Multifunctionality: what do we know of it?

In large parts of the world, the reduction in viability of agriculture and rural areas is an escalating problem. Driven by a range of factors, including insufficient economic returns from land used agriculturally, ageing populations in rural areas and limited economic perspectives from agriculture and other land-based activities, marginalisation could induce harmful abandonment of the land or the loss of biodiversity and landscape features. New perspectives arise in rural areas and multifunctionality is often seen as a strategy to cope with marginalisation. This important book offers a contemporary overview of strategies employed to cope with marginalisation of the land and improve viability of the rural countryside. The study is based on detailed case studies undertaken in Europe, the USA, Japan and a number of developing countries.