To survive in today's competitive environment, companies must continuously develop and offer customers new products. To increase the probability of a successful business case of investing in the development of a new product, careful attention must be paid to risk analysis in terms of the present value of future potential income. The article considers an example of the research work of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, in the framework of which a technical and technological project was developed to produce a new product, like Mediterranean anchovy, from cheaper Baltic sprats. The main goal of this work is to explore the application multi-factor sensitivity and fuzzy real option analysis to the valuation of new product development project. The multivariate analysis of the sensitivity of the financial model of the greenfield production project described in this article revealed the main risk groups, as well as their degree of influence on the assessment of the Net Present Value of the project by a potential investor. The use of Fuzzy Real Option Valuation made it possible to evaluate the project with uncertain parameters, as well as to calculate the potential upside from preliminary refinement of parameters to eliminate negative scenarios. The described approach is applicable to risk assessment of new food product development and allows investors to make a more informed decision about participation in such projects.

To survive in today's competitive environment, companies must continuously develop and offer customers new products. To increase the probability of a successful business case of investing in the development of a new product, careful attention must be paid to risk analysis in terms of the present value of future potential income. The article considers an example of the research work of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, in the framework of which a technical and technological project was developed to produce a new product, like Mediterranean anchovy, from cheaper Baltic sprats. The main goal of this work is to explore the application multi-factor sensitivity and fuzzy real option analysis to the valuation of new product development project. The multivariate analysis of the sensitivity of the financial model of the greenfield production project described in this article revealed the main risk groups, as well as their degree of influence on the assessment of the Net Present Value of the project by a potential investor. The use of Fuzzy Real Option Valuation made it possible to evaluate the project with uncertain parameters, as well as to calculate the potential upside from preliminary refinement of parameters to eliminate negative scenarios. The described approach is applicable to risk assessment of new food product development and allows investors to make a more informed decision about participation in such projects.

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on national economies are characterized as the worst economic turmoil in recent years, as economic growth slowed to the level of the 2008 global financial crisis. At the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, economic growth surveys did not project that the novel virus could have a negative impact on economic growth. As a result of the rapid spread of the virus and the increase in the number of infection cases, national governments took strict measures to limit the spread of the virus, which led to a significant deterioration in the economic situation in all industries of the economy. Agriculture plays an important role in providing food to the country’s population, yet the pandemic made a negative impact on sales volumes and prices in the domestic and international markets. The research aims to assess the impacts of the pandemic on milk supply chains in Latvia and come up with solutions to stabilizing the situation in the dairy sector. The national restrictions to combat the pandemic also hampered the dairy sector concerning the sale of raw milk and finished products in foreign markets, thereby leading to overproduction and stockpiling of the finished products, price dumping and a significant decrease in milk purchase prices to or below the production cost level for many dairy farms. Although there is no indication that the pandemic would lead to a decrease in the numbers of livestock and farms or output in early 2021, it is too early to assess the overall impact of the pandemic on dairy farming, as uncertainty over the duration of pandemic restrictions is a major risk to farm survival. The operation of the dairy sector was stabilized by means of the support provided by the government, as well as the farms’ accumulated financial and feed resources. In order to identify future challenges for milk supply chains, the research performed an analysis of operational risks for milk producers and processors to identify the most important risks and design recommendations for their elimination. The longer there is uncertainty about the return of the dairy sector to pre-pandemic output levels, the more likely it is that the pandemic is going to lead to a decrease in the numbers of dairy livestock and farms.

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on national economies are characterized as the worst economic turmoil in recent years, as economic growth slowed to the level of the 2008 global financial crisis. At the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, economic growth surveys did not project that the novel virus could have a negative impact on economic growth. As a result of the rapid spread of the virus and the increase in the number of infection cases, national governments took strict measures to limit the spread of the virus, which led to a significant deterioration in the economic situation in all industries of the economy. Agriculture plays an important role in providing food to the country’s population, yet the pandemic made a negative impact on sales volumes and prices in the domestic and international markets. The research aims to assess the impacts of the pandemic on milk supply chains in Latvia and come up with solutions to stabilizing the situation in the dairy sector. The national restrictions to combat the pandemic also hampered the dairy sector concerning the sale of raw milk and finished products in foreign markets, thereby leading to overproduction and stockpiling of the finished products, price dumping and a significant decrease in milk purchase prices to or below the production cost level for many dairy farms. Although there is no indication that the pandemic would lead to a decrease in the numbers of livestock and farms or output in early 2021, it is too early to assess the overall impact of the pandemic on dairy farming, as uncertainty over the duration of pandemic restrictions is a major risk to farm survival. The operation of the dairy sector was stabilized by means of the support provided by the government, as well as the farms’ accumulated financial and feed resources. In order to identify future challenges for milk supply chains, the research performed an analysis of operational risks for milk producers and processors to identify the most important risks and design recommendations for their elimination. The longer there is uncertainty about the return of the dairy sector to pre-pandemic output levels, the more likely it is that the pandemic is going to lead to a decrease in the numbers of dairy livestock and farms.

Climate risks constitute an enormous challenge to poultry production and have affected the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. Thus, farmers have adopted various strategies that can help them cope with the adverse effects of climate change. The aim of this study is to examine the factors influencing small scale poultry farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change. Data used for this study were obtained from 121 representative farmers selected through a two-stage random sampling procedure. Descriptive Statistics, Likert Scale and the Multinomial Logit Model were the tools used for analysis. Results showed that the mean age and household size of the respondents were 45 years and 5 persons respectively, while the average number of birds per farmer stood at 583 birds. Majority of the respondents had a moderate perception of the impacts of climate change on poultry farming and chose management adaptation strategies in their fight against climate change. Econometric analysis showed that the age, gender and educational status of farmers, number of birds, household size, poultry experience, access to cooperative societies, poultry housing system, access to credit, access to extension services and farm size were the factors influencing farmers’ choice of climate change adaptation strategies in the study area. Therefore, policy should focus on awareness creation on management adaptation strategies through enhancing education and extension services as well as access of poultry farmers to credit facilities to indirectly insure farmers against climate change impacts.

Climate risks constitute an enormous challenge to poultry production and have affected the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. Thus, farmers have adopted various strategies that can help them cope with the adverse effects of climate change. The aim of this study is to examine the factors influencing small scale poultry farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change. Data used for this study were obtained from 121 representative farmers selected through a two-stage random sampling procedure. Descriptive Statistics, Likert Scale and the Multinomial Logit Model were the tools used for analysis. Results showed that the mean age and household size of the respondents were 45 years and 5 persons respectively, while the average number of birds per farmer stood at 583 birds. Majority of the respondents had a moderate perception of the impacts of climate change on poultry farming and chose management adaptation strategies in their fight against climate change. Econometric analysis showed that the age, gender and educational status of farmers, number of birds, household size, poultry experience, access to cooperative societies, poultry housing system, access to credit, access to extension services and farm size were the factors influencing farmers’ choice of climate change adaptation strategies in the study area. Therefore, policy should focus on awareness creation on management adaptation strategies through enhancing education and extension services as well as access of poultry farmers to credit facilities to indirectly insure farmers against climate change impacts.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a computing concept that describes the idea of everyday physical objects being connected to the Internet and being able to identify themselves to other devices, and day by day it becomes popular in everyday life as well as in entrepreneurship. The IoT covers broad areas, including manufacturing, the health sector, agriculture, smart cities, security and emergencies among many others. The market for the industrial IoT is estimated to surpass 107 billion euros by 2021 and reach a compound annual growth rate of 7.3% as of 2020. The IoT makes an impact on all industries and provides benefits for various areas of business; however, business may be faced with some risks as well. The research aim is to analyse the benefits and risks of the IoT in entrepreneurship. The descriptive method, analysis and synthesis, the induction and deduction methods were used to achieve the aim. The research has revealed that the IoT can provide several opportunities for business in all fields of operations – marketing, logistics, accounting and human resource management. However, businesses may be faced with some challenges related to privacy and security, processing, analysis and management of data, as well as monitoring and sensing.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a computing concept that describes the idea of everyday physical objects being connected to the Internet and being able to identify themselves to other devices, and day by day it becomes popular in everyday life as well as in entrepreneurship. The IoT covers broad areas, including manufacturing, the health sector, agriculture, smart cities, security and emergencies among many others. The market for the industrial IoT is estimated to surpass 107 billion euros by 2021 and reach a compound annual growth rate of 7.3% as of 2020. The IoT makes an impact on all industries and provides benefits for various areas of business; however, business may be faced with some risks as well. The research aim is to analyse the benefits and risks of the IoT in entrepreneurship. The descriptive method, analysis and synthesis, the induction and deduction methods were used to achieve the aim. The research has revealed that the IoT can provide several opportunities for business in all fields of operations – marketing, logistics, accounting and human resource management. However, businesses may be faced with some challenges related to privacy and security, processing, analysis and management of data, as well as monitoring and sensing.