In Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW), dem mit 18 Mill. Einwohnern bevölkerungsreichsten Bundesland Deutschlands, wurden am 1.1.2002 2,6% der landwirtschaftlichen Fläche ökologisch bewirtschaftet. Dabei wiesen die anhand von Daten des Landesamts für Statistik NRW, der Landwirtschaftskammern und der...

What patterns can be discerned in the distribution of farm sizes across countries and over time? How does the behavior of individual economic agents interact with the natural environment and general economic development to affect farm size? How has concerted human intervention, understood as...

Increased levels and volatility of food prices has led to a surge of interest in large-scale agriculture and land acquisition. This creates challenges for policy makers aiming to establish a policy environment conducive to an agrarian structure to contribute to broad-based development in the...

1. Introduction -- 2. Economic Development, Sustainable Development and Agriculture -- 3. Sustainability of Agricultural Systems -- 4. Challenges of Sustainable Agriculture in Developing Countries -- 5. Challenges of Sustainable Agricultural Development in High-Income Countries -- 6. Pathways to...