QH92295 The development of indicators for integrated economic and environmental accounting in agriculture
The aim of the project is to develop a composite index based on extended agricultural accounting systems that take ecosystem services into account. The result will be a methodology for the development of this composite index based on an extended accounting framework, which will be able to express the interaction between agriculture and ecosystem services.
QH92295 The development of indicators for integrated economic and environmental accounting in agriculture
Donor
Ministry of agriculture
The Research Program in the Agricultural Sector 2007 - 2012
Subprogram: Protective and environmentally friendly management practices
Research direction: Promoting sustainable rural development
Project duration
January 2009–December 2011
Project coordinator in CUEC
Mgr. David Vačkář
Project description
The aim of the project is to contribute to the development of an integrated ecological-economic approach to agricultural accounting. Primarily, the project will focus on macro level, however, an aggregate accounting system can be gradually applied within the statistical reporting.
At present, agricultural indicators do not fully reflect the environmental concerns and the overall social function of agriculture is thus reflected inadequately in the current accounts. On the one hand, agricultural accounts inadequately reflect the impacts of water and air pollution or of soil erosion on the future yields. On the other hand, the role of agriculture in the formation of ecosystem services related to landscaping and landscape character or in maintaining biodiversity is not fully reflected either.
If all aspects of the ecological and socioeconomic role of agriculture will be fully accounted, the resulting presentation of the agriculture sector can be different from the production-oriented accounting. The overall purpose of the project is thus to contribute to the development of ecological-economic statistics and of agroenvironmental indicators based on the concept of environmental sustainability.
The expected benefits include especially the assessment of the overall environmental performance of agriculture in the context of the whole economy and of the ecosystem services affected (positively or negatively) by agricultural activities. The development of an integrated accounting system or indicator can help stating the true role of agriculture in the society, not limited only to its production function. Another benefit lies in the development of the methodology and in the activation of the databasenecessary for calculation of the overall costs and benefits of agricultural activities. This will allow an application of the values of non-market valuation under comparable conditions. This project will contribute to the development of agricultural statistics; it will enable making the possibly needed corrections of the current investigation and reporting of agricultural entities and will contribute to the planning of monitoring of changes in the agricultural landscape. A significant benefit will also lie in the consolidation of agroenvironmental indicators.
Project milestones
1) Evaluation of the degree of integration of environmental considerations into national accounts and agricultural statistics
2) Establishment of integrated accounts for the assessment of the environmental sustainability of agriculture
3) Quantitative assessment of the linkages of agriculture to other sectors
4) Development of an index of environmental sustainability of agriculture
