Milch und Macht: Die Pluralisierung des slowenischen Milchsektors. Entwicklungen kleinbäuerlicher Strukturen im Kontext einer globalisierten Milchwirtschaft

The milk production system is globally going through a phase of structural reorganisation. On the one hand, these reorganisations are shaped by changes in consumer demand patterns and, on the other hand, by technical and procedural changes in production. This leads to an overproduction of milk, which increasingly reaches the consumers in processed forms. Classic processors, such as dairies, are therefore able to generate added value. Thus, this development causes a rapid consolidation along the entire value chain and leads to oligopolistic tendencies, especially at the end of the value chain on the trading side as well as on the processing side. For example, it is particularly difficult for raw milk producers to retain remaining values in the production process. The most common form of value acquisition is the expansion of production capacity. Thus, the remaining producers produce more and more milk. These sometimes-rapid consolidation processes at plant level occur in many production systems, especially in the EU. This work aims at processes concerning the agricultural transition of the Slovenian dairy sector. Again, there is a pronounced agony of dairy farmers. The Slovenian dairy industry is characterised by processes of consolidation that have led to a strong decline of small producers. Thus, Slovenian dairy farmers develop specific strategies to allow for a survival in the production process and therefore these coping strategies are versatile and locally adapted. The aim of this work is to show which processes try to master the new challenges. At the same time, this work primarily aims at those processes that are part of a pluralised agriculture. The relevance of this pluralistic agriculture is largely caused by market failures and the lack of the internalisation of negative effects of contemporary agriculture. Previous scientific contributions mainly examined adaptation processes towards globalised, higher value markets, for example producers from less developed countries. This work, however, focuses on adaptation processes of already strongly developed agricultural systems. In particular, it examines adjustment processes for market shakeout processes. In Slovenia, the number of operational tasks is among the highest in the EU-28. Thus, many adaptation processes as well as coping strategies against the dynamics of capitalistic market processes can be observed there. Especially, the fluctuating raw milk price, which is a manifest form of the bargaining power of downstream actors, forced many producers to leave the productive system. In this regard, fluctuating prices leave limited room for manoeuvre. As a consequence, raw milk producers decide to counteract by upgrading through processing on their own farm. The basis for the theoretical elaboration of the topic are value chain approaches (GPN / GVC). These value chain approaches precipitate those business and non-business relationships that analyse entire sectors. The resulting multi-layer view enables the possibility to carry out intrafirm, intermediate and interregional analyses of economic, social and environmental processes caused by human interaction. Contemporary analysis focusses on value chain and network approaches, such as the Global Value Chain and Global Production Networks, which primarily serve to understand the power constellations in the Slovenian milk sector and the dynamic adaption towards or away from the intergraded network. This cumulative dissertation consists of three scientific articles, each representing process extracts that accompany the Slovenian pluralisation in agriculture. They are the result of qualitative research, as well as the processing of comprehensive literature and secondary statistical data. As a result, this work shows how knowledge is transferred from outside Slovenia into the production system. Furthermore, we witnessed producers and non-producers becoming a driving force in the pluralisation of the sector by linking consumers directly to farms. Consequently, value is caught in a greater share by the producers. They, again, are channeling up the system and contribute to a differentiation of strategies to cope with the dynamics of a changing dairy system. This becomes more significant due to a system which is highly fragile to external and internal shocks. Especially the milk price is linked to the global landscape and farmers are increasingly tied up to a system with little scope. So, the local economic transition is caused by shocks, for example the 2008 world financial crisis and the eurozone crisis of the year 2012. With the abolition of the milk quota farmers are again challenged by massive competition - but not only for producers, but also for processors and retailers. Changing consumer habits and the professionalisation of dairy farming are shaping the sector. The growing mercantile interests of farmers will have an impact on the sector. All these factors will push the production system to a much more pluralised one - with more diversified circuits of value.