Abstract
Abstract. This paper attempts to give answer to some important questions, on which there is no agreement among researchers, namely: “what is farm sustainability?”, “what is the relation between farm and agrarian sustainability?”, “which are critical factors of farms sustainability?”, and “how to assess farms sustainability level”. First, evolution of the “concept” of farm sustainability as alternative ideology, new strategy, system characteristics etc. is analyzed and discussed. On that base is suggested adequate definition of farm sustainability as ability of a particular farm to maintain its governance, economic, social and ecological functions in a long term. The final goal is better define farm sustainability and develop an efficient framework for assessing sustainability level of different type of farms.
Keywords. farm sustainability, governance, economic, social, ecological aspects, framework for assessment.
JEL. Q10, Q56, R33.References
Andreoli, M., & Tellarini, V.V. (2000). Farm sustainability evaluation: methodology and practice, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 77(1-2), 43–52. doi. 10.1016/S0167-8809(99)00091-2
Bachev, H. (2005). Assessment of Sustainability of Bulgarian Farms, proceedings, XIth Congress of the European Association of Agricultural Economists, Copenhagen.
Bachev, H. (2004). Efficiency of Agrarian Organizations, in Farm Management and Rural Planning, No 5, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 135-150.
Bachev, H. (2010). Governance of Agrarian Sustainability, New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Bachev, H. (2011). Needs, modes and efficiency of economic organizations and public interventions in agriculture, Review of Economics & Finance, 3, 89-103.
Bachev, H. (2013). Risk management in agri-food sector, Contemporary Economics, 7(1), 45-62. doi. 10.5709/ce.1897-9254.73
Bachev, H., & Peeters, A. (2005). Framework for Assessing Sustainability of Farms, in Farm Management and Rural Planning, No 6, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 221-239.
Bachev, H., Koteva, N., & Mladenova, M. (2014). The effects of implementing European policies in agricultiral holdings in the republic of Bulgaria, Economics 21, 4(1), 90-106.
Bastianoni, S., Marchettini, N., Panzieri, M., & Tiezzi, E. (2001). Sustainability assessment of a farm in the Chianti area (Italy), Journal of Cleaner Production, 9(4), 365–373. doi. 10.1016/S0959-6526(00)00079-2
Brklacich, M., Bryant, C., & Smith, B. (1991). Review and appraisal of concept of sustainable food production systems, Environmental Management, 15(1), 1-14. doi. 10.1007/BF02393834
EC, (2001). A Framework for Indicators for the Economic and Social Dimensions of Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission.
Edwards, C., Lal, R., Madden, P., Miller, R., & House, G. (1990). Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Soil and Water Conservation Society, Iowa.
FAO, (2013). SAFA. Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems indicators, FAO.
Fuentes, M. (2004). Farms Management Indicators Related to the Policy Dimension in the European Union, OECD Expert Meeting on Farm Management Indicators and the Environment, 8-12 March 2004, New Zealand.
Häni, F., Pintér, L., & Herren, H. (2006). Sustainable Agriculture. From Common Principles to Common Practice, Proceedings of the first Symposium of the International Forum on Assessing Sustainability in Agriculture (INFASA), March 16, 2006, Bern, Switzerland.
Hansen, J. (1996). Is Agricultural Sustainability a Useful Concept, Agricultural Systems, 50(2), 117-143. doi. 10.1016/0308-521X(95)00011-S
Hayati, D., Ranjbar, Z., & Karami, E. (2010). Measuring Agricultural Sustainability, in E. Lichtfouse (ed.), Biodiversity, Biofuels, Agroforestry and Conservation Agriculture, 73, Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 5, Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 73-100.
Hendricks, N. (2010): The Effect of Green Payments on the Diffusion of Conservation Technologies, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254384150_The_Effect_of_Green_Payments_on_the_Diffusion_of_Conservation_Technologies
Lowrance, R., Hendrix, P., & Odum, E. (1986). A hierarchical approach to sustainable agriculture, American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 1(4), 169-173. doi. 10.1017/S0889189300001260
Lopez-Ridaura, S., Masera, O., & Astier, M. (2002). Evaluating the Sustainability of Complex Socio-environmental Systems. MESMIS Framework, Ecological Indicators.
Mirovitskaya, N. & Ascher, W. (2001). Guide to Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy, Duke University Press, London.
OECD, (2001). Environmental indicators for agriculture. Volume 3: Methods and Results. OECD, Paris.
Raman, S. (2006). Agricultural Sustainability. Principles, Processes and Prospect, New York: The Haworth Press Inc.
Rigby, D., Woodhouse, P., Young, T., & Burton, M. (2001): Constructing a farm level indicator of sustainable agricultural practice, Ecological Economics, 39(3), 463–478. doi. 10.1016/S0921-8009(01)00245-2
Sauvenier, X., Valekx, J., Van Cauwenbergh, N., Wauters, E., Bachev, H., Biala, K., Bielders, C., Brouckaert, V., Garcia-Cidad, V., Goyens, S., Hermy, M., Mathijs, E., Muys, B., Vanclooster, M., & Peeters, A., (2005). Framework for Assessing Sustainability Levels in Belgium Agricultural Systems – SAFE, Belgium Science Policy, Brussels.
UN, (1992). Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, 3-14 June 1992, Rio de Janeiro: United Nation.
van Loon, G., Patil, S., & Hugar, L. (2005). Agricultural Sustainability: Strategies for Assessment. London: SAGE Publications.
