This paper examines the development of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) over the past fifty years and its impact on the field of agricultural economics. Established in 1975 to foster international collaboration - particularly within Europe - the EAAE has played a key role in promoting knowledge exchange among agricultural economists. Over time, the organisation has expanded its scope through congresses, seminars and scientific publications, including the European Review of Agricultural Economics (ERAE), EuroChoices and Q Open.An analysis of congress and seminar themes reveals a shift in research focus from traditional agricultural economics to broader issues such as consumer behaviour, food systems, sustainability and climate change. While globalisation and food safety became dominant topics in the 1990s, the 21st century has seen increasing focus on consumer issues, digital innovations and food system transformations. The EAAE has not only responded to policy developments and scientific innovations but has also actively shaped policy debates and knowledge dissemination.Beyond academic output, the EAAE has invested in supporting early-career researchers through PhD workshops and mentoring programmes. At the same time, in-person congresses and seminars remain central to the scientific community, despite the rise of digital knowledge-sharing platforms. The findings of this study underscore the continued relevance of the EAAE as a platform for scientific exchange and policy-oriented discussions within agricultural economics. Cet article examine l'& eacute;volution de l'Association europ & eacute;enne des & eacute;conomistes agricoles (AEEA) au cours des 50 derni & egrave;res ann & eacute;es et son impact sur le domaine de l'& eacute;conomie agricole. Cr & eacute;& eacute;e en 1975 pour favoriser la collaboration internationale - notamment en Europe - l'AEEA a jou & eacute; un r & ocirc;le cl & eacute; dans la promotion de l'& eacute;change de connaissances entre & eacute;conomistes agricoles. Au fil du temps, l'organisation a & eacute;largi sa port & eacute;e & agrave; travers des congr & egrave;s, des s & eacute;minaires et des publications scientifiques, notamment la Revue europ & eacute;enne d'& eacute;conomie agricole (ERAE), EuroChoices et Q Open.Une analyse des th & egrave;mes des congr & egrave;s et s & eacute;minaires r & eacute;v & egrave;le un changement d'orientation de la recherche partant de l'& eacute;conomie agricole traditionnelle vers des questions plus larges telles que le comportement des consommateurs, les syst & egrave;mes alimentaires, la durabilit & eacute; et le changement climatique. Alors que la mondialisation et la s & eacute;curit & eacute; des aliments sont devenues des sujets dominants dans les ann & eacute;es 1990, le 21e si & egrave;cle a vu une attention croissante port & eacute;e aux questions de consommation, aux innovations num & eacute;riques et aux transformations du syst & egrave;me alimentaire. L'AEEA a non seulement r & eacute;agi aux & eacute;volutions des politiques et aux innovations scientifiques, mais a & eacute;galement fa & ccedil;onn & eacute; activement les d & eacute;bats sur les politiques et la diffusion des connaissances.Au-del & agrave; de la production scientifique, l'AEEA a investi dans le soutien aux chercheurs en d & eacute;but de carri & egrave;re par le biais d'ateliers de doctorat et de programmes de mentorat. Dans le m & ecirc;me temps, les congr & egrave;s et s & eacute;minaires en pr & eacute;sentiel restent au c oe ur de la communaut & eacute; scientifique, malgr & eacute; l'essor des plateformes num & eacute;riques de partage des connaissances. Les r & eacute;sultats de cette & eacute;tude soulignent la pertinence continue de l'AEEA en tant que plate-forme d'& eacute;change scientifique et de discussions ax & eacute;es sur l'action publique dans le domaine de l'& eacute;conomie agricole. Dieser Artikel untersucht die Entwicklung der Europ & auml;ischen Vereinigung der Agrar & ouml;konomen (EAAE) in den letzten 50 Jahren und ihren Einfluss auf die Agrar & ouml;konomie. Die EAAE wurde 1975 gegr & uuml;ndet, um die internationale Zusammenarbeit - insbesondere innerhalb Europas - zu f & ouml;rdern, und hat eine Schl & uuml;sselrolle bei der F & ouml;rderung des Wissensaustauschs innerhalb der Agrar & ouml;konomie gespielt. Im Laufe der Zeit hat die Organisation ihren Wirkungskreis durch Kongresse, Seminare und wissenschaftliche Publikationen erweitert, darunter eigene Zeitschriften wie European Review of Agricultural Economics (ERAE), EuroChoices und Q Open.Eine Analyse der Kongress- und Seminarthemen zeigt eine Verlagerung des Forschungsschwerpunkts von der traditionellen Agrar & ouml;konomie hin zu allgemeineren Themen wie Konsumverhalten, Ern & auml;hrungssysteme, Nachhaltigkeit und Klimawandel. W & auml;hrend in den 1990er Jahren Globalisierung und Lebensmittelsicherheit die dominierenden Themen waren, stehen im 21. Jahrhundert zunehmend Verbraucherfragen, digitale Innovationen und die Transformation von Ern & auml;hrungssystemen im Mittelpunkt. Die EAAE hat nicht nur auf politische Entwicklungen und wissenschaftliche Innovationen reagiert, sondern auch die politischen Debatten und die Verbreitung von Wissen aktiv mitgestaltet.& Uuml;ber den wissenschaftlichen Output hinaus investierte die EAAE in die F & ouml;rderung des Nachwuchses durch Doktorandenworkshops und Mentoringprogramme. Gleichzeitig bleiben pers & ouml;nliche Treffen auf Kongressen und Seminaren trotz der Zunahme digitaler Plattformen f & uuml;r den Wissensaustausch von zentraler Bedeutung f & uuml;r die wissenschaftliche Gemeinschaft. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie unterstreichen die anhaltende Relevanz der EAAE als Plattform f & uuml;r den wissenschaftlichen Austausch und politikorientierte Diskussionen innerhalb der Agrar & ouml;konomie.

The EU Green Deal advocates decarbonizing the EU’s energy sector, largely by transitioning to renewable sources. Latvia aims to increase renewable energy production by 10% by 2030, prioritizing biomass from forests and wood for bioenergy. This paper evaluates implementing a tax on non-biobased energy alongside a subsidy for biobased energy, particularly wood biomass, to promote its substitution as a step towards climate neutrality and energy self-sufficiency. Additionally, it examines technological advancements in the bioenergy sector. Using an applied general equilibrium model and 2015 supply and use data, the study assumes a nested production structure, enabling explicit substitution between domestic and imported inputs. Given Latvia’s heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels, these measures could lead to an 18% increase in bioenergy production, reducing CO2 emissions by 0.5 - 3.2%, and reducing fossil fuel imports by 1.04 – 3.9%.

This paper aims to present an input-output model of the forest-based bioeconomy, enabling insight into its contribution to total gross value added (GDP), employment, and CO2 emissions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland. To quantify this contribution, the paper utilizes input-output tables of the four countries. The forest-based bioeconomy includes forestry, the processing of forestry products (forward linkages), and the direct and indirect use of inputs (backward linkages) from forestry and processing industries. Our analysis reveals that while forestry itself is a small industry, contributing minimally to GDP (ranging from 0.40% in Lithuania to 1.90% in Finland), and the forest-based bioeconomy is considerably larger. For instance, its contribution to GDP ranges from 3.59% in Lithuania to 7.22% in Estonia. Moreover, the forestry-based bioeconomy exhibits negative net CO2 emissions, primarily due to CO2 sequestration by forest lands and harvested wood products. Despite the substantial negative CO2 emissions associated with forestry activities, without sequestration, the forestry-based bioeconomy's share in total emissions ranges from 5.14% in Lithuania to 14.88% in Finland.

Farmers increasingly have to navigate through a complex web of agricultural and environmental regulations. In the EU, for example, the Nitrate Directive aims to control the nutrient levels in the water and agri-environmental schemes aim to protect habitats and increase biodiversity. The trade-offs between such environmental policies are not clear. Therefore, this paper studies the interaction between manure policy, especially derogation policy, and meadow bird schemes for the Netherlands. We develop a mathematical programming farm model with nine representative dairy farm types, based on location and economic size, that gain utility from both profit and agri-environmental services production. We show that the abolishment of derogation and the introduction of a low-protein feeding measure - both aimed at reducing nitrogen emissions - reduce total land contracted for meadow birds. This is because (1) without derogation makes farms switch to more maize production, hence reducing grassland, and (2) the protein measure requires extra feed production on-farm which most farms cannot accomplish and which makes contracting for the meadow bird scheme less attractive. Especially farms on peat and more intensive farms, who are more dependent on buying feed, reduce the amount of land contracted. We advocate that policy makers should become aware of how policies interact and that researchers do not study them in isolation.

The bioeconomy is considered a means to achieving a climate-neutral economy as aimed for in the EU Green Deal. For Latvia, the forest-based bioeconomy has the potential to contribute to this aim. An operational definition of the forest-based bioeconomy is needed to calculate its size. This research aims to provide such a definition and to determine the contribution of the forest-based bioeconomy to GDP, employment, and greenhouse gas emissions. The direct and indirect contribution of the forest-based bioeconomy to economic indicators and climate change is identified using an input-output model. The results of the model show that the forest-based bioeconomy contributes 6.4% to GDP and 6.6% to total employment in Latvia. The contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is 4.9%. Furthermore, if CO2 sequestration is included, the forest-based bioeconomy becomes climate neutral.

The EU has placed high priority on the expansion of the bioeconomy with the aim to reduce the use of non-renewable resources, to mitigate climate change, and to develop prospering local economies. However, only few Member States have defined quantitative economic or environmental targets for the bioeconomy in their policy strategies as measurement of the bioeconomy is not straightforward. This study uses an input-output analysis to quantify economic as well as environmental indicators for measuring the bioeconomy in the Visegrad countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary). The current and the potential size of the bioeconomy are derived based on scenarios of minimum, medium and maximum association of partially bio-based goods with the bioeconomy. Our results suggest that currently the bioeconomy contributes 13% to the value of economic output, 10% to value added, 15% to total employment, and 20% to emissions of greenhouse gases in the Visegrad region (with a variation of 8 percentage points among individual countries). There is still potential for a transition towards a bioeconomy, especially in the production of textiles and wearing apparel, chemical products, pharmaceutical products, plastics, furniture, and energy where fossil-based inputs could be substituted by bio-based resources.

Abstract The carbon and land footprint of 26 certified food products – geographical indications and organic products and their conventional references are assessed. This assessment goes beyond existing literature by (1) designing a calculation method fit for the comparison between certified food and conventional production, (2) using the same calculation method and parameters for 52 products – 26 Food Quality Schemes and their reference products – to allow for a meaningful comparison, (3) transparently documenting this calculation method and opening access to the detailed results and the underlying data, and (4) providing the first assessment of the carbon and land footprint of geographical indications. The method used is Life Cycle Assessment, largely relying on the Cool Farm Tool for the impact assessment. The most common indicator of climate impact, the carbon footprint expressed per ton of product, is not significantly different between certified foods and their reference products. The only exception to this pattern are vegetal organic products, whose carbon footprint is 16% lower. This is because the decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from the absence of mineral fertilizers is never fully offset by the associated lower yield. The climate impact of certified food per hectare is however 26% than their reference and their land footprint is logically 24% higher. Technical specifications directly or indirectly inducing a lower use of mineral fertilizers are a key driver of this pattern. So is yield, which depends both on terroir and farming practices. Overall, this assessment reinforces the quality policy of the European Union: promoting certified food is not inconsistent with mitigating climate change.

To identify whether EU certified food – here organic and geographical indications – is more sustainable than a conventional reference, we developed 25 indicators covering the three sustainability pillars. Original data was collected on 52 products at farm, processing and retail levels, allowing the estimation of circa 2000 indicator values. Most strikingly, we show that, in our sample, certified food outperforms its non-certified reference on most economic and social indicators. On major environmental indicators – carbon and water footprint – their performance is similar. Although certified food is 61% more expensive, the extra-performance per euro is similar to classical policy interventions to improve diet sustainability such as subsidies or taxes. Cumulatively, our findings legitimate the recent initiatives by standards to cover broader sustainability aspects.

Purpose Geographical indications (GIs) are expected to stimulate rural development by increasing the viability and resilience of farms in disadvantaged and remote areas. However, little quantitative evidence exists to support this expectation. This study fills this knowledge gap by quantitatively analyzing the effect of GI adoption on farm incomes in the EU olives and wine sectors. Design/methodology/approach The analysis uses data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network and EUROSTAT and an endogenous switching regression model to analyze the impact of GI adoption on farm incomes for specialized quality wine and olives producers in the year 2014. Findings The results show that GI adoption significantly improves farm incomes in both the olives and the wine sector. Research limitations/implications The research uses data from the farm accountancy data network (FADN). This is seen as a limitation of the analysis. The research raises some concerns about the appropriateness of FADN for the assessment of farmers' involvement in food quality schemes and a reconsideration of FADN as a tool for farm performance analysis is advised. Originality/value This is one of few quantitative studies of the impact of geographical indications on farm performance. Furthermore, it gives insights into the mechanisms by which GI can affect farm incomes.

In het kort: - De Europese inkomenssteun voor boeren heeft nog maar een beperkte invloed op de Nederlandse landbouwproductie. - De milieuwetgeving beperkt de productie en dwingt schaal­vergroting af. - Biologische landbouw is in Nederland beperkt door de hoge kostprijs van grond en arbeid.

Although barley production is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, households in the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia rely on barley for their diet and allocate most of their highly-fragmented land to barley production. Moreover, farmers alter land management practices as a strategy to adjust to climate change and variability. However, to what extent land fragmentation and land management jointly influence the technical efficiency of barley production is unknown. In addition, it is unidentified whether technical efficiency is uniform across multiple separated plots. In this study, we adapted two stochastic frontier panel models on plot-level cross-sectional data to investigate this. The model results indicate that fragmentation influences the effect of land management practices on efficiency. The study found that efficiency was not uniform across different plots and for different farmers and showed the existence of large yield gaps. To close these gaps, policies designed to address the specific components of inefficiency need to be implemented.

Abstract This article addresses the issue of the profitability of Food Quality Scheme (FQS) products as compared to reference products, which are defined as analogous products without quality label. We approach this question by taking into account the level of the value chain (upstream, processing, and downstream), the sector (vegetal, animal, seafood) and the type of FQS (PGI, PDO, Organic). We collected original data for several products produced in selected European countries, as well as in Thailand and Vietnam. Comparisons depending on value chain level, sector and FQS are possible by using two comparable indicators: price premium and net price premium (including cost differential). The following principal conclusions were reached: 1) Price is higher for FQS products than for the reference products, regardless of the production level, the type of FQS or the sector; 2) Price premiums generated by FQS do not differ along the value chain, nor between sectors (vegetal, animal or seafood/fish); 3) Price premium for organic products is significantly higher than for PGI products, and this conclusion holds at upstream and processing levels, taking into account the costs directly related to production; 4) All organic products and almost all PDO and PGI products analysed benefit from a positive quality rent; 5) At upstream level and processing level, the relative weight of intermediate consumption in the cost structure is lower for organic products than for reference products.

Household food security among smallholder farmers is sensitive to a variable and changing climate, requiring farmers in the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia to adopt new land management practices to improve food security. Agricultural land in the Gamo Highlands is highly fragmented. The extent to which land fragmentation (LF) moderates the food security effects of sustainable land management (SLM) practices is unknown. This study used probit and Poisson models to explain this relationship. The study found that food insecurity was severe during the food shortfall season. LF provides more potential opportunities for improving food security than challenges. Furthermore, SLM practices had both positive and negative effects on food security and their effects were conditioned by the magnitude of LF. Reducing severe LF through the assembly of small parcels into larger heterogeneous plot clusters could enhance food security by exploiting synergies between adaptation practices and LF.

Rural Policies and Employment, pp. 253-270 (2019) No AccessChapter 16: EU Food Quality Policy and Rural EmploymentL. Dries, J. Peerlings and L. van de PolL. DriesAgricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group, Wageningen University & Research, Hollandseweg 1, 6706KN Wageningen, The Netherlands, J. PeerlingsAgricultural Economics and Rural Policy Group, Wageningen University & Research, Hollandseweg 1, 6706KN Wageningen, The Netherlands and L. van de PolEuropean Commission, DG Agri, Brussels, Belgiumhttps://doi.org/10.1142/9781786347091_0016Cited by:0 PreviousNext AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsRecommend to Library ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Abstract: Changing consumer trends have stimulated the adoption of EU Food Quality Schemes that signal the link between the quality of a food product and its geographical origin. These Food Quality Schemes include the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). This chapter investigates the relationship between the use of the PDO/PGI scheme and rural development, in particular rural employment. The analysis is based on a comparison of the uptake of the PDO/PGI scheme in NUTS2 regions in the EU and regional employment indicators. The results show a positive link between PDO/PGI adoption and rural employment — for instance, because of lower unemployment or higher youth activity rates — in the Mediterranean area and Germany, but this finding cannot be generalized for the whole of the EU. Looking in particular at the EU's Less Favored Area regions, higher rates of unemployment and long-term unemployment are found in those regions that are more engaged in EU Food Quality Schemes. This counters the EU's claim that food quality policy can be an important tool to stimulate rural development in Less Favored Areas and in the more remote areas in Europe. The research reported in this chapter received funding from the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 678024. A more extensive review of the regional uptake of Food Quality Schemes and their determinants is available at https://www.strength2food.eu/publications. FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Rural Policies and EmploymentMetrics History PDF download

In 2018, the agricultural price tool was (re)developed to determine the potential economic effects of drought on agriculture. This report describes the methodology for linking three calculation models to analyse the effect of drought on agriculture: (1) National Hydrological Model (LHM; (2) Agricom and (3) the agricultural price tool. These models were applied for a reference period based on actual land use and water management and historical data for 1911-2011 for river discharges, precipitation and evapotranspiration. The Delta scenarios have been simulated by adapting the input to represent the socio-economic development and the climate change of the considered scenario. The model-based average potential economic impact calculated is approximately 390m euros per year. The results for the Delta scenarios Warm and Steam show that the economic impact will increase significantly to approximately 670m euros per year in 2050. The results for Pressure and Rest in 2050 show no major difference with the current situation.

The objective of this study is to assess the existence of gendered climate change adaptation practices of smallholder farmers in the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia. We hypothesized that smallholders' adaptation practices are gendered because of land fragmentation and gendered division of labour. To explore this, we considered sustainable land management practices as a tool for sustainable adaptation and assessed the effect of land management practices deployed and land fragmentation on intra-household time allocation. The results indicate that although land fragmentation increased hours worked by men and women significantly, fragmentation increased the working hours of men more than women. Application of a larger number of sustainable land management practices increases the mean working hours of women, but leaves unaffected the working hours of men, implying that adaptation practices are gender-biased. Therefore, this study can guide land management decisions by pointing out that fragmentation results in long working hours and adaptation practices may disproportionately affect women.

To prevent further biodiversity loss as a result of intensive agricultural practices, Agri-Environmental Schemes (AES) have been implemented on European farmland. Unfortunately these AES have not always been effective in terms of biodiversity and farmer participation. In an effort to improve the AES programme the Dutch government switched from an individual application system to a collective application system for AES payments in 2016. The goal of this paper is to analyse how the resilience of the land use system in terms of farmer participation in the AES and biodiversity is affected by the value farmers attach to biodiversity, and whether the shift from an individual to collective AES will affect the resilience of the land use system. We constructed a multi-objective mathematical programming model in which farmers maximise utility. Farmers are linked through their common effect on biodiversity. In the collective application system payments are only available when the biodiversity in the region is above a certain threshold. Simulation results show no difference in farmer participation and biodiversity between the individual application system and the collective application system when biodiversity weights are high. The land use system loses its resilience in terms farmer participation in the AES and biodiversity if we lower the biodiversity weights, this effect is stronger in the collective AES programme.

This article addresses the issue of the profitability of Food Quality Scheme (FQS) products as compared to reference products, which are defined as analogous products without quality label. We approach this question by taking into account the level of the value chain (upstream, processing, and downstream), the sector (vegetal, animal, seafood) and the type of FQS (PGI, PDO, Organic). We collected original data for several products produced in selected European countries, as well as in Thailand and Vietnam. Comparisons depending on value chain level, sector and FQS are possible by using two comparable indicators: price premium and net price premium (including cost differential). The following principal conclusions were reached: 1) Price is higher for FQS products than for the reference products, regardless of the production level, the type of FQS or the sector; 2) Price premiums generated by FQS do not differ along the value chain, nor between sectors (vegetal, animal or seafood/fish); 3) Price premium for organic products is significantly higher than for PGI products, and this conclusion holds at upstream and processing levels, taking into account the costs directly related to production; 4) All organic products and almost all PDO and PGI products analysed benefit from a positive quality rent; 5) At upstream level and processing level, the relative weight of intermediate consumption in the cost structure is lower for organic products than for reference products.