Adoption of Best Practice Standards by Dairy

Farms in Colombia
D. 1
Valencia , M. van der 1
Giezen , A. 2
Bailey , L. 2
Zuluaga , J. Jia2
1
Biosciences , Business 2
School , University of Exeter, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT
This work presents a study conducted in Colombia in the dairy regions of Antioquia and coffee corridor and regin Cundi-boyacense, focusing on the factors affecting the adoption of the
Colombian public standard on best agricultural practices for dairy cattle, ICA-BPG (Buenas Prcticas Ganaderas del Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario ICA). Collecting data through
interviews and visits to both, certified and uncertified farms, this multiple case study identified factors affecting the adoption or rejection of the standard implementation. These identified
factors can be classified for analysis as economic, institutional and personal. The first ones, refer to the certification bonus in the price of milk, the certification costs, the land tenure and the
inputs market. Institutional factors identified include technical assistance, rural education, associations, the relevance of the standards, the audit approach and infrastructure. Finally, personal
factors included the interest in the environmental conservation, the workers resistance to change and other farmers attitudes. The ICA-BPG standard initiative is important for the
sustainability of a polluting activity such as dairy farming in Colombia, and according to the findings of this study, incentives that are meaningful for farmers need to be strengthened in order
to increase the level of adoption that this certification currently has.

INTRODUCTION FINDINGS
Economic resilience Colombia has 494,402 cattle farms (beef, dairy and Factors inferred from the interviews: Barriers/inhibitors ( ) and Incentives/drivers ( )
double-purpose), but only 642 (0.13%) are ICA-BPG
Investment
certified, from the time when the law was enacted in Economic factors We depend on what they want to
Local economy
2008 to this day. Certified milk price (11/16) pay us, we deliver a product, but we
Product quality and information
Vulnerability ICA-BPG certification prioritises Health and Safety Certification costs (9/16) never know how much we are going
(HS), animal welfare and holistic management Farm ownership (2/16) to receive for it
Environmental Integrity standards (analysis within the FAO sustainability
Animal welfare framework). Institutional factors The technical support is given by
Biodiversity people from the city, they should be
Technical support (12/16) rural people, from the countryside
Land
Rural education (9/16)
Materials and energy When milk producers get legal and
Unsuitable standards
Water
(8/16) formal, they seem to get into trouble,
Role of associations and they get huge scandals, persecution
Good governance milk companies (7/16) and sanctions by the authorities.

Accountability Certification audit Those who are informal draw no
Corporate ethics approach (6/16) attention, they work calmer. And
Holistic management when they see what happens with
Not mandatory (3/16)
Participation those who tried to be legal, why
Rural infrastructure (2/16)
Rule of law would they want to be visible and
Personal factors persecuted and get into trouble?
Social wellbeing
Cultural diversity Environmental consciousness Farmers dont know what keeping
Decent livelihood (7/16) records is
Equity Workers resistance (4/16) My worker didnt know what
Fair trading practices Other farmers attitudes
frequency means
Human safety and health (3/16)
Labour rights
DISCUSSION
METHODOLOGY Contrast with Literature review Contrast with evidence: The example of
Objective: To explore the motivations, barriers and limitations that Colombian dairy farmers the certified raw milk price
face in adopting the standards. Literature
This study
Research question: What are the factors affecting the Colombian dairy farms decision to adopt
the ICA-BPG certification? New factors:
Unsuitable standards and
Methods: Exploratory study using semi- audit approach
structured interviews to conduct a multiple case Economic factors: Costs, Economic factors: Certified
milk price, costs, farm
study. demand, land tenure
ownership
Construction of the case study validity: Using Institutional: Technical Institutional: Technical
assistance and rural assistance, rural education,
crossed-case analysis, contrasting the findings education associations' role
with literature and evidence. Personal factors: Personal factors:
Environmental Environmental
consciousness and consciousness and
resistance to change resistance to change

CONCLUSIONS
The main factors affecting the Colombian dairy farms' decision to adopt the ICA-BPG
standard are the certification bonus in the milk price and the technical support. Both could
be drivers or causes of rejection, depending on the way the standards are implemented in
different areas of the country.
Additional factors that could affect the adoption in lesser proportion were identified:
economic factors such as certification costs and farm ownership; institutional factors such
Interviewees: Government official, dairy extension agent, supplier representative and 13 farmers. as rural education, role of associations, top-down unsuitable standards, and certification
16 interviews. Farms sizes: 7 - 160 ha. Herd sizes: 20 - 324. Sites: Antioquia, Chiquinquira, Filandia approach; and personal factors such as environmental awareness, workers resistance to
and Bogota. (Recorded interviews incorporated into a framework analysis). change and other farmers attitudes.
Future prospects: Despite the importance of the ICA-BPG standard for the dairy farming
Antioquia
sustainability in Colombia, it has a low level of adoption in its 8 years of existence. Further
El Retiro: 1 uncertified farmer
Ovejas: 1 certified farmer study is needed to understand how to strengthen the most crucial incentives for farmers.
San Pedro de los Milagros: The findings resulted from this research could be helpful to formulate hypotheses for more
1 supplier representative research. The raw milk price formula, lack of demand, the bottom-up approach and the
3 certified farmers standard local viability could also be interesting subjects for future studies.
3 uncertified farmers
Chiquinquira KEY REFERENCES
1 certified farmer Barratt, M., Choi, T. Y., & Li, M. (2011). Qualitative case studies in operations management: Trends, research outcomes, and future research implications. Journal of Operations Management, 29(4),
329342. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2010.06.002
1 uncertified farmer Food and Agriculture Organisation. (2013). Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems (SAFA) Indicators. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved
from http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/nr/sustainability_pathways/docs/SAFA_Indicators_final_19122013.pdf
Gibbert, M., Ruigrok, W., & Wicki, B. (2008). What passes as a rigorous case study? Strategic Management Journal, 29(13), 14651474. http://doi.org/10.1002/smj.722
ICA. (2011). Good livestock practices for milk production. Retrieved from http://www.ica.gov.co/Multimedia/swf/PublicacionesICA/Pecuarias/4_BPG_produccio_leche/index.html
ICA. (2012). Good livestock practices for cattle - Colombian Agricultural Institute ICA. Retrieved from http://www.ica.gov.co/getattachment/35f0d70e-b2dd-4bfc-ac1f-ba169b5ccdca/Publicacion-5.aspx

Filandia Bogota ITC. (2015). International Trade Centre Standards Map. Retrieved 31 March 2016, from http://standardsmap.org/
Ketokivi, M., & Choi, T. (2014). Renaissance of case research as a scientific method. Journal of Operations Management, 32(5), 232240. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2014.03.004
1 certified farmer 2 agents Mamine, F. (2016). The incentives to adopt food safety standards: the example of approval and health certificate in the dairy cattle farming sector in Souk Ahras, Algeria. International Journal of
Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 12(1), 93. http://doi.org/10.1504/IJARGE.2016.074681
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author thanks the departments of Biosciences and Business School of the University of Exeter and the Ayudar scholarship for their support. Special gratitude to the participants from
RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN 2015

Colombia, in Bogota, Chiquinquira, Filandia and particularly in Antioquia, without whom the achievements of this research would not have been possible.
www.PosterPresentations.com