioeconomic barriers in the adoption of Holistic land and Livestock Management as a way of combating land degradation for small holder farmers in Zimbabwe [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Igbasan B. 2020. Pesticides handling knowledge and practices of smallholder farmers: Case study of Nigeria [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Hofierková L. 2020. The prestige of farmer occupations perceived by Russian youth: The case of Altai Krai [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Yakubu Madaki M. 2019. Factors affecting the use of food safety practices: A case of Bauchi State, Nigeria [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Umar A. 2019. Effects of migration and remittances on agriculture in northern Nigeria: A case study of Bauchi State [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Muench S. 2019. Factors influencing the adaptation towards climate change among smallholder tea farmers in Ilam, Nepal. [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Abdalla N. 2019. Factors affecting meat consumption in Sulaymaniyah city of Iraqi Kurdistan [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Odei M. 2018. Analysis of production efficiency and the impact of extension services and policies on cocoa productivity in the western region of Ghana [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Obeng S. 2018. Assessment of Competitiveness of Maize Production and Its Contribution to Food Security in Ghana [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Acheampong O. 2018. An assessment of the competitiveness of cassava production in Birim South District of Ghana [MSc. Thesis]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
- Defended Ph.D. Dissertations
Pilařová T. 2019. The effect of international migration on agricultural production patterns: evidence from the Republic of Moldova [Ph.D. Dissertation]. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague.
Contact
Associated Professor Miroslava Bavorová
Kamýcká 129
165 00 Praha 6 – Suchdol
Czech Republic.
Phone: +420 22438 2503
E-mail: bavorova@ftz.czu.cz
Team news

Participation in Tropentag 2020 Virtual Conference
Our team participated in this year’s Tropentag conference (The annual interdisciplinary conference on research in tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management and rural development). This year, the conference was organized online, and it was a pleasure to see our team’s members joining other participants and getting engaged in the discussion of issues related to agricultural and rural development research.

COST Project Webinar 20.07.2020, 3 pm by Miroslava Bavorová
Our group leader, Assoc. prof. Miroslava Bavorová presented a webinar within the COST Action: CA18213 webinars series
Photogallery
ArchiveNepal: Nature-based flood mitigation: Living with the floods
The project is linked to the cooperation with the LAND4FLOOD COST Action, in the scope of Working Groups WG2 (RETENTION and LAND) and WG3 (RETENTION and INSTRUMENTS).