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Trends in Agricultural Land in EU Countries of the Baltic Sea Region from the Perspective of Resilience and Food Security

Author

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  • Pontus Ambros

    (Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden)

  • Madeleine Granvik

    (Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden)

Abstract

Agricultural land is crucial for the production of food and is, thereby, directly connected to food security. Agriculture is threatened by a multitude of hazards, such as climate change, peak oil, peak soil and peak phosphorus. These hazards call for a more resilient food system that can deliver food security for the global population in the future. In this paper, we analyse the Baltic Sea region’s ten European Union (EU) member states, investigating which trends are to be found in statistics between 2005 to 2016 on the development of agricultural land. In our paper, we analyse these trends of agricultural land by looking at three categories of data: (1) utilised agricultural area, (2) number of farms and (3) agricultural labour input. The results showed a trend that agricultural land is increasingly dominated by large farms, whilst over 1 million predominantly small farms have disappeared, and agricultural-labour input has dropped by more than 26%. These trends point towards a mechanisation of production, where larger and less labour-intensive farms take over production. This could partly be due to the EU common agricultural policy, which tends to favour large farms over small. Further, we argue for the importance of farm-size diversity, and about the dangers to food security that a system that is dominated by large farms possesses. Lastly, we conclude that the concept of resilience needs to be better included in policy development and food-system planning, and that more research needs to be done, analysing how existing agricultural policies impact the parameters studied in this paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Pontus Ambros & Madeleine Granvik, 2020. "Trends in Agricultural Land in EU Countries of the Baltic Sea Region from the Perspective of Resilience and Food Security," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-25, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:14:p:5851-:d:387354
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Bonoua Faye & Guoming Du, 2021. "Agricultural Land Transition in the “Groundnut Basin” of Senegal: 2009 to 2018," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Kowalczyk, Cezary & Źróbek-Różańska, Alina & Źróbek, Sabina & Kryszk, Hubert, 2021. "How does government legal intervention affect the process of transformation of state-owned agricultural land? The research methods and their practical application," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    4. Xi Zhou & Mao Liu & Anjiao Ouyang, 2023. "Which Scale Is Appropriate for the Sustainable Management of Paddy Field?—A Case Study of Jiaxing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, April.

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