GERARD McElwee

Food supply chain theory and practice generally assumes that the business practices and processes involved are ethical, legal and value adding when this is not always so, as demonstrated by the ongoing 2013 Horsemeat Scandal. Although it is ostensibly a UK based affair it encompasses the meat processing industry across Europe. We thus examine supply chain criminality and highlight ‘scandal scripts’ which amplify underlying issues.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate various problems experienced by cottage-based women entrepreneurs to launch and develop their ventures in Oman and to focus on women going beyond their traditional family roles for various reasons to establish themselves in Omani society.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies a mixed research approach using a quantitative survey of 142 cottage-based Omani women entrepreneurs and qualitative face-to-face interviews with ten women entrepreneurs, presented as six short case studies. The intensity of the business-related problems is determined through the exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis is used to confirm the model by determining the goodness of fit between hypothesized model and sample data.

A B S T R A C T Entrepreneurial turns, serendipitous events, entrepreneurial skills and values are critical to the success of rural SMEs. Likewise, 'Resource Orchestration' is an important element of strategic, entrepreneurial activities. An analysis of a case study of a rural family farm business in Italy is provided demonstrating an innovative model of 'rural entrepreneurship' focused on farm diversification to valorise full employment of family members and increased productivity as a direct response to rural policy. The analysis shows how collective family en-trepreneurship can exploit 'clusters of opportunities' through updating entrepreneurial skills. 'Serendipitous acts' are integrated into localised diversification strategies.

Affirmative action by rural communities and representative bodies is the only answer to ensure rural policing does not fall off the edge of the agenda. We have covered some of ways in which Local Authorities, rural communities and businesses can continue to work with police forces and PCCs to deliver new models of rural policing. It also raises the question of whether we need a unified national rural policing strategy. Also, the 'age of austerity' is really a political construction, which could be ended by appropriate political action. All are part of an established and successful academic writing team. The recent article by Sellick highlighted in RuSource Briefing 2754: Can we really improve rural policing? http://ofi.direct/1.17110411 sufficiently interested us as rural scholars with collective interests in rurality, rural entrepreneurship, rural crime and policing. The introduction to the legislative framework behind the present framework of rural policing in the UK is both useful and interesting because it describes the existing system of policing as well as describing it as the traditional business model of policing. Of particular interest to us is the discussion of the two different systems of policing: the setting up of Police Scotland and the current structure of 43 forces covering England and Wales which illustrates two very different models of policing in the UK. This distinction is important.

Illegal diversification strategies in farming contexts are neglected in research terms. There are endoge-nous and exogenous factors that influence the potential strategic capability and activity of illegal entrepreneurs and criminal farmers. Internal factors include the personal characteristics of the farmer equalities and skills. External factors, outside the control of the individual illegal entrepreneur, include the activities and processes undertaken by them, the characteristics of the illegal enterprise, government policies, markets and environmental factors. Using a documentary research methodology of 210 case studies, located on the internet, from across the UK (where farmers had been charged with criminal offences relating to their occupation), the article contributes to the literature on farm diversification and rural crime.

Food supply chain theory and practice assumes that the processes involved are legal and value adding. In this paper, using examples from the UK halal (sheep) meat supply chain, we outline a value extracting value chain through a mixed methods qualitative approach consisting of face-to-face-interviews and a documentary research strategy underpinned by Narrative Inquiry. Building on previous theoretical work on Illegal Rural Enterprise, we present a narrative of an individual rogue-farmer, and explore his involvement in the illegal halal ('smokies') trade over a fifteen-year period. The paper provides a compelling story that will enable investigators to better understand illegal enterprise from a supply chain perspective and more adequately address the concerns stated in the UK Fraud Act 2006. The paper will be useful to food standards agencies in that furthers our understanding of entrepreneurial practice and morality in the food industry. The results demonstrate that illegal rural enterprise is a multi-faceted concept that requires an understanding of business practices and processes alongside a multi-agency approach to enterprise orientated crime. Our approach suggests that supply chains can be 'flipped' in order to understand illegal processes in addition to conventional legal processes.

The European Horsemeat Scandal of 2013 is a recent manifestation of the problem of 'Food fraud'. It is important from a criminological perspective because it exists at the nexus between organized crime and bad business practice and is a contemporary example of criminal-entrepreneurship. From a practical perspective it is a pernicious criminal activity perpetuated by diverse organized-crime-groups, rogue-entrepreneurs and food-industry-insiders. It is a white-collar-crime committed in the commercial arena, across an extended international food-chain. Geographic and policy boundaries make it difficult to police. Although a high level of awareness of the fraud exists globally, there is a dearth of critical academic research into the phenomenon. The extant literature is spread thinly across various disciplinary silos. This essay by two Business School Scholars and a Food Scientist, discusses the need to develop a more critical, inter-disciplinary approach to developing appropriate theoretical frameworks.

Purpose: Analyses barriers confronted by women entrepreneurs living and running businesses in rural Oman. The study identifies numerous problems including: accessing funding for new ventures and innovative activities, a lack of skills based training and limited family support.

Design/methodology/approach: Draws on 57 responses to a semi-structured questionnaire, and face to face qualitative interviews with five women entrepreneurs. Quantitative responses are evaluated and ranked in terms of their mean score, standard deviation and the intensity of each factor. Five qualitative cases are presented.

Findings: Although Oman is arguably one of the more progressive Arab countries regarding gender equality and women empowerment, the findings identify socio-cultural issues that hamper women’s entrepreneurial ventures and their success. The findings are discussed using three dimensions of entrepreneurship identified by Wenneker and Thurik (1999): conditions leading to entrepreneurship, characteristics of entrepreneurship and outcomes of entrepreneurship.

Practical Implications: Suggests that Omani policy makers should consider how to better support women entrepreneurs so that they can diversify household income and contribute to the socio-economic development of the region and make suggestions on how this can be achieved.

Originality/Value: Research on rural women entrepreneurship in the context of an Arab country is scarce. This study provides an overview of the obstacles, the opportunities and the support required for the development of the rural women entrepreneurship in this region.

Keywords: Rural entrepreneurship, Omani women entrepreneurs, Oman

Paper type: Research paper

Illegal diversification strategies in farming contexts are neglected in research terms. There are endoge-nous and exogenous factors that influence the potential strategic capability and activity of illegal entrepreneurs and criminal farmers. Internal factors include the personal characteristics of the farmer equalities and skills. External factors, outside the control of the individual illegal entrepreneur, include the activities and processes undertaken by them, the characteristics of the illegal enterprise, government policies, markets and environmental factors. Using a documentary research methodology of 210 case studies, located on the internet, from across the UK (where farmers had been charged with criminal offences relating to their occupation), the article contributes to the literature on farm diversification and rural crime.

Food supply chain theory and practice assumes that the processes involved are legal and value adding. In this paper, using examples from the UK halal (sheep) meat supply chain, we outline a value extracting value chain through a mixed methods qualitative approach consisting of face-to-face-interviews and a documentary research strategy underpinned by Narrative Inquiry. Building on previous theoretical work on Illegal Rural Enterprise, we present a narrative of an individual rogue-farmer, and explore his involvement in the illegal halal ('smokies') trade over a fifteen-year period. The paper provides a compelling story that will enable investigators to better understand illegal enterprise from a supply chain perspective and more adequately address the concerns stated in the UK Fraud Act 2006. The paper will be useful to food standards agencies in that furthers our understanding of entrepreneurial practice and morality in the food industry. The results demonstrate that illegal rural enterprise is a multi-faceted concept that requires an understanding of business practices and processes alongside a multi-agency approach to enterprise orientated crime. Our approach suggests that supply chains can be 'flipped' in order to understand illegal processes in addition to conventional legal processes.

Focussing on entrepreneurs’ experiences inhibiting them from launching a business – at the micro level – the purpose of this paper is to identify issues that limit rural entrepreneurship in Pakistan and also, to identify the cultural, social, economic and religious traditions and settings that discourage entrepreneurship thus hindering economic development

Lourenço, F., Sappleton, N., Dardaine-Edwards, A., McElwee, G., Cheng, R., Taylor, D. W., & Taylor, A. G. (2014). Experience of entrepreneurial training for female farmers to stimulate entrepreneurship in Uganda. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 29(7), pp. 382–401

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to evaluate the success of a scheme, supported by the Ugandan Agribusiness Initiative Trust, to fund gender and entrepreneurship training for women farmers in the north of Uganda (Gulu District and Lira District). Moreover, this paper reflects upon our experience of delivering training for women farmers and highlights key observations related to women’s entrepreneurship in Uganda.

Design/methodology/approach – A practitioner-based reflection which shares the experiences of the process of developing and delivering gender and entrepreneurship training for women in Uganda.

Findings – Through the experience of running gender and entrepreneurship training for women farmers in Uganda, a series of barriers to female rural entrepreneurs are highlighted: lack of access to credit, gender inequality, poor infrastructure, lack of access to knowledge and education, negative attitudes towards women and few initiatives to facilitate economic and business success.

Originality/value – This paper provides reflection of the experience gained from the delivery of training and interaction with women farmers and entrepreneurs in Uganda.

Farm diversification has a range of meanings with different implications for the farmer, the farm business and the farm holding.  The skills required for diversified activities are manifold and this paper explores the characteristics that are most associated with those farmers who are actively involved in diversified activities.

A typology of farm diversification approaches is provided and a consideration of the implications for both the farm and the wider rural economy.  It is argued that some forms of diversification enhance the farm business while others detract from the core business, substituting agriculture with other forms of industry.  The role of the farmer or land-owner can also vary with some actively involved in new forms of business and others taking the role of landlord or property developer.

With increasing populations, digital technology and a new vision of rural economies (Taylor 2008; CRC 2008) the farmer is potentially well placed to facilitate and participate in new entrepreneurial activity.  It is therefore essential that farmers are encouraged to develop the necessary skills to ensure that they are able to retain a significant and progressive role in an evolving countryside.

The research is informed by a survey of 609 farmers and a further 4 case studies informed by interviews with farmers for each of the forms of diversification identified in the typology.  This should provide a valuable basis for understanding the motivations of different types of “diversifiers” and also the practicalities of undertaking such activity.

The purpose of this reflective paper is to discuss and reflect and in the process celebrate the development of a qualitative research stream which continues to interrogate the unusual topic of illegal rural enterprise. The authors discuss how a common interest in rural entrepreneurship and rural criminology led to a very productive and continuing research collaborations.

ISBE Full Paper-Presented at the Virtual ISBE/RAU Voices of Agri-Entrepreneurship seminar on 25.02.2021 @ RAU, Cirencester.
Topic: Farming is a heavily gendered environment. In this review we introduce, theorise and discuss 'farm women' as an under researched social status group and resource, identifying emergent research themes. The term farm women include 'women farmers', 'farmers wives' and 'farm women' 'farmers' mothers and daughters' and the 'wives and daughters of farm workers' but also 'migrant workers' whom are under-represented in the literature. Increasingly, women make up a considerable proportion of agricultural students and the land-based workforce. Such women and particularly women farmers have a marginalised voice in existing formal discourse. Indeed, little is written about women farmers in either the rural entrepreneurship literature or the entrepreneurship and gender literature with the limited exception of asking questions and attempting to answer questions about the role of household and off farm work. There are studies in the agricultural literature but there is an identifiable research gap relating to what they do and how they do it and more importantly their official status. Historically farm women in the wider context often received limited or no formal management skill or training or an agricultural education, but this is changing. Consequentially, this educational transition is of interest within the wider context of women being considered as an under recognised and under-valued resource in rural businesses worthy of further research. Aim: The overall aim of this review is to interrogate the extant literature to develop a more nuanced understanding of the sectors in which such farm women work and to explore why they have such a marginalised profile and voice in formal discourse. The key aims are to understand why women farmers are under-represented in official statistics; explore and provide a more nuanced understanding of women farmers and their roles; identify the specific structural and social barriers that may be associated with, or inhibit, the enterprise development of women farmers; and to explore other gendered roles in general. Methodology: This review utilises a Systematic Review Methodology to identify key academic studies relating to the roles of women in farming and to synthesise studies from a diverse range of literatures to provide an overview. Its purpose is to identify what is known and to identify research gaps and to develop a clearer conceptual understanding of the topic. To provide a genuine overview documentary research methodology is also employed to evidence the protean nature of available material on 'Women Farmers' not presented in the academic literature. The review develops critical questions about woman farmers, farmers wives and farm women in general to inform future empirical work. We restrict the geographic element of the review to a UK context to explore the numbers of women farmers and the sectors in which they operate. We seek to identify "typical" experiences of the barriers facing women farmers and to establish if women provide the entrepreneurial energy to create localised change. Contribution: There is a substantial but under-appreciated literature about women in farming spread across a diverse range of literature. Much of the literature is dated but relevant. The literature generally mirrors the findings of the female entrepreneurship literature relating to the marginalisation and invisibility of the women farmer, farmers wives and the wider population of farm women, farmers' daughters and mothers, the wives of farm workers or itinerant migrant 2 workers. In particular, there are obvious gender-based barriers to women in farming and land-based industries relating to structural and social pathways into farming. Women are still seen in the literature as an unpaid resource or as companions to their men. Yet, an alternative stream suggests that women farmers are generally more entrepreneurial than men and contemporary data from the grey literature suggests they are an emergent force in the sector. Practical implications: This review explores the extant literature on women in farming to identify research streams and themes to inform future empirical studies to explore why women are under-represented in the contemporary literature and whether women's enterprise skills in the farming context are perhaps more nuanced than their masculine counterparts. This review contributes by providing a base from which to begin separating rhetoric from reality to generate a list of critical questions to guide future research. The paper is part of a larger study.