The majority of the Swedish population were self-provided within agriculture a hundred years ago. Times do change and today the situation is the other way around - most of us live within city boundaries and only few work with farming and related agricultural businesses. One thing that has not changed though, is the need of supplies from Swedish agriculture.What do we think of those products? Are we even aware of the connection between us and agriculture? The Federation of Swedish Farmers, LRF (Lantbrukarnas riksförbund), started their project to strengthen the link between consumers and producers in 2008.This paper is part of the project and its aim is to investigate consumers' views and values upon the effects and products from Swedish agriculture.Opinions and values have been studied through interviews influenced by phenomenology. The results show that the informants in general had a positive approach and thinking concerning the products and effects from Swedish agriculture.

The majority of the Swedish population were self-provided within agriculture a hundred years ago. Times do change and today the situation is the other way around - most of us live within city boundaries and only few work with farming and related agricultural businesses. One thing that has not changed though, is the need of supplies from Swedish agriculture.What do we think of those products? Are we even aware of the connection between us and agriculture? The Federation of Swedish Farmers, LRF (Lantbrukarnas riksförbund), started their project to strengthen the link between consumers and producers in 2008.This paper is part of the project and its aim is to investigate consumers' views and values upon the effects and products from Swedish agriculture.Opinions and values have been studied through interviews influenced by phenomenology. The results show that the informants in general had a positive approach and thinking concerning the products and effects from Swedish agriculture.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an unconventional model of agriculture expected to contribute to a more sustainable food supply and a sustainable landscape; the development of rural areas; a stronger relationship between producer and consumer and a healthier diet. This study, with a focus on food production and the link between the producer and consumer, describes the origin and current development of CSA in Sweden, including the prerequisites for CSA in a Swedish context. Organizations and entrepreneurs working with CSA and related projects are identified and interviewed. The notion of CSA in Sweden is still in its infancy, but a rapidly growing interest currently can be detected. The fact that the identified CSAs are found in different Swedish regions with variations in degree of urbanization and intensity of agriculture indicates that the prerequisites are there for the concept to grow, both in rural as well as urban areas.

Urbanisation has increased the distance between the urban and the rural. Urban agriculture can be a solution to overcome that distance. The characteristic of urban agriculture is the intensive production in intra urban and peri-urban areas. Until 1950s food production in cities was an important part of the urban economy and the urban food supply. Since the 1950s the urban located production of food has almost ceased in Sweden, partly as a result of cheap food imports.

Title: Lobbying in the Swedish parliament - a qualitative study about experiences and attitudes of lobbying among the members of the Swedish parliament, from a communication perspective.Author: Bodil Hassel and Kristofer PerssonTutor: Emma SvenssonPurpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study lobbying towards members of the Swedish parliament. We aim to study their point of view: what experiences and attitudes they have towards the phenomenon. Key questions to be answered are: What experiences and attitudes do the members of the Swedish parliamentary Committee on Environment and Agriculture have towards lobbying? What skills does a successful lobbyist possess, according to the members of the committee? How do the organizations Skogsindustrierna and Naturskyddsfo?reningen lobby?Method/Material: The material used in this study consists of interviews with nine respondents of the Committee on Environment and Agriculture in the Swedish parliament. Additionally, two informant interviews with the organizations Skogsindustrierna and Naturskyddsfo?reningen were made.

Climate change is a global and slow process that affects humans all over the world. Climate adaption within agriculture is important to reduce the risks that agricultures are exposed to because of climate change.  Through climate adaption you can improve the positive effects and take advantage of them optimally. How the climate change affects agricultures varies depending on regions and societies. The purposes of the study are to examine how different actors experience the impacts of climate change on the agriculture in Värmland.

Different techniques for precision agriculture have been available during the last decade. Some of them are more widely used than others. The main purpose of this thesis was to investigate the different attitudes to precision agriculture that exists among farmers and advisors in Sweden. Eight advisors and sixteen farmers were asked for their opinion of a number of specific techniques for precision agriculture, such as yield-mapping, precision liming, the Yara Nitrogen Sensor and site-specific fertilization with phosphorous and potassium. They were also asked to describe the way in which the counselling in Swedish agriculture is used and also about it's importance for the adaptation of new techniques. The high costs are mentioned to be one of the most important reasons why precision agriculture hasn't been more widely spread. Several farmers refer to their farms as too small to bear the costs that come with the techniques. The individual interest for technique among the potential users plays an important role.

AbstractThe European union experience sometimes difficulties in advancing its work due to the member states? different ambitions and interests. The budget is one common tool that the member states can use in order to implement different policies according to their preferences. A large share of the budget is presently tied up in the CAP, the common agricultural policy. This share could be spent in another area and by doing so the EU could take a slightly different direction.

Background: The situation for Swedish agricultural production today is characterized by an increased competition, particularly after the country joined the European Union. Swedish agricultural production laws guarantee safe, high quality foodstuffs. However, due to these strict laws, Swedish farmers face higher production costs than their competitors. Meanwhile, cheaper imported goods compete freely on the Swedish market. Swedish agricultural production must find new ways to survive in the increasing competition.

An increasing global population and a worldwide growing urbanization has raised the questionabout the future food security in cities all over the world. Peak-oil limits the access to cheap fossilfuels which threatens the global food-supply chain. This has resulted in a larger awareness anddiscussion related to urban agriculture. Growing crops and keeping animals within the city-borderscould be one way of creating a more robust and sustainable food supply for city dwellers. However,to enable an expansion of the urban agriculture many theorists argue that policies and institutionalstructures that supports and promotes city farming have to be developed.

Gotland is famous around the world for its unique nature. The agriculture here has always been an important source of income and part of the identity of the island. But today the profession has low status and hard to survive. How can the interest for farming be increased?Gotlandsgården is an investigation about how the agriculture could develop.

AbstractOne of the most common business models for agriculture is according to Lantbrukarnas Riksförbund (2010) that two or more agricultural companies merge and form a company together. To create strong owners and to be competitive there is a recognized need to create relationships between small firms according to Mazzarol , Mamouni Limnios and Reboud (2013). Oerleman and Assouline (2004) argues that it is possible to achieve success in agriculture by following certain strategic priorities.This paper examines why farmers choose to venture into collaboration and whether cooperation are linked to the strategies of the company. The paper also discusses the pros and cons of partnerships in agriculture. A qualitative comparative research design has been used to answer to the topics and we have interviewed respondents from four different agriculture companies, which have been active in some form of cooperation or collaboration.

An increasing global population and a worldwide growing urbanization has raised the questionabout the future food security in cities all over the world. Peak-oil limits the access to cheap fossilfuels which threatens the global food-supply chain. This has resulted in a larger awareness anddiscussion related to urban agriculture. Growing crops and keeping animals within the city-borderscould be one way of creating a more robust and sustainable food supply for city dwellers. However,to enable an expansion of the urban agriculture many theorists argue that policies and institutionalstructures that supports and promotes city farming have to be developed.

Gotland is famous around the world for its unique nature. The agriculture here has always been an important source of income and part of the identity of the island. But today the profession has low status and hard to survive. How can the interest for farming be increased?Gotlandsgården is an investigation about how the agriculture could develop.

Streams and riparian zone are closely linked by reciprocal flows of energy and nutrients. A large part of the transportation from water to land is in form of emerged aquatic insects. Conversion of land from forest to agriculture can greatly affect aquatic ecosystems, and due to the close link, also affect the adjacent terrestral zone. Investigating how the presence of agriculture in the surrounding area affects amounts of emergent aquatic insects gives an indication on how agriculture, in turn, may affect the terrestral enviroment. The study was preformed alongside ten streams in northern Sweden; five in landscape transformed by agriculture and five in undisturbed forest areas.