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Understanding and evaluating the “missing” governance pillar of sustainability – the case of the Bulgarian agriculture

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  • Bachev, Hrabrin

Abstract

The importance of “good governance” for achieving agrarian sustainability has been increasingly studied in the last two decades. What has been a recent development is the inclusion of governance into (agrarian) sustainability as a new “fourth” pillar. Still there is no consensus on: what is governance sustainability; how to measure governance sustainability; how to integrate governance into the overall sustainability; what are critical factors determining sustainability levels, etc. The goal of this article is to present a holistic framework for defining and assessing the governance sustainability in agriculture, and assess the level of governance sustainability of Bulgarian agriculture at national, sub-sectoral, regional, ecosystem, and farming organization levels. The study has demonstrated that it is possible and important to assess the “missing” Governance Pillar of agrarian sustainability. Governance sustainability of Bulgarian agriculture is at a good but close to the inferior level. There is a considerable variation in the level of governance sustainability and application of the principles for good governance in different subsectors, agro-ecosystems, administrative regions, and types of farming organizations. At current stage, most critical for improving the governance sustainability are progressive changes in: farmers' participation in decision-making, agrarian administration efficiency, administrative services digitalization, possibility for lands extension, management board external control, level of informal system efficiency, subsidies in income, extent of CAP implementation, acceptability of legal payments, and land concentration. Suggested and other similar frameworks have to be further discussed, tested, improved and adapted to the specific conditions of agricultural systems and the needs of decision-makers. Accuracy has to be improved through the inclusion of appropriate indicators, improvement of precision of the information, increasing representation of surveyed farms, and experimenting with diverse types of agro-systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Bachev, Hrabrin, 2021. "Understanding and evaluating the “missing” governance pillar of sustainability – the case of the Bulgarian agriculture," MPRA Paper 106310, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:106310
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hrabrin Bachev, 2005. "Assessment Of Sustainability Of Bulgarian Farms," Development and Comp Systems 0511007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Hrabrin BACHEV & Bodjidar IVANOV & Desislava TOTEVA & Emilia SOKOLOVA, 2016. "Agrarian Sustainability and Its Governance Understanding Evaluation Improvement," Journal of Advanced Research in Management, ASERS Publishing, vol. 7(4), pages 639-663.
    3. Bachev, H., 2017. "Socio-economic and environmental sustainability of Bulgarian farms," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 3(2), June.
    4. Hrabrin Bachev, 2020. "State and Evolution of Public and Private Research and Development in Bulgarian Agriculture," International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Policy, Conscientia Beam, vol. 9(1), pages 10-25.
    5. Hrabrin Bachev, 2018. "The impact of the institutional environment on agrarian sustainability in Bulgaria," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 4, pages 3-32,33-60.
    6. Hansen, J. W., 1996. "Is agricultural sustainability a useful concept?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 117-143.
    7. Hrabrin Bachev, 2009. "Understanding Efficiency of Agrarian Organisation," Annals of the University of Petrosani, Economics, University of Petrosani, Romania, vol. 9(1), pages 27-42.
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    9. Robert B. Gibson, 2006. "Beyond The Pillars: Sustainability Assessment As A Framework For Effective Integration Of Social, Economic And Ecological Considerations In Significant Decision-Making," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(03), pages 259-280.
    10. Hrabrin Bachev, 2013. "Risk Management in the Agri-food Sector," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 7(1), March.
    11. repec:srs:journl:jarle:v:7:y:2016:i:4:p:797-816 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Bachev, Hrabrin & Terziev, Dimitar, 2018. "Sustainability Of Bulgarian Farms," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 6(2), April.
    13. Hrabrin Bachev & Bojidar Ivanov & Angel Sarov, 2020. "Unpacking Governance Sustainability of Bulgarian Agriculture," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 106-137.
    14. Bachev, Hrabrin & Koteva, Nina, 2021. "Равнище На Конкурентоспособност На Българските Ферми През 2020г [Competitiveness Level of Bulgarian Farms in 2020]," MPRA Paper 106211, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Hrabrin Bachev, 2017. "A Study on Environmental Sustainability of Bulgarian Farming Enterprises," International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 6(1), pages 01-15, - October.
    16. Bachev, Hrabrin, 2010. "Governance of agrarian sustainability," MPRA Paper 99867, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Hrabrin Bashev, 2016. "Defining and Assessment of Sustainability of Farms," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 3, pages 158-188.
    18. Hrabrin BACHEV, 2016. "Defining and Assessing the Governance of Agrarian Sustainability," Journal of Advanced Research in Law and Economics, ASERS Publishing, vol. 7(4), pages 797-816.
    19. Bachev, Hrabrin, 2020. "About the governance pillar of agrarian sustainability," Economic Consultant, Roman I. Ostapenko, vol. 32(4), pages 16-27.
    20. H. Bachev, 2017. "Absolute And Comparative Sustainability Of Farming Enterprises In Bulgaria," Вестник Киевского национального университета имени Тараса Шевченко. Экономика., Socionet;Киевский национальный университет имени Тараса Шевченко, vol. 2(191), pages 6-17.
    21. Hrabrin Bachev, 2020. "State and Evolution of Public and Private Research and Development in Bulgarian Agriculture," International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Policy, Conscientia Beam, vol. 9(1), pages 10-25.
    22. Hrabrin BACHEV & Dimitar TERZIEV, 2018. "A Study on Institutional Market and Natural Environment Impact on Agrarian Sustainability in Bulgaria," Journal of Advanced Research in Management, ASERS Publishing, vol. 9(3), pages 452-478.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    governance; sustainability; assessment; agro-systems; Bulgaria;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q10 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - General
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
    • Q14 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Finance
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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