Evaluation of social sustainability of Bulgarian agriculture

Minka Anastasova-Chopeva

Abstract: Sustainable development is listed as one of the key objectives of the Millennium, and in this light, achieving sustainable agriculture is a top priority of the EU’s CAP. An integral part of the sustainability model in the agricultural sector is social sustainability. Over the last decades, the importance of social sustainability has been expanding and growing, and this trend will continue in the future, making it particularly relevant for research. The role of the individual person as part of a group or of the civil society stands out more clearly. Social sustainability is linked to ensuring greater security of farm employment; undertaking practical actions to ensure equal opportunities for individuals to develop in the field of agricultural labor; providing education for the employees on the farm; fair distribution of income; strengthening the role of the right to work regardless of gender, etc. The purpose of the article is to present the main results and the conclusions of a scientific study on the level of social sustainability in agriculture, which is part of the scientific project “Sustainability of Agriculture in Bulgaria” (2017-2018). A methodical approach that takes into account the general concepts of social sustainability, specific features of the agricultural sector and the results of years of research by the Institute of Agricultural Economics (IAE) in this area are used. The results obtained show that social sustainability in agriculture is linked to the satisfactory level of the prevailing part of its principles.

Keywords: criteria; indicators; principles; social sustainability

Date published: 2019-12-19