Tag: public goods

Public goods provided by different land management practices in European regions have increasingly attained attention in agricultural policy debates. By focusing on the social-ecological systems (SES) framework, the systemic interrelations (e.g. drivers, resources, actors, governance regimes and policy impact) in land management across several case studies in various topographical and climatic conditions across ten European Union Member States are provided. The analysis of agricultural and forestry systems reveals a wide range of factors that drive the provision of ‘ecologically and socially beneficial outcomes’ (ESBOs). The respective influencing aspects cannot be reduced to market forces and policy support, but have to address simultaneously the pivotal role of social, cultural and institutional drivers as well. In particular, the tight interplay between public policies and private initiatives, and market mechanisms and societal appreciation of public goods delivery have shown to be the indispensable clue for understanding the relationship shaping the level of provision of public goods. Comparative analyses support the strong reliance on context, history, types of regions and differentiation of management systems which might be used for recommendations in the current debate on the future Common Agricultural Policy.

The final versions of the European Union’s (EU) support schemes and funding instruments for the 2014-2020 budgeting period have not yet been prepared. What is final, though, is that the ten-year Lisbon Strategy which aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the EU ended in 2010. In addition to three priorities (smart, sustainable and inclusive growth), the recently launched Europe 2020 Strategy has set five headline targets to be reached, one of them being an increased investment in research and development. This is evidently a difficult challenge owing to the limited economic capacity of individual EU Member States. A considerable share of agricultural production activities are performed by small- and medium-sized enterprises and farmers who face difficulty in reaching the level of concentration need to gain market advantage. Consequently, it is imperative to establish a system that can maintain close connections with producers and improve innovation activities. Without such a system, a significant growth of added value cannot be foreseen in Hungarian agriculture. This paper describes a technology development system that incorporates three elements (measurement of inputs in space and time, market-focused technology development and a self-teaching information system for farmers) and that could be used in rural development, primarily in ...