This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of how water, energy and food are interconnected, comprising a coherent system: the nexus. It considers the interlinkages between natural resources, governance processes seeking coherence among water, energy and food policies, and the adoption of transdisciplinary approaches in the field. With contributions covering a broad range of disciplinary perspectives and cross-cutting themes, the Handbook has a well-balanced mix of conceptual chapters and empirical studies. It includes a state-of-the-art analysis of the concepts and experiences in implementing the nexus in different policy environments, providing examples of successful integrated decision-making across the domains of water, energy and food. Offering a global perspective on water, energy and food security, the Handbook contains insights into achieving both national development goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. Chapters further highlight how to understand the concepts of the nexus in practice, impacts of the nexus in governance, policy and business, and methods and tools to strengthen the nexus. Interdisciplinary and thorough, this Handbook will be critical reading for environmental management, public policy and human geography scholars. It will also be a useful tool for policymakers looking for successful examples of policy coherence towards an integrated management of water, energy and food resources.

In large parts of the world, the reduction in the viability of agriculture and rural areas is an escalating problem. Sustainable Land Management offers a contemporary overview of the strategies employed to cope with the marginalisation of agriculture, through analyses of case studies and regional trends in marginalisation.The authors argue that complexities and driving forces governing marginalisation are not always the same across nations and regions due to climate, geography, economics, legislation and political status. This book illustrates in what form these complexities exist, and how these unravel at the national and regional levels. As the need to understand and cope with marginalisation processes has developed, the concept of multi-functionality has also gained a vital place in the string of coping strategies. This work contributes essential knowledge for the development of marginalisation mitigation policy actions across the globe. Informative and well-documented, this book will appeal to those researching and working in the fields of agricultural and resource economics, rural geography, environmental governance and sustainable development.

Apart from food and raw materials, agriculture can also provide ancillary benefits such as landscapes, biodiversity, cultural heritage and thriving rural communities. This book offers a state-of-the-art overview of strategies for sustainable management practices and their implementation through the adoption of suitable instruments. Such practices aim to sustain and support the multiple functions provided by agriculture and natural resources in the rural countryside.The authors explore the value of alternative governance structures and examine the design of policy models and institutional mechanisms for a range of different countries and agricultural methods. The empirical results allow them to identify successful examples as well as recognize practices which have failed. They can then transfer positive policies to geographical areas or production systems where effective and efficient strategies for the sustainable management of natural resources are urgently needed. In doing so, the authors hope to improve the design, identification and implementation of appropriate policy instruments to help sustain the rural economy in the future. They also aim to strengthen the establishment of markets for nature which overcome institutional constraints. This timely new book explores emerging perspectives on multifunctionality in agriculture and the rural environment. It will be widely read by academics, researchers and policymakers with an interest in agricultural and resource economics, environmental governance and sustainable development.

The increasing demand for rural land and its natural resources is creating competition and conflicts. Many interested parties, including farmers, nature conservationists, rural residents and tourists, compete for the same space. Especially in densely populated areas, agriculture, recreation, urban and suburban growth and infrastructure development exert a constant pressure on rural areas. Because land is a finite resource, spatial policies which are formulated and implemented to increase the area allocated to one use imply a decrease in land available for other uses. As a result, at many locations, multi-purpose land use is becoming increasingly important. This notion of multi-purpose land use is reflected in the term 'multifunctionality'. This volume provides insights into viable strategies of sustainable management practices allowing multiple functions sustained by agriculture and natural resources in rural areas. It shows how the rural economy and policies can balance and cope with these competing demands and includes numerous case studies from Europe, North America and developing countries.

Significant advances have occurred in recent years in Europe and in North America in addressing agri-environmental policies. Land use issues tend to be more pressing in Europe than in the US as a whole because of different spatial exigencies. Because these advances have taken place within individual academic disciplines, there has been something of a loss of synergy and often efforts are duplicated. While important institutional and legal differences still exist between the two continents, the sharing of recent scientific advances will benefit scientists on both sides of the Atlantic and this is the main purpose of this book. The primary features of the book are threefold. First, the authors aim to identify options for policy to overcome the challenges ahead related to future agri-environmental policies. Second, they synthesize existing knowledge and identify gaps in current knowledge along with future research needs. Finally, they explicitly compare agri-environmental interactions and approaches to their resolution in Europe and in the US. This is the only major book of its kind that focuses specifically on the intersection between agricultural and environmental policies and issues. Furthermore, the multi-disciplinary approach taken in the volume, as well as the inclusion of authors from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, makes the book unique. This book will be of most value to university faculty and students interested in agriculture and the environment on both sides of the Atlantic, the text should also be of interest to informed laypersons as well as policymakers.

Significant advances have occurred in recent years in Europe and in North America in addressing agri-environmental policies. Land use issues tend to be more pressing in Europe than in the US as a whole because of different spatial exigencies. Because these advances have taken place within individual academic disciplines, there has been something of a loss of synergy and often efforts are duplicated.

While important institutional and legal differences still exist between the two continents, the sharing of recent scientific advances will benefit scientists on both sides of the Atlantic and this is the main purpose of this book. The primary features of the book are threefold. First, the authors aim to identify options for policy to overcome the challenges ahead related to future agri-environmental policies. Second, they synthesize existing knowledge and identify gaps in current knowledge along with future research needs. Finally, they explicitly compare agri-environmental interactions and approaches to their resolution in Europe and in the US.

This is the only major book of its kind that focuses specifically on the intersection between agricultural and environmental policies and issues. Furthermore, the multi-disciplinary approach taken in the volume, as well as the inclusion of authors from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, makes the book unique. This book will be of most value to university faculty and students interested in agriculture and the environment on both sides of the Atlantic, the text should also be of interest to informed laypersons as well as policymakers.

Nature and agriculture both shape the European countryside and one of the main challenges for the years to come will be to strengthen their interaction for the future development of rural areas. In this valuable and highly topical book, the authors demonstrate how economics and ecology can play a critical role in maintaining and sustaining this relationship.The book identifies the dilemmas facing European agriculture and explores their economic and ecological consequences. The authors believe a better understanding of these problems will be crucial in recognising the potential options for the future role of agriculture and nature policy and will guide the identification of suitable policy instruments. They highlight current threats to the relationship between agriculture and nature - such as abandonment and intensification - and demonstrate how these problems can be resolved by a rational policy mix. The book also provides extensive empirical evidence from four case studies and concludes by scrutinising the major changes in market conditions and the Common Agricultural Policy which could upset this important but fragile balance between agriculture and nature. Providing a state-of-the-art overview of current thinking on the relationship between agriculture and nature in the context of EU policy, this book will be welcomed by policymakers and those studying and working in the fields of agricultural and resource economics, geography, and agri-business.

'The ever increasing competition for land, and the environmental pressures being placed on this most fundamental resource, call for a new approach to its governance. Based on case studies from around the world this book provides a comprehensive and unique insight into the development of sustainable land use policies in developing countries and heralds the need to integrate environmental, social and economic considerations for effective and sustainable governance.' - Lisa Emberson, University of York, UK 'Despite rapidly growing natural resource scarcity, land use policy remains an under-studied subject. This book provides a valuable resource on both methodologies and case studies on land use policy assessment for developing countries, where change is most rapid.' - Claudia Ringler, IFPRI, Washington, DC, US The urgent need to enhance sustainable development in developing countries has never been greater: poverty levels are growing, land conversions are uncontrolled, and there is rapid loss of biodiversity through land use change. This timely book highlights the need for integrated assessment tools for developing countries, considering the long-term impacts of decisions taken today. The success of land use policies has in the past often been hampered by the fact that we simply do not know enough about their impact on sustainable development across developing countries. This book contributes to bridging this knowledge gap while facilitating the successful design and implementation of land use policies. The challenge of land use changes in response to changes in the policy environment - macro policy, agricultural and forest policy, environmental policy - is explored with a focus on the South. Detailed case studies encompassing seven countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America are presented via a common framework of analysis. In each case, sustainable development concerns are identified from environmental, economic and social perspectives. The interrelated causes of these problems are analyzed by identifying key drivers and relevant land use policies, and the potential impact of prioritized land use policies are then discussed. This important book will prove invaluable to academics, researchers, postgraduate students and policy makers concerned with land-use planning, sustainable development and environmental studies. Contributors: A.M. Arbi, I. Bezlepkina, M. Bonin, F. Brouwer, M. Bursztyn, L. Chen, Y. Cisse, E. Coudel, S.A. Dalimunthe, N. Debortoli, N.I.S. Dewi, S. Feng, L.N. Gachimbi, P. Gicheru, H. Jeder, S. Kashyap, H. Konig, D. Lindoso, X. Ma, D. McNeill, S.N. Makokha, I. Nesheim, N. Novira, N. Ounalli, S. Patil, S. Purushothaman, F. Qu, T.S. Rahayu, P. Reidsma, S. Rodrigues-Filho, J. Schuler, M. Sghaier, X. Shi, J.-P. Tonneau, R. Verburg, J. Von Braun, J.W. Wamuongo, A.P. Wicaksono

The increasing demand for rural land and its natural resources is creating competition and conflicts. Many interested parties, including farmers, nature conservationists, rural residents and tourists, compete for the same space. Especially in densely populated areas, agriculture, recreation, urban and suburban growth and infrastructure development exert a constant pressure on rural areas. Because land is a finite resource, spatial policies which are formulated and implemented to increase the area allocated to one use imply a decrease in land available for other uses. As a result, at many locations, multi-purpose land use is becoming increasingly important. This notion of multi-purpose land use is reflected in the term 'multifunctionality'. This volume provides insights into viable strategies of sustainable management practices allowing multiple functions sustained by agriculture and natural resources in rural areas. It shows how the rural economy and policies can balance and cope with these competing demands and includes numerous case studies from Europe, North America and developing countries.

Interactions between agriculture, climate and patterns of land use are complex. Major changes in agriculture, and land use patterns are foreseen in the next couple of decades in response to shifts in climate, greenhouse gas management initiatives, population growth and other forces. The book explores key interactions between changes in agriculture, patterns of land use and efforts to reduce greenhouse emissions from agriculture. The volume is based on inter-disciplinary science and policy interactions, exploring the way land use may aid in addressing or be affected by the onset of climate change and alterations in food demand. Future forces shaping land use decisions are examined, and its sensitivity to climate change is highlighted. Patterns of land use and the agricultural role in climate change mitigation are explored. Also, policy and social responses to the new perspectives on future land use patterns are identified. The perspective of the book is beyond the year 2015.

This book explores structural changes in India's agrifood systems during the next ten to twenty years. The dynamics in the agrifood sector is explored in the context of the overall economy, taking into account agricultural and trade policies and their impacts on national and global markets. The contributors draw on qualitative and quantitative approaches, using both a national model - to focus on urban-rural relations and income distribution - and an international model to focus on patterns of economic growth and international trade.

This work debates and investigates the the cross-compliance system: where farmers comply with certain standards relating to the environment, food safety and animal and plant health.It discusses cross-compliance in the context of existing standards, on-farm costs and the competitiveness of farm businesses. Analyzing the economics of regulation both within the internal market of the EU and the broader world market by examining a broad range of agricultural products, this resource will be of value to agriculture and resource economists, policy makers, researchers and students in environmental and agricultural policy and modelling.

1. Land Resources, Land Use and Projected Land Availability for Alternative Uses in the EC.- 1.1. Introduction.- 1.2. Land Use Structure.- 1.3. Climate and Soils.- 1.4. Slope Characteristics of Land.- 1.5. Assessing Future Land Requirements for Major Uses in the EEC.- 1.6. Projected Land Use Changes.- 1.7. Concluding Remarks.- 2. Trends in the Transformation of European Agriculture.- 2.1. Introduction.- 2.2. Types of Agriculture in Europe.- 2.3. Agricultural Regions in Europe.- 2.4. Conclusions.- 3. Future Land Use Patterns in Europe.- 3.1. Introduction.- 3.2. Land Use Patterns in Europe.- 3.3. New Technologies and Changing Land Use Patterns.- 3.4. Climate Change and Soil Degradation in Relation to Changing Land Use Patterns.- 3.5. Future Land Use Changes in Europe.- 3.6. Concluding Remarks.- 4. The Role and Impact of Biophysical Determinants on Present and Future Land Use Patterns in Europe.- 4.1. Introduction.- 4.2. Major Determinants of Land Use Patterns in Europe.- 4.3. Effect of Biophysical Parameters on Crop Growth.- 4.4. Land Assessment Based on the Physical Potential of the Land.- 4.5. Concluding Remarks.- 5. Atmospheric Methane: Estimates of Its Past. Present and Future and Its Role in Effecting Changes in Atmospheric Chemistry.- 5.1. Introduction.- 5.2. The Greenhouse Effect.- 5.3. Chemical Interferences.- 5.4. Climatic Implications.- 5.5. The Global Methane Budget.- 5.6. Biogenic Sources.- 5.7. Methane of Non-biological Origin.- 5.8. Pre-industrial Methane Emissions.- 5.9. Future Trends.- 5.10. Concluding Remarks.- 6. Perspectives on a Changing Hydroclimate: Land Use Implications.- 6.1. Introduction.- 6.2. The Hydrological Cycle.- 6.3. Interdependency of Catchment Hydrology and Land Use.- 6.4. Environmental Manipulation.- 6.5. Influence of Climatic Change.- 6.6. Sustainable Interaction between Society and the Water Cycle.- 6.7. Matrices to Clarify the Impacts of Changes.- 6.8. Conclusion.- 7. Dynamics in Land Use Patterns: Socio-economic and Environmental Aspects of the Second Agricultural Land Use Revolution.- 7.1. Introduction.- 7.2. Development and Sustainability: A Methodological Framework.- 7.3. Land Use and Economics: An Historical Orientation.- 7.4. Agricultural Land Use and the Environment.- 7.5. Overproduction in the Agricultural Sector: An International Perspective.- 7.6. Strategic and Scientific Options for Co-evolutionary Development.- 8. Climatic Change and Land Use Impact in Europe.- 8.1. Introduction.- 8.2. European Climate-Vegetation-Soil Relationships.- 8.3. Major Future Shifts of Biomes and Land Use.- 8.4. Climate Related Acidification, Eutrophication and Aridification.- 9. Climatic Changes and Land Use Potential in Europe.- 9.1. Introduction.- 9.2. Specific Approaches.- 9.3. A Summary of Possible Effects of Climatic Change on Agricultural Potential in Europe.- 9.4. Potential Technological and Management Responses.- 9.5. Conclusions.- 10. Environmental Constraints on Agricultural Production.- 10.1. Introduction.- 10.2. Materials and Methods Applied.- 10.3. Results of the Experiments.- 10.4. Measures to Prevent Leaching.- 10.5. Conclusion.- 11. Potential Effects of Climate and Land Use Changes on the Water Balance Structure in Poland.- 11.1. Introduction.- 11.2. Methods of Assessing the Heat and Water Balance Structure.- 11.3. Scenarios of Heat and Water Balance Components.- 11.4. Conclusions.- 12. Soil Erosion, Soil Degradation and Climatic Change.- 12.1. Introduction.- 12.2. Soil Erosion in Western Europe.- 12.3. Establishing Information on Erosion and Degradation.- 12.4. Land Degradation: The World Problem.- 12.5. Soil Erosion and Climatic Change.- 13. Salinization Potential of European Soils.- 13.1. Introduction.- 13.2. Salinization of Groundwater and Soils.- 13.3. Major Aspects of Soil Salinity.- 13.4. Future Potential for Salt-affected Soils in Europe.- 13.5. Prevention and Monitoring of Secondary Salinization.- 14. Changes in Rates of Weathering and Erosion Induced by Acid Emissions and Ag...

This book reviews assessments on the environmental effects of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and assesses the contribution of agricultural policy to environmental quality in the EU. It focuses on the role of agricultural policy in reducing harmful effects and/or creating benefits to the physical environment, landscape and nature. Emphasis is given to comparative studies, rather than any limited to one country. The commodity regimes of the CAP - e.g. the beef, wine and olive oil regimes - are considered in detail.