Evaluation of Governance Sustainability of Bulgarian Agriculture

38 Pages Posted: 25 Nov 2020

See all articles by Hrabrin Bachev

Hrabrin Bachev

Institute of Agricultural Economics

Date Written: October 11, 2020

Abstract

A need to include “the fourth” Governance pillar in the concept for understanding and the assessment system of (overall and) agrarian sustainability is increasingly justified in academic literature and finds a place in the frameworks of government, international, private, etc. organizations In Bulgaria, like in many other countries, practically there are no comprehensive assessments of the governance sustainability of agriculture and its importance for the overall agrarian development. This study tries to fill the gap and suggests a holistic framework for understanding and assessing the governance sustainability of Bulgarian agriculture. The newly elaborated approach is “tested” in a large-scale study for assessing the governance sustainability of the country’s agriculture at national, sectoral, regional, eco-system and farm levels.

The study has proved that it is important to include the “missing” Governance Pillar in the assessment of the Integral sustainability of agriculture and sustainability of agro-systems of various types. Multiple Principles, Criteria and Indicators assessment of the Governance sustainability of Bulgarian agriculture indicates that the Overall Governance Sustainability is at a “Good” but very close to the “Satisfactory” level. Besides, there is considerable differentiation in the level of Integral Governance sustainability of different agro-systems in the country. What is more, the individual indicators with the highest and lowest sustainability values determine the “critical” factors enhancing and deterring the particular and integral Governance sustainability of evaluated agro-system. Last but not least important, results on the integral agrarian sustainability assessment based on micro (farm) and macro (statistical, etc.) data show some discrepancies which have to be taken into consideration in the analysis and interpretation, while assessment indicators, methods and data sources further improved.

Having in mind the importance of holistic assessments of this kind for improving the agrarian sustainability in general, and the Governance sustainability of agriculture in particular, they are to be expended and their precision and representation increased.

Keywords: governance sustainability, assessment, agriculture, subsectors, agro-regions, agro-ecosystems, farming organizations, Bulgaria

JEL Classification: Q12, Q18, Q56

Suggested Citation

Bachev, Hrabrin, Evaluation of Governance Sustainability of Bulgarian Agriculture (October 11, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3709510 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3709510

Hrabrin Bachev (Contact Author)

Institute of Agricultural Economics ( email )

125 Tzarigradsko shosee Blvd. Blok 1
Sofia, 1113
Bulgaria

HOME PAGE: http://hrabrin-bachev.my.contact.bg/

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