IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pes/ierequ/v17y2022i3p607-633.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Meeting the European green deal objective of expanding organic farming

Author

Listed:
  • Aleksandra Kowalska

    (Maria Curie-Sk³odowska University in Lublin, Poland)

  • Milena Bieniek

    (Maria Curie-Sk³odowska University in Lublin, Poland)

Abstract

Research background: Economic growth is unsustainable. However, a circular economy has the potential to lead to sustainable development, while decoupling economic growth from the negative consequences of resource depletion and environmental degradation. The EU's strategy of climate neutralization in 2050 developed, inter alia, into a European Green Deal action plan aiming at the efficient use of resources by moving to a cleaner, circular economy. More sustainable EU food system is a cornerstone of the European Green Deal. The European Commission's goal is 25% of agricultural land to be used for organic production in 2030. The question is if it is possible to reach the objective with the use of current incentives. What else may be done to encourage European farmers to convert to organic farming? Purpose of the article: The aim of this research is to review the development of organic agriculture in Europe and the EU and to identify incentives for farmers to convert to organic farming. Methods: First of all, the methodological approach is to iteratively review the existing literature to frame the problem. Secondly, the data on organic agriculture in Europe is to be analyzed to answer the research questions. The analysis is based on international statistics, mainly collected by FiBL, IFOAM, EC Agri-food data portal and Eurostat..Fitting the trend functions to the actual data has been made in three scenarios (pessimistic, realistic and optimistic). These trend functions were used for the long-term forecasts of the share of organic farmland in the EU. Findings & value added: The long-run forecast might be treated as a goal, which can motivate to act more intensively to achieve the objective. The existing measures, including organic farming payments, are not sufficient to meet the goal of massive increase in the acreage under organic production. It is necessary to develop new incentives e.g. Green Public Procurement, innovative and effective media campaigns, development of a dynamic network of actors within the organic food supply chain with the use of blockchain technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Aleksandra Kowalska & Milena Bieniek, 2022. "Meeting the European green deal objective of expanding organic farming," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 17(3), pages 607-633, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pes:ierequ:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:607-633
    DOI: 10.24136/eq.2022.021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.24136/eq.2022.021
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.24136/eq.2022.021?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lindström, Hanna & Lundberg, Sofia & Marklund, Per-Olov, 2020. "How Green Public Procurement can drive conversion of farmland: An empirical analysis of an organic food policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    2. Jason Hickel & Giorgos Kallis, 2020. "Is Green Growth Possible?," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 469-486, June.
    3. Granger, Clive W.J. & Jeon, Yongil, 2007. "Long-term forecasting and evaluation," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 539-551.
    4. Ionela Corina Chersan & Valentin Florentin Dumitru & Cãtãlina Gorgan & Vasile Gorgan, 2020. "Green Public Procurement in the Academic Literature," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 22(53), pages 1-82, February.
    5. Verena Seufert & Navin Ramankutty & Jonathan A. Foley, 2012. "Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture," Nature, Nature, vol. 485(7397), pages 229-232, May.
    6. Adrian Muller & Christian Schader & Nadia El-Hage Scialabba & Judith Brüggemann & Anne Isensee & Karl-Heinz Erb & Pete Smith & Peter Klocke & Florian Leiber & Matthias Stolze & Urs Niggli, 2017. "Strategies for feeding the world more sustainably with organic agriculture," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Aleksandra Kowalska & Monika Ratajczyk & Louise Manning & Milena Bieniek & Radosław Mącik, 2021. "“Young and Green” a Study of Consumers’ Perceptions and Reported Purchasing Behaviour towards Organic Food in Poland and the United Kingdom," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-23, November.
    8. Seufert, Verena & Ramankutty, Navin & Mayerhofer, Tabea, 2017. "What is this thing called organic? – How organic farming is codified in regulations," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 10-20.
    9. Ayse Ozturk & S. Tamer Cavusgil & O. Cem Ozturk, 2021. "Consumption convergence across countries: measurement, antecedents, and consequences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(1), pages 105-120, February.
    10. Władysława Łuczka & Sławomir Kalinowski, 2020. "Barriers to the Development of Organic Farming: A Polish Case Study," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, November.
    11. Allen, P. Geoffrey, 1994. "Economic forecasting in agriculture," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 81-135, June.
    12. Fang Lyu & Jaewon Choi, 2020. "The Forecasting Sales Volume and Satisfaction of Organic Products through Text Mining on Web Customer Reviews," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-23, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aleksandra Kowalska & Julia Wojciechowska-Solis & Milena Bieniek & Monika Ratajczyk & Louise Manning, 2023. "Declared non-buyers of organic food: A study of young British and Polish consumer profiles," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 1, pages 28-50.
    2. Maria Zuba-Ciszewska & Aleksandra Kowalska & Aneta Brodziak & Louise Manning, 2023. "Organic Milk Production Sector in Poland: Driving the Potential to Meet Future Market, Societal and Environmental Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-21, June.
    3. Sergey V. Pashkov & Eduard Z. Imashev & Gaukhar K. Baubekova & Kulyash D. Kaimuldinova & Yerkin A. Tokpanov & Gulshat Z. Nurgaliyeva & Gaini K. Baimukasheva & Rabiga N. Kenzhebay & Soltanbek K. Kassen, 2024. "Ecological–Economical and Ethno-Cultural Determinants of the Development of Organic Farming in Kazakhstan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-19, May.
    4. Roman Rudnicki & Mirosław Biczkowski & Łukasz Wiśniewski & Paweł Wiśniewski & Stanisław Bielski & Renata Marks-Bielska, 2023. "Towards Green Agriculture and Sustainable Development: Pro-Environmental Activity of Farms under the Common Agricultural Policy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-23, February.
    5. Giuseppe Craparo & Elisa Isabel Cano Montero & Jesús Fernando Santos Peñalver, 2024. "Trends in the circular economy applied to the agricultural sector in the framework of the SDGs," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 26699-26729, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nesar Ahmed & Shirley Thompson & Giovanni M. Turchini, 2020. "Organic aquaculture productivity, environmental sustainability, and food security: insights from organic agriculture," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(6), pages 1253-1267, December.
    2. Valeria Borsellino & Emanuele Schimmenti & Hamid El Bilali, 2020. "Agri-Food Markets towards Sustainable Patterns," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-35, March.
    3. Malek, Žiga & Tieskens, Koen F. & Verburg, Peter H., 2019. "Explaining the global spatial distribution of organic crop producers," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    4. Jie Zhao & Ji Chen & Damien Beillouin & Hans Lambers & Yadong Yang & Pete Smith & Zhaohai Zeng & Jørgen E. Olesen & Huadong Zang, 2022. "Global systematic review with meta-analysis reveals yield advantage of legume-based rotations and its drivers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Aleksandra Kowalska & Julia Wojciechowska-Solis & Milena Bieniek & Monika Ratajczyk & Louise Manning, 2023. "Declared non-buyers of organic food: A study of young British and Polish consumer profiles," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 1, pages 28-50.
    6. Kalle Margus & Viacheslav Eremeev & Evelin Loit & Eve Runno-Paurson & Erkki Mäeorg & Anne Luik & Liina Talgre, 2022. "Impact of Farming System on Potato Yield and Tuber Quality in Northern Baltic Sea Climate Conditions," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-12, April.
    7. Malard, Julien J & Adamowski, Jan Franklin & Rojas Díaz, Marcela & Nassar, Jessica Bou & Anandaraja, Nallusamy & Tuy, Héctor & Arévalo-Rodriguez, Luís Andrés & Melgar-Quiñonez, Hugo Ramiro, 2020. "Agroecological food web modelling to evaluate and design organic and conventional agricultural systems," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 421(C).
    8. Bang, Rasmus & Hansen, Bjørn Gunnar & Guajardo, Mario & Sommerseth, Jon Kristian & Flaten, Ola & Asheim, Leif Jarle, 2024. "Conventional or organic cattle farming? Trade-offs between crop yield, livestock capacity, organic premiums, and government payments," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    9. Debuschewitz, Emil & Sanders, Jürn, 2021. "Bewertung der Umweltwirkungen des ökologischen Landbaus im Kontext der kontroversen wissenschaftlichen Diskurse," 61st Annual Conference, Berlin, Germany, September 22-24, 2021 317076, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    10. Lombardi, G.V. & Parrini, Silvia & Atzori, R. & Stefani, G. & Romano, D. & Gastaldi, M. & Liu, G., 2021. "Sustainable agriculture, food security and diet diversity. The case study of Tuscany, Italy," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 458(C).
    11. Rees, Charles & Grovermann, Christian & Finger, Robert, 2023. "National organic action plans and organic farmland area growth in Europe," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    12. Bellassen, Valentin & Drut, Marion & Hilal, Mohamed & Bodini, Antonio & Donati, Michele & de Labarre, Matthieu Duboys & Filipović, Jelena & Gauvrit, Lisa & Gil, José M. & Hoang, Viet & Malak-Rawlikows, 2022. "The economic, environmental and social performance of European certified food," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    13. Lauren Brzozowski & Michael Mazourek, 2018. "A Sustainable Agricultural Future Relies on the Transition to Organic Agroecological Pest Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-25, June.
    14. Mollie Chapman & Susanna Klassen & Maayan Kreitzman & Adrian Semmelink & Kelly Sharp & Gerald Singh & Kai M. A. Chan, 2017. "5 Key Challenges and Solutions for Governing Complex Adaptive (Food) Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-30, September.
    15. Alon Tal, 2018. "Making Conventional Agriculture Environmentally Friendly: Moving beyond the Glorification of Organic Agriculture and the Demonization of Conventional Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    16. Radka Redlichová & Gabriela Chmelíková & Ivana Blažková & Eliška Svobodová & Inez Naaki Vanderpuje, 2021. "Organic Food Needs More Land and Direct Energy to Be Produced Compared to Food from Conventional Farming: Empirical Evidence from the Czech Republic," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, August.
    17. Xiaohong Zhou & Donghong Ding, 2022. "Factors Influencing Farmers’ Willingness and Behaviors in Organic Agriculture Development: An Empirical Analysis Based on Survey Data of Farmers in Anhui Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-21, November.
    18. Clarisse Mendoza Gonzalvo & Wilson Jr. Florendo Aala & Keshav Lall Maharjan, 2021. "Farmer Decision-Making on the Concept of Coexistence: A Comparative Analysis between Organic and Biotech Farmers in the Philippines," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-21, September.
    19. Joseph, Sarah & Peters, Irene & Friedrich, Hanno, 2019. "Can Regional Organic Agriculture Feed the Regional Community? A Case Study for Hamburg and North Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Niraj Prakash Joshi & Luni Piya, 2021. "Food and Nutrient Supply from Organic Agriculture in the Least Developed Countries and North America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-17, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    European Green Deal; green growth; organic farming; sustainable food system; green public procurement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • 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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pes:ierequ:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:607-633. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Adam P. Balcerzak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ibgtopl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.