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Emergy evaluation for decision-making in complex multifunctional farming systems

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  • Fonseca, Ana Margarida P.
  • Marques, Carlos A.F.
  • Pinto-Correia, Teresa
  • Guiomar, Nuno
  • Campbell, Daniel E.

Abstract

In a montado farm, commonly found in the South Portugal, human activities benefit from important fluxes of renewable resources. In this study, traditional economic and emergy evaluations are compared to determine their potential contributions to understanding this complex system and applied to a case study of a farm. This allows us to determine how each method values local natural resources and purchased factors of production and services in an empirical context. Results show that the montado farm has a renewable component evaluated at 27% of the total social costs of the system and that the work of natural resources is undervalued in economic budget accounting. Economic evaluation's relative value of purchased factors and services is three and half times higher than their emergy share. We propose that complementing economic budget accounting with emergy accounting provides a benchmark to evaluate the environmental contribution to agricultural and farming systems. In this way, factors external to markets can be evaluated for farming systems, bringing to economic analysis a full evaluation of resources, including the bio-geophysical system's contributions to wealth, enlarging total economic value of resources with a donor perspective enabling a better informed and comprehensive accounting to attain sustainable economic decisions and public policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Fonseca, Ana Margarida P. & Marques, Carlos A.F. & Pinto-Correia, Teresa & Guiomar, Nuno & Campbell, Daniel E., 2019. "Emergy evaluation for decision-making in complex multifunctional farming systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 1-12.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:171:y:2019:i:c:p:1-12
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2018.12.009
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    Cited by:

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    2. Yichao Wang & Guishen Zhao, 2022. "A joint use of life cycle assessment and emergy analysis for sustainability evaluation of an intensive agro-system in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(10), pages 12019-12035, October.
    3. Xie, Hualin & Huang, Yingqian & Choi, Yongrok & Shi, Jiaying, 2021. "Evaluating the sustainable intensification of cultivated land use based on emergy analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    4. Helena Guimarães, M. & Pinto-Correia, Teresa & de Belém Costa Freitas, Maria & Ferraz-de-Oliveira, Isabel & Sales-Baptista, Elvira & da Veiga, José Francisco Ferragolo & Tiago Marques, J. & Pinto-Cruz, 2023. "Farming for nature in the Montado: the application of ecosystem services in a results-based model," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Amiri, Zahra & Asgharipour, Mohammad Reza & Moghadam, Esfandiar Hassani & Kakolvand, Ebrahim & Campbell, Daniel E., 2022. "Investigating the need to replace the conventional method of sugar beet production in lorestan province, iran based on the arguments obtained from emergy calculations," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 472(C).
    6. Tianyi Cai & Xinhuan Zhang & Fuqiang Xia & Danni Lu, 2022. "Function Evolution of Oasis Cultivated Land and Its Trade-Off and Synergy Relationship in Xinjiang, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-20, August.

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