Afroditi Papadaki-Klavdianou

Wine routes in Northern Greece: consumer perceptions

Attempts to identify consumer perceptions about wine and wine attributes in Greece. In addition, a brief presentation of the development of wine routes in Greece is considered. According to the results, wine emerges as a staple kind of drink in everyday meals, and seems to be more preferable compared to other alcoholic drinks. Furthermore, taste, clarity, appelation of origin, aroma and label are the most important wine attributes expressed by Greek consumers. Taking into account that Greece is one of the most important wine producing countries in the EU, an effective wine promotion policy needs to be organised. In the light of the interdependence between the new activities introduced by regional wine enterprises and the consumer level of information about “typical wines”, further market research could improve wine promotion both in Greek and the European markets.

First be a woman? rural development, social change and women farmers’ lives in Thessaly-Greece

Abstract This research is prompted by a desire to portray how Thessalian women farmers’ lives have been and are still affected by agrarian, economic, political and social transformations that took place in Greece from 1950 onwards. Using a cueing technique, we collected 2034 autobiographical memories from 74 women farmers. In general, the story our data tell indicates that the progress regarding woman’s position within family and society was slow and erratic, whereas it is still underway, since gender role appropriateness remains a robust construction. The analysis proved that the first signs of change appeared in the 1970s, when the migration from Thessaly to Europe brought about some unprecedented ideas on woman’s social and domestic roles. Other factors, such as the modernization of agriculture in 1980s and the consequent economic flourishing, along with the aura conveyed by the new (female) members of farming communities, and the opening of rural societies in 1990s and 2000s, facilitated this change.

Exploring Treated Wastewater Issues Related to Agriculture in Europe, Employing a Quantitative SWOT Analysis☆

Abstract SuWaNu is a research project funded within the EU Commission FP7 framework where one of the objectives is to identify impediments and factors of success for sustainable water treatment and nutrient reuse options. For this purpose several European regional clusters have been framed (in Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Malta and Spain) while, through a quantitative SWOT analysis, have been identified and quantified the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the treated wastewater sector focusing on the economical regional aspects, on research innovation potential and on market exploitation and penetration. The analysis of the contributions of the different clusters included in the SuWaNu project has provided a detailed description of the reclaimed water sector in the European agriculture. After the analysis of more than 200 strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats provided by the partners of the project, this study includes a complete description of the use of reclaimed water in the European agriculture. These findings have been used as the fundamental cognition for the development of a joint action plan and several other business plans in the selected regions. A brief discussion on empirical modelling and results, especially regarding the Greek case study, is shown in this paper. A more detailed discussion can be found in the SuWaNu project report, available through the website (http://www.suwanu.eu).

The Contribution of Agricultural Extension Services to the Productivity and Socioeconomic Profile of Dairy Cattle Farmers

The objective of this study was to examine the contribution of agricultural extension services to the productivity and socioeconomic profile of dairy cattle farmers. In addition, the hypothesis that there were important differences among rural smallholder farming communities in relation to dairy cattle productivity and socioeconomic characteristics was tested. Using two-stage cluster sampling, 100 dairy farming households were recruited from several areas of a typical Greek region. The analysis confirmed the hypothesis that there were important differences among the selected areas, mainly in relation to the likelihood of obtaining training and to basic management practices.