Vol. 78 No. 2 (2023)
Keynote Article

Valuing for sustainability: hidden costs and benefits in multidimensional agriculture

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  • Francesco Marangon,
  • Alberto Bertossi,
  • Stefania Troiano
Francesco Marangon
Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine
Bio
Alberto Bertossi
Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine
Bio
Stefania Troiano
Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/rea-14613

Published 2023-12-31

Keywords

  • multifunctional agriculture,
  • true cost accounting,
  • true price,
  • payments for ecosystem services,
  • sustainable development

How to Cite

Marangon, F., Bertossi, A., & Troiano, S. (2023). Valuing for sustainability: hidden costs and benefits in multidimensional agriculture. Italian Review of Agricultural Economics (REA), 78(2), 53–65. https://doi.org/10.36253/rea-14613

Copyright (c) 2023 Francesco Marangon, Alberto Bertossi, Stefania Troiano

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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.

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