Agrarian Sustainability and Its Governance – Understanding, Evaluation, Improvement
Abstract
Research on agrarian sustainability and its governance is still at the beginning stage due to the “newness” of the problem, emerging new challenges, fundamental modernization during recent years, “lack” of long-term experiences and relevant data, application of narrow (certain form or management level); one-dimensional, unisectorial, normative, without transaction costs etc. approaches. The goal of this paper is to suggest a modern, holistic and practical framework for analyzing and assessing the system of governance of agrarian sustainability. Interdisciplinary frameworks of the New Institutional Economics and Sustainable Development are incorporated and agrarian sustainability property defined, principle mechanisms and modes of governance (institutions, market, private, public, hybrid) of agrarian sustainability classified, and a holistic approach for identifying components and factors, assessing efficiency of governance and sustainability levels, and improving the system of governance presented.
References
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[4] Bachev, H. 2013. Risk Management in Agri-food Sector. Contemporary Economics, 7(1): 45-62.
[5] Bachev, H. 2016: A Framework for Assessing Sustainability of Farming Enterprises. Journal of Applied Economic Science, Volume XI, 1(39): 24-43.
[6] Bachev, H., and Nanseki, T. 2008: Environmental Management in Bulgarian Agriculture – Risks, Modes, Major Challenges. Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture of Kyushu University, 53(1): 363-373.
[7] Barrett, C. 1996. Fairness, stewardship and sustainable development. Ecological Economics, 19: 1: 11-17.
[8] Berge, E., and Stenseth, N. (editors) 1998. Law and the Governance of Renewable Resources. Studies from Northern Europe and Africa, Oakland: ICS Press.
[9] Beerbaum, S. 2004. Agricultural soil protection in Germany - social requirements and legal provisions, Zucker Industries, 129 (9): 636-638.
[10] Brklacich, M., Bryant, C., and Smith, B. 1991. Review and appraisal of concept of sustainable food production systems. Environmental Management, 15(1): 1-14.
[11] Coase, R. 1960. The Problem of Social Costs. Journal of Law and Economics, 3: 1-44.
[12] Daily, G., et al. 2000. The value of nature and the nature of value. Science, 289: 395-396.
[13] De Molina M. 2013. Agroecology and Politics. How to Get Sustainability? About the Necessity for a Political Agroecology. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 37(1): 45-59.
[14] Edwards, C., Lal, R., Madden, P., Miller, R. and House, G. (Eds) 1990. Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Soil and Water Conservation Society, Iowa.
[15] Epp, R. 2013. The Agrarian Vision: Sustainability and Environmental Ethics. Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics, 26 (3): 739-741.
[16] Farah, A., and Gomez-Ramos, A. 2014. Competitiveness vs. Sustainability: An Assessment of Profitability as a Component of an Approach on "Sustainable Competitiveness" in Extensive Farming Systems of Central Spain, Sustainability, 6(11): 8029-8055.
[17] Hansen, J. 1996: Is Agricultural Sustainability a Useful Concept, Agricultural Systems, 50: 117-143.
[18] Hayati, D., Ranjbar, Z., and Karami, E. 2010. Measuring Agricultural Sustainability, in E. Lichtfouse (Ed.), Biodiversity, Biofuels, Agroforestry and Conservation Agriculture. Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, 5: 73-100.
[19] Garcia-Brenes, M. 2012. Incidence of the European Union's Agricultural Policy on the Sustainability of Olive Cultivation in Andalusia, Spain. Cuadernos De Desarrollo Rural, 9(68): 87-103.
[20] Kremen, C., Iles, A., and Bacon, C. 2012. Diversified Farming Systems: An Agroecological, Systems-based Alternative to Modern Industrial Agriculture. Ecology and Society, 17: (4): 44-54.
[21] Lewandowski, I., Härdtlein, M., and Kaltschmitt, M. 1999. Sustainable crop production: definition and methodological approach for assessing and implementing sustainability. Crop Science, 39:184-193.
[22] Lowrance R., Hendrix, P. F, and Odum, E. P. 1986. A hierarchical approach to sustainable agriculture, American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 1(4): 169–173. DOI: 10.1017/S0889189300001260
[23] Lopez-Ridauira, S., Masera, O., and Astier, M. 2002. Evaluating the sustainability of complex socio-environmental systems. The MESMIS framework. Ecological Indicators, 2: 135-148.
[24] Mirovitskaya, N., and Ascher, W. (Eds) 2001. Guide to Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy, Duke University Press, London.
[25] North, D. 1990. Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[26] Ostrom, E. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge University Press.
[27] Raman, S. 2006. Agricultural Sustainability. Principles, Processes and Prospect., New York: The Haworth Press Inc.
[28] Sauvenier X., et al. 2005. Framework for Assessing Sustainability Levels in Belgium Agricultural Systems – SAFE, Belgium Science Policy, Brussels.
[29] VanLoon, G., Patil, S., and Hugar, L. 2005. Agricultural Sustainability: Strategies for Assessment. London: SAGE Publications.
[30] Weigelt, J., Muller, A., Janetschek, H., and Topfer, K. 2015. Land and soil governance towards a transformational post-2015 Development Agenda: An overview, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 15: 57-65.
[31] Williamson, O. 1996. The Mechanisms of Governance. New York: Oxford University Press.
[32] Zimmerer, K. 2007. Agriculture, livelihoods, and globalization: The analysis of new trajectories (and avoidance of just-so stories) of human-environment change and conservation, Agriculture and Human Values, 24 (1): 9-16.
*** EC 2001. A Framework for Indicators for the Economic and Social Dimensions of Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission.
*** FAO 2013. SAFA. Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems indicators, FAO.
*** OECD 2001. Environmental indicators for agriculture. Volume 3: Methods and Results. OECD, Paris.
*** UN 2015. Paris Climate Change Conference – November-December 2015.
Published
2017-02-28
How to Cite
BACHEV, Hrabrin et al.
Agrarian Sustainability and Its Governance – Understanding, Evaluation, Improvement.
Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, [S.l.], v. 7, n. 4, p. 639-663, feb. 2017.
ISSN 2068-7729.
Available at: <https://journals.aserspublishing.eu/jemt/article/view/724>. Date accessed: 23 apr. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.14505//jemt.v7.4(16).11.
Section
Article
Copyright© 2023 The Author(s). Published by ASERS Publishing 2023. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of CC-BY 4.0 license.