Review Article: "Flood damage assessment on agricultural areas: review and analysis of existing methods"

In Europe, economic evaluation of flood management projects is becoming a commonly used decision tool. At the same time, flood management policies shift towards new concepts such as giving more room to water by restoring floodplain and living with floods. Agricultural areas are particularly targeted by these policies since they are more frequently located in floodplain areas and are considered less vulnerable than other assets such as cities or industries. Since additional or avoided damage on agriculture may have a high influence on the efficiency of these policies, flood damage assessment on agricultural areas becomes an issue to tackle. This paper reviews existing studies addressing the question of flood damage on agriculture. Based on 41 studies, which can be qualitative or quantitative approaches, we propose a conceptual framework to analyze evaluation methods. Then, 26 studies which propose a method to evaluate agricultural damage are analyzed according to the following criterias: types of damage considered, influencing flood parameters chosen and monetized damage indicators used. The main findings of this review are that existing methods focus mainly on crop damage and do not allow correct evaluation of new flood management policies. Finally, future research challenges and recommendations for practitioners are highlighted.