Thesis supervisor: István Szűcs
Location of studies (in Hungarian): University of Debrecen Abbreviation of location of studies: UD
Description of the research topic:
The current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050. At least 3 billion people are expected to join the middle class by 2050 and FAO estimates that this will lead to a 60% increase in demand for high quality protein such as milk, meat and eggs. Meeting the current and forecast demand in a sustainable way is a challenge, confronting the fact that we are already using 50 percent more resources than the Earth can provide. In particular dairy farming utilizes 7% of the world’s land and significant amount of water and other natural resources. The dairy sector faces a vast number of challenges, however, it also has a great potential to solve them. For instance, it can play a key role in mitigating climate change through adoption of innovative approaches. It is also a powerful vehicle for achieving economic growth, as well as improving human well-being.
The research purpose is to determine the impact of management practices on sustainability of EU dairy cooperative enterprises. The current research will use inductive approach, and therefore its findings will lead to the development of theory. The key questions of the PhD work are (1) What management practices are used by EU dairy cooperative enterprises for the implementation of their sustainability strategies? (2) What is the most appropriate method to assess sustainability in three dimensions (economic, ecological and social) at the cooperative and farm levels? (3) What is the current situation for dairy cooperatives in the EU in terms of sustainable performance? (4) What combination of management practices has the greatest influence on the sustainable performance of EU dairy cooperatives? Quantitative research methods will be used to answer the research questions. The data for this study will be derived from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), as well as from structured questionnaires and interviews with dairy cooperative entities, farmers and other stakeholders of the sector on the use of management practices.
This research will lead to the recommendations for the dairy cooperative entities and for the farmers, as well as to policy makers. Will give the suggestions on what management practices the players of the dairy sector should focus for increasing the sustainability.
Required language skills: english Recommended language skills (in Hungarian): english Number of students who can be accepted: 1
Deadline for application: 2019-03-15
2024. IV. 17. ODT ülés Az ODT következő ülésére 2024. június 14-én, pénteken 10.00 órakor kerül sor a Semmelweis Egyetem Szenátusi termében (Bp. Üllői út 26. I. emelet).
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