On December 6-7, ISET’s Pati Mamardashvili traveled to the UK to hold a presentation at the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Newcastle University.

The focus of her talk was on the relationship between agricultural and ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural issues). Whereas the provisioning services of ecosystems are usually valued at the market, there is essentially no market for regulation, support, or the incorporation of cultural services. The presence of this market failure complicates the inclusion of those non-marketed ESs in decision-making processes.

Agriculture is both a provider and consumer of ecosystem services. Farmers in developed countries are encouraged to adopt technologies that provide multiple ESs (including non-marketed) and minimize the “disservices” from agriculture (such as nutrient runoff, biodiversity losses, and the negative impacts of pesticide use). A better understanding of the tradeoffs and synergies associated with such a multifunctional role of agriculture can provide valuable insight for better targeting and tailoring agri-environmental policies. Pati also emphasized the difference in the concept of agricultural multifunctionality between developed and developing countries; while in developed countries this concept is more about cultural heritage, landscape amenities, and environmental services related to agricultural production, in developing countries the focus is on the role of agriculture in ensuring food security, reducing poverty, and contributing to economic growth.

Pati discussed several existing methods for quantifying the monetary values of non-marketed ESs, focusing on the inclusion of these services in the modeling of production technology of farms. In this context, she also presented the main insights from her paper on the environmental performance of Swiss dairy farms.

Following the presentation, Pati met with several colleagues from the Center for Rural Economy to outline potential collaboration opportunities between them and the APRC.