Sammendrag
Agriculture’s multifunctional role implies that the sector not only produces food, but also public goods such as food security, cultural landscapes, environmental goods and viable rural communities. This is not a novel concept, but the term «multifunctionality» is applied both nationally and internationally to justify Norwegian agricultural policies. Much of the research on the economics of agricultural multifunctionality has focused on the theoretical basis of multifunctionality and the link between the production of food commodities and public goods (socalled «jointness»). This linkage plays a major role when it comes to assessing if food production is a necessary aspect of the production of public goods. This project applies an alternative approach by focusing on the empirical aspects of multifunctionality. The project’s main objective is the development of a set of socalled multifunctionality indicators, which can be used to evaluate the relationship between agricultural multifunctionality and economic farm policy instruments. The indicators should also be useful as a decision-making basis in the development of agricultural policies.
Agriculture’s multifunctionality is not a clearly defined concept. In this project, it was necessary to narrow the concept, both because of the lack of data for certain aspects of multifunctionality and due to limitations linked to the model system for which the multifunctionality indicators have been defined. The indicators are implemented in the European CAPRI (Common Agricultural Policy Regional Impact Analysis) modelling system. In addition, the Norwegian Monitoring Programme for Agricultural Landscapes (the so-called «3Q-Programme») was used to visualize the effects of policy changes on the landscape. Indicators were developed for the following aspects of multifunctionality (number of indicators in parentheses):
• Food security (10)
• Landscape (8)
• Environmental impact (6)
• Viable rural communities (3)
[…]
Vis fullstendig beskrivelse
