Abstract
The agri-food sector is under increased pressure from consumers to improve on the sustainability of production processes. Policies that incentivise farmers to improve environmental performance, such as agri-environment schemes (AES), are increasingly important. Understanding the choice to participate in these programmes aids policymakers in designing schemes that meet participation and environmental goals. While a number of studies have investigated the decision using cross-sectional data on one or multiple locations, very few have used longitudinal data to investigate the impact of institutional changes over time. Using Ireland as a case study, this paper uses a nationally representative panel of data spanning 23 years to model the impact of scheme and policy changes on the type of farms participating in AES. This paper argues that environmental issues surrounding intensive farms (such as the loss of nutrients and sediment to water and greenhouse gas emissions) are not being optimally addressed in scheme design and further development of such programmes is needed to reduce negative environmental impacts.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 112826 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Environmental Management |
Volume | 292 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 15 Aug 2021 |
JEL classifications
- o13 - "Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products"
Keywords
- Agri-environment schemes
- Agri-environmental policy
- Agriculture
- Article
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- Farmer participation
- Farmers
- Farms
- Humans
- Ireland
- Panel data
- agricultural land
- agricultural production
- agricultural worker
- agriculture
- agroindustry
- alternative agriculture
- carbon footprint
- comparative study
- conceptual framework
- controlled study
- cross-sectional study
- environmental impact
- environmental policy
- environmental sustainability
- greenhouse gas
- household income
- human
- intensive agriculture
- manure
- milk production
- opportunity cost
- organic nitrogen
- sustainability
- STEWARDSHIP
- DESIGN
- PROTECTION SCHEME
- ATTITUDES
- CHOICE
- BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
- LANDOWNER PREFERENCES
- WILLINGNESS
- EUROPEAN-UNION
- ADOPTION