Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries

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 p...

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Autor principal:	Joanna Domagała
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	agriculture economic-energy efficiency environmental efficiency EU countries Data Envelopment Analysis Technology T
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/77b86901cc7e403ca5e13bb632edeb5b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:77b86901cc7e403ca5e13bb632edeb5b2021-11-25T17:29:02ZEconomic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries10.3390/en142278261996-1073https://doaj.org/article/77b86901cc7e403ca5e13bb632edeb5b2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/22/7826https://doaj.org/toc/1996-1073The 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 CO<sub>2</sub> 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.Joanna DomagałaMDPI AGarticleagricultureeconomic-energy efficiencyenvironmental efficiencyEU countriesData Envelopment AnalysisTechnologyTENEnergies, Vol 14, Iss 7826, p 7826 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	agriculture economic-energy efficiency environmental efficiency EU countries Data Envelopment Analysis Technology T
spellingShingle	agriculture economic-energy efficiency environmental efficiency EU countries Data Envelopment Analysis Technology T Joanna Domagała Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries
description	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 CO<sub>2</sub> 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.
format	article
author	Joanna Domagała
author_facet	Joanna Domagała
author_sort	Joanna Domagała
title	Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries
title_short	Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries
title_full	Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries
title_fullStr	Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries
title_full_unstemmed	Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries
title_sort	economic and environmental aspects of agriculture in the eu countries
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/77b86901cc7e403ca5e13bb632edeb5b
work_keys_str_mv	AT joannadomagała economicandenvironmentalaspectsofagricultureintheeucountries
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Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries

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