Governance Sustainability at Ecosystem, Regional and Farm Leveld in Bulgaria

Hrabrin Bachev

Abstract: In Bulgaria, like in many other countries, practically there are no assessments of the governance sustainability of agriculture at ecosystem, regional and farm level. This study applies a holistic framework and assesses the governance sustainability of agro-ecosystem, major geographical (and agrarian) regions, and farming organisations of different juridical type and size. The study has found out that there is a considerable differentiation in the level of Integral Governance sustainability of different agro-ecosystems, main agro-regions of the country and farming organisations of different type. Individual indicators with the highest and lowest sustainability values determine the “critical” factors enhancing and deterring the particular and integral Governance sustainability and have to me broadly used in the intervention policies and farm management. Having in mind the importance of holistic assessments of this kind for improving the agrarian sustainability in general, and the Governance sustainability of agriculture in particular, they are to be expended and their precision and rep-resentation increased. The later requires improvement of the precision through enlargement of surveyed farms and stakeholders, and incorporating more “objective” data from surveys, statistics, expertise of professionals in the area, etc.

Keywords: agro-ecosystem; agro-region; assessment; Bulgaria; farming organisations; governance sustainability

Date published: 2021-10-15