Tradeoffs between Economic, Environmental and Social Sustainability: The Case of a Selection of European Farms

Overview & Synopsis

For a selection of farms in the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) of the European Union, the economic, environmental and social performance of farms is measured using farm level sustainability indicators based on FADN data and additiona data collected through the FLINT project. For each type of farming (TF), that is to say each main production specialisation, farms are then clustered on the basis of their economic performance and following this their environmental and social performances are assessed. The analysis addresses the question of whether top performing farms from an economic perspective can also be high-performing farms from an environmental and social perspective. The characteristics of the top performers are also investigated. Results suggest that economic sustainability and environmental sustainability are positively correlated for some farm types but not others, and this depends on the type of environmental indicator. By contrast, there are no tradeoffs between economic performance and (private) social performance. From a methodological perspective, the choice of the indicator, in particular the choice of the functional unit is crucial and may influence conclusions. In addition, some indicators never or almost never discriminate between clusters.