Agrarian sustainability in Bulgaria economic, social and ecological aspects

Dr. Emilia Sokolova, Desislava Toteva, Hrabrin Bachev, Bozhidar Ivanov

Abstract: The sustainable development has become a major topic not only for the economic science but in the economic policy development. There is a substantial literature dedicated to analyzing the different aspects of sustainability – economic, social and/or ecological. Agriculture has been recognized as one of the economic fields that has multidimensional impact not only on the incomes and well-being of the employed, but also on the rural population as a whole and the environment. This article presents a holistic approach for assessing agrarian sustainability in Bulgaria based on its economic, social and ecological aspects on sectoral macro-level. It is based on official statistical and other information as well as on expert evaluation. Our study has found that the Bulgarian agriculture on macro-level has good sustainability. Some of the sustainability aspects have higher levels (e.g. the economic aspect) while others (social and environmental) are inferior. Study results could help in focusing the political efforts, so that the agrarian sustainability, in its social and ecological aspect, could be increased. However a further research is needed to evaluate the level of sustainability at micro-level, so that the major issues and problem areas are addressed accordingly.

Keywords: agrarian sustainability; Bulgarian agriculture; ecological aspects; economic; social; sustainability indicators

Date published: 2017-09-07