A status-quo analysis of the way the question of the multifunctionality of agriculture and of rural space is dealt with in policy evaluation is given. Focus is on conceptual frameworks, tools and methods. The paper builds on a review of policy evaluation practice and experiences in six different...

Generally, food policy is required to play an important role in the following aspects for society, i.e., to ensure food security, to cope with structural changes in food consumption and to realise sustainable development. However, the issues of food security and sustainability have different...

The chronic crisis affecting modern agriculture is indicating that the present paradigm of food production may not be viable in the long term to insure food security on a global scale, despite the brilliant outcomes achieved through the last several decades. Dwindling fossil fuel resources are...

This introductory paper aims to address the features of environmental sustainability in agriculture. Recent developments of the concept, which are discussed here, emphasise its multi-faceted nature and lead to various definitions as well as to different implications for policy measures in...

Historically, agricultural production in the Rolling Pampas of Argentina was characterised by low use of synthetic inputs. This changed during the 1990s, with the widespread adoption of technology privileged by neoclassical macroeconomic policies implemented in the same decade. In this paper,...

This last paper aims to summarise reflexions made in the preceding papers of this Special Issue. We will first show the common conclusions of the different reviews on multifunctionality, and discuss the global state-of-the-art: multifuntionality does not yet appear as a very stabilised concept,...

Over the last few years, there has been a significant increase in the focus on rural development and public goods within the common agricultural policy (CAP). Many researchers emphasise how this implies a need for new ways of implementing policy and innovative collaboration between various...

The paper analyses the possible effects of organic agriculture on sustainable regional development in peripheral Eastern German regions, drawing on results from two recent research projects taking two different but complementary perspectives on the organic sector. One project, 'Regional wealth...

One of the primary challenges for developing countries is to create new opportunities for sustainable economic development through the use of new technologies such as biotechnology. In this context, the use of agricultural biotechnology to produce cheap biofuel made from agricultural crops as...