Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries

Joanna Domagała

doi:10.3390/en14227826

Abstract

The analysis of the economic efficiency of agriculture has been the subject of numerous studies. An economically efficient agricultural sector is not always environmentally efficient. Agriculture is a large emitter of greenhouse gases. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that food production and agriculture are responsible for 21–37% of total global CO2 emissions. Due to the comprehensive assessment of the agricultural efficiency, it is worthwhile to apply to its measurement an integrated approach based on economic, energy and environmental aspects. These aspects were the main reasons for undertaking this research. The purpose of the study was to determine the economic, energy and environmental efficiency of agriculture in the EU Member States in 2019. The environmental analyses relate to the period 1990–2019. A total of 26 member states of the European Union (excluding Malta and Luxembourg) were selected for research. The sources of materials were Eurostat and the European Environmental Agency. This study was based on the Data Envelopment Analysis method, and used the DEA model focused on minimizing inputs. The research also adopts energy productivity and greenhouse gas emission efficiency indicators. The DEA model features the following variables: one effect (value of agricultural production) and four inputs (land, labour, use of fertilizers and use of energy). It was found that seven out of the 26 studied EU countries have efficient agriculture. The efficient agriculture group included The Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland. Based on the DEA method, benchmarks have been defined for countries with inefficient agriculture. On the basis of these benchmarks for inefficient agricultural sectors, it was possible to determine how they could improve efficiency to achieve the same results with fewer inputs. This issue is particularly important in the context of sustainable agricultural development. In the next stage of the research, the analysis of economic and energy efficiency was combined with the analysis of GHG emission efficiency in agriculture. Four groups of countries have been distinguished: eco-efficiency leaders, eco-efficiency followers, environmental slackers, eco-efficiency laggards. The leaders of the classification were The Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Portugal.

Highlights

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the economy, as it plays a key role in food production and the conservation of natural resources
The Special Report on Climate Change and Land prepared by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that food production and agriculture are responsible for emissions of 10.8 to 19.1 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent, which is between 21% and 37% of total global CO2 emissions [11]
Agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases do not include those from fossil fuel combustion arising from agricultural-related processes such as transport, greenhouse heating or grain drying; these sources are inventoried under the energy section of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Summary

Introduction

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the economy, as it plays a key role in food production and the conservation of natural resources. It can be expected that the growing agricultural production will increase energy intensity as well as the use of nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticides, which will cause numerous environmental problems, such as the loss of biodiversity, soil degradation and ecosystem pollution [9,10]. The Special Report on Climate Change and Land prepared by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that food production and agriculture are responsible for emissions of 10.8 to 19.1 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent, which is between 21% and 37% of total global CO2 emissions [11]. Crippa et al [12] indicates that the land use generates 5.7 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, agricultural production emits 7.1 billion tonnes, the supply chain generates 3.1 billion tonnes, and post-retail processes (including consumer food preparation and garbage management) account for 2.1 billion tonnes. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions causing climate change are a growing problem for most areas of the world in providing adequate food production for the ever increasing world population, due to declining crop yields [13] and rising food prices [14]

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