Valuing Agricultural Landscape: Lithuanian Case Study Using a Contingent Valuation Method

Abstract

This study analyses Lithuanian residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the agricultural landscape in Lithuania. Since it is a part of the European Union, the agriculture is supported by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). According to CAP, agri-environmental schemes focus on the maintenance and improvement of agricultural landscape. Under these measures, Lithuanian farmers receive payments for the creation of agricultural landscape services. Therefore, understanding the demand of such agricultural landscape services, as received by the society, may help policymakers better allocate the funds. The present study has revealed that Lithuanian residents are concerned about the maintenance and preservation of the agricultural landscape. Moreover, they demand provision of the agricultural landscape services. Application of the contingent valuation method has shown that the median WTP of 23.59 €/year per family for agricultural landscape services, which is influenced by socioeconomic characteristics. The findings of the present study provide quantitative information about the demand for agricultural landscape services, which could be used to improve the agri-environmental policy, substantiating the internalization of positive and negative externalities (e.g., agricultural landscape services) to the performance of farmers.

Landscape restoration due to Xylella fastidiosa invasion in Italy: Assessing the hypothetical public’s preferences

“…In recent years, CE has been widely used to assess the non-market services of public goods (Dallimer et al 2015;Zoderer et al 2015;Sardaro et al 2016b;Bottero et al 2017;Tempesta and Vecchiato 2017;Cortignani et al 2018;Novikova et al 2019), and in particular to reveal respondents' (i.e. citizens, residents or tourists) preferences regarding the benefits of ecosystem services (Dachary-Bernard and Rivaud 2013).…”

Measuring Multifunctional Agricultural Landscapes

“…These approaches have been widely used in Europe in the last decade [155,175,176], especially to assess the economic aspects of the implementation and operation of the CAP. Within this context, CVM is often applied (e.g., [71,75,77]) as a survey-based economic technique for the valuation of non-market resources, such as biodiversity conservation or the control of soil and water contamination [177,178]. For example, Kallas et al [179] integrated this method and the analytical hierarchy process (a structured technique for organising and analysing complex decisions, based on mathematics and psychology) to demonstrate the importance of the various functions of agriculture in Spain based on farmers' socio-economic characteristics.…”

“…CVM provides quantitative information about the demand for agricultural landscape services, which can then be used to improve agri-environmental policy. Novikova et al [75] conducted an empirical study in Lithuania using CVM, highlighting that local residents primarily valued the maintenance and preservation of the agricultural landscape, indicating that the externalities of agriculture should be regarded as crucial in evaluating farmers' performance. A more nuanced evaluation of the agricultural landscape was presented by Ragkos and Theodoridis [77], employing a choice experiment approach to probe non-traded functions provided by Cypriot agriculture.…”

“…Alcon et al[67]; Bernués et al[68]; Chen et al[69]; Dupras et al[70]; Jung[71]; Kubíčková[72]; Mazzocchi and Sali[73]; Nambuge et al[74]; Novikova et al[75]; Ohe[76]; Ragkos and Theodoridis[77]; Sangkapitux et al[78]; Tagliafierro et al[79]; Torres-Miralles et al[80] 2017; van Zanten et al [81]; Vivithkeyoonvong and Jourdain [82] 2017; Sejati et al [83]; Zabala et al [84]; Zhao and Huang. Lecina-Diaz et al [94]; Lefcheck et al [95]; Liu et al [96]; Puig-Montserrat et al [97]; Rollin et al [98] InVEST model Bhagabati et al [99]; Dai et al [100]; Du and Rong [101]; Goldstein et al [102]; Ma et al [103]; Pham et al [104]; Polasky et al [105] Models based on biophysical character Belem and Saqalli.…”

Estimating the social value of multifunctional agriculture (MFA) with choice experiment

“…In South Korea, estimation of paddy farming's landscape using a contingent ranking method (CRM) by Kwon and Yun (2004) and estimation of water resource value using choice experiment (CE) are representative examples of valuing noncommon goods. Also, Novikova et al (2019) assessed the overall landscape value of agriculture by CRM and proposed the need for expansion of expenditure on rural landscapes in Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and countries. Researches about MFA include those of van der Ploeg and Roep (2003) and Menghini et al (2014), which used Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) to classify strategic attributes and assess their weight in entire agricultural industry and impact on National Values Assessment.…”