Sustainable Intensification

Sustainable intensification, the enhanced linkage between successful agricultural production and sustainability targets, implies changes in farm production processes. The objective of the research project is to explore the determinants for farm households’ adoption of sustainable intensification and the effect of the adoption decision on the economic and environmental outcomes of the farm. Eco-efficiency scores are a measure to assess both aspects jointly. The investigated research question is if farms that apply sustainable intensification perform better in terms of eco-efficiency compared to their peers. We empirically test the drivers of sustainable intensification adoption and eco-efficiency in a treatment effect design using farm survey data from Northern Germany. Apart from the contribution to the academic debate, knowledge on successful greener production practices and possible windfall effects is essential for agricultural policy to incentives for farmers.
The project is carried out in cooperation with the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) as part of the EU H2020 research project VITAL (Viable InTensification of Agricultural production through sustainable Landscape transition).

http://vital.environmentalgeography.nl/

Meike Weltin (meike.weltin@zalf.de)