Socio-economic and environmental sustainability of Bulgarian farms

Abstract

Evaluation of sustainability of agricultural farms is among the most topical academic and practical – farm, business and policies forwarded issues. Despite that there are practically no studies on overall, economic, social, ecological, etc. sustainability of Bulgaria farms during European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) implementation. This article tries to fill the gap and presents results of a first large-scale study on integral, governance, economic, social, and environmental sustainability of market oriented farms in Bulgaria in general and for holdings of different juridical type, size, specialization and location. Initially, a holistic framework for assessing sustainability of Bulgarian farms is outlined, including a system of appropriate for the specific conditions of Bulgarian agriculture system of principles, criteria, indicators, and reference values for evaluating individual aspects and the integral sustainability of farming enterprises. Next, an assessment of made of the overall, governance, economic, social, and environmental sustainability of Bulgarian farms in general and holdings of different juridical type, size, specialization, ecological and geographical location. Finally, implications for further research and practices in sustainability assessment are withdrawn.