Measuring Agro-Biodiversity through Leverage Factors: Land Use, Farmer Practices and Public Policies

Roberto Henke () and Cristina Vaquero-Piñeiro
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Roberto Henke: CREA—Research Centre for Policies and Bioeconomy, 00187 Rome, Italy
Cristina Vaquero-Piñeiro: Department of Economics, Roma Tre University, 00145 Rome, Italy

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: Understanding the socio-economic channels through which farmers affect agro-biodiversity (ABD) represents a relevant research area, especially in the light of the new sustainable development paradigm. Supporting ABD is one of the main goals of the EU Green Deal and the agricultural sector is being called on for a higher commitment. Nowadays, ABD interventions are linked not only to the genetic and natural resources of species, but also to farming practices, land management, living standards in rural areas and all the policy interventions supporting them. However, the existing literature is still mainly focused on the environmental and agronomic perspectives. This paper aims to assess the extent to which different socio-economic and policy factors affect the performance of farmers in supporting ABD at the territorial level. Starting from the FADN data and focusing on Italy, we built a new regional comprehensive indicator that accounts for three levers through which farmers mostly interact and can influence ABD: land use strategies, agriculture practices and management decisions, and Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funds. Results reveal a heterogeneous spectrum of indicator scores at the regional level. Land use strategies have a significant relevance for the North-East regions and the Islands (Sicily and Sardinia), whereas agricultural practices emerge as the primary influential factors in the Centre and South. Policy funds dominate in the North-West, reflecting the greater expenditure capacity of the northern regions. These findings have important policy implications for the future of the CAP and the biodiversity EU strategy.

Keywords: agro-biodiversity; biodiversity index; land use; Italian agriculture; FADN; sustainability; agricultural policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:8:p:1499-:d:1204962

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