Valuing for sustainability: hidden costs and benefits in multidimensional agriculture

Abstract

The concept of agriculture has changed over the years. Whereas it was once considered simply a “means” for the production of goods (food and non-food), today, its multifunctionality, understood as the ability to also provide environmental and social services, takes on greater importance. The concept of multifunctionality is intended to change the conception of the agricultural sector and make it more suitable for the historical period of transition we are currently experiencing, for which it is essential to abandon old paradigms in order to create new ones. An unresolved challenge is providing value for each of the multifunctional services. This article provides a brief review of studies dedicated to identifying the main market and extra-market effects of multidimensional agriculture and describes some approaches used to adopt (monetary) quantification of related and secondary activities to facilitate the adoption of more sustainable practices. Special attention is given to payments for ecosystem services, true cost accounting, and true price tools to analyse the positive and negative externalities of multifunctional agricultural systems.