MEASURING PROGRESS ON GREEN GROWTH IN AGRICULTURE The OECD Green Growth Strategy will present measurement tools to help policy makers evaluate the efficiency of their policies and measure the extent to which they are shifting economic activity onto a greener path. The aim is to broaden the range of existing economic indicators to allow for more comprehensive comparative analyses and benchmarking of countries on Green Growth. The OECD will provide: i) a framework and principles for thinking about what needs to be measured and how; ii) a summary of existing measures and possible gaps; and iii) a small number of key headline indicators for measuring progress on Green Growth. A companion set of indicators is needed to assess progress toward Green Growth in agriculture which could provide input to monitoring exercises and policy development. First, an attempt should be made to quantify policy measures contained in the Green Growth Policy Toolkit on the basis of which countries may be surveyed on their applicability and implementation. Second, existing economic, environmental and social indicators may need to be supplemented to assess the relative economic efficiency, environmental impacts and general welfare aspects of OECD agriculture
. Third, indicators are needed to assess whether the Green Growth paradigm is improving economic outcomes in agriculture, delivering reduced pressures on the environment and enhancing quality-of-life aspects. Techniques for comparing bio-physical and socio-economic data could help evaluate the impact of Green Growth policies on agricultural performance over time. Given the site specificity of many environmental issues and the complexity of measuring environmental outcomes in agriculture, this is likely to be a complex process. In addition, optimal agricultural policy approaches will vary widely by country depending on relative preferences for regulations, supports and/or cross-compliance to achieve Green Growth objectives. A set of key headline indicators for assessing the progress of Green Growth in the agricultural sector are proposed in Table 10. A far greater range of policy and performance areas and indicators are available, but a first task is to determine those measures would be most useful in assessing green advances in agriculture and for which data may be collected on a broad basis. Data for the indicators listed here are generally available at the national level. In the first row, the indicators of Green Growth policies refer to: i) the environmental dimensions (positive and negative) of public supports to agriculture, ii) the use of economic instruments as proxied by water charges, iii) the level of trade barriers as seen in bound and applied tariffs on agricultural products, and iv) agricultural research and development (R&D) expenditures -- assumed to be increasingly directed to enhancing environmental values – as a share of total R&D spending. In the second row, indicators of economic performance in agriculture include standard measures of agricultural output, productivity, employment and income. A measure of income derived from the production of agriculture-based environmental goods and services is added to gauge the value-added from Green Growth investments. 38 Table 10: Headline Indicators for Measuring Progress on Green Growth in Agriculture Indicators of: Type Proposed indicators Green policies Negative supports Positive supports Economic instruments Trade barriers R&D funding Most environmentally harmful PSE as share of total PSE for environmental practices and services as share of total Share of full costs covered by water tariffs Average level of bound and applied tariffs on agricultural products Public & private R&D spending on agriculture as share of total Economic performance Output Productivity Employment Income Environmental output Indices of crop and livestock production Crop yield per land area Number employed in primary agriculture Income per capita in agriculture Value of agriculture-based environmental goods and services Environmental performance Water quality Land quality Soil erosion Air emissions Biodiversity Share of surface & groundwater with excessive nitrates & phosphorus Share of agricultural land with excessive nitrates & phosphorus Share of agricultural land affected by water and wind erosion Agricultural greenhouse gas emissions as share of total GHG Area of semi-natural habitats in total agricultural land area Social performance Rural development Rural employment Human capital Social capital Income distribution Share of non-farm rural income Share of non-farm rural employment Average education levels in rural areas Changes in population levels in rural areas Distribution of rural household income In the third row, measures of environmental performance are based on existing OECD agrienvironmental indicators, including those of the quality of water and land as measured by excessive nitrate and phosphorus content. Soil quality is indicated by the share of agricultural land affected by water and wind erosion. Levels of greenhouse gas emissions and habitat area are used to measure climate and biodiversity impacts from agricultural production. In the fourth row, social performance in the agricultural sector is indicated by measures of rural development including diversification of economic activities in addition to primary production as seen in non-farm shares of rural income and employment. This can be further broken down to measure income and employment from environmental goods and businesses resulting from Green Growth investments in rural areas. Other social values are measured in terms of education levels (human capital), maintenance of rural populations (social capital), and income distribution (social equity).
