New Forms of Sustainability in the Context of Agricultural Development

Introduction

Modern agriculture operates under the influence of various natural, technical, economic, and social factors of an internal and external nature. Its future development will also depend on new, emerging concepts and theoretical approaches which can significantly modify current ways of thinking and existing production systems as well as the functioning of societies. Currently, the major conditions for agricultural development are linked to globalization and international integration, technological progress, diffusion of innovation, and global climate change. Still, a major paradigm of socio-economic development is the concept of sustainable growth and development, which addresses the process of agricultural development in three areas: environmental, economic, and social. So far, the process of sustainable agricultural development has been considered mainly in terms of production and supply, while consumption, supply chains, and management of production effects were clearly neglected. However, what can be observed is an intensive search for new concepts and forms of sustainable development. Among many new, emerging concepts, we can mention the green economy which is already widely known, as well as new approaches such as the circular economy and the sharing economy. G Toth [1] identified as many as a dozen or so modern, broader or narrower, approaches to doing business and gave them the form of business concepts leading to the sustainability of economic development. These numerous new concepts can be divided into two larger groups, one containing concepts geared towards the efficient use of resources and the other towards the creation of optimal structures of resource use. The objective of this paper is to present and outline these concepts. New concepts will be presented in the light of current, outlined trends of agricultural development and the conditions created by globalization and international integration. While the phenomena of globalization are autonomous and it is not possible for national economic authorities to shape them, Poland, since its accession to the European Union, has had some possibilities of influence its agricultural and rural development. This influence can occur by affecting the form of the Common Agricultural Policy and other EU policies through various forms of support and strategic development programs. The paper was written with the use of selected literature on the subject and the author’s own thoughts.

Globalization as a Challenge for Agriculture

In the second half of the 20th century, a phenomenon called globalization started appearing more and more often in the area of international relations. Globalization is than a relatively new phenomenon. Its forms and strength of impact on many areas of economic and social life, as well as its effects, were noticed 40-50 years ago, yet they have never been precisely defined and measured. National and regional development problems, as well as quantitative and qualitative changes in all areas of economic and social life started to be considered through the lens of globalization. Globalization has also become an important background for processes of agricultural development and structural changes in rural areas. The challenges stemming from globalization are objective; they reach countries and regions, sectors of the economy, and economic entities across state borders, creating new conditions which cannot be overcome and must be adapted to, so that they become an important factor of development. The process of globalization results in changes to the spatial organization of production and economic relations all over the world and in shifting their center of gravity from the national to the global sphere. The extensiveness and intensity of the processes of globalization, as well as the multitude of channels and ways in which it spreads, mean that the effects of these processes reach entities operating in the most remote corners of the world, and individual local events may have global consequences [2, 3, 4, 5].

Globalization is a multi-threaded and multi-faceted phenomenon, difficult to define in a precise manner. J.E. Stiglitz understands globalization as the closer integration of the countries of the world as a result of lower communication and transportation costs and reduction of man-made barriers to the movement of goods, services, capital, knowledge, and people from country to country [6]. There are many other definitions of globalization describing its essence, forms, effects, and limits of impact. Regardless of the approach, it may be stated that globalization is an important part of modern events, phenomena, and processes taking place in the global economy and affecting what is going on in individual countries, economies, and societies.

Economic globalization also manifests itself on a global scale through free movement of goods, services, information, capital, and people. For the purpose of shaping this movement, transnational companies and corporations are established, whose activity is supported by the system of international institutions and organizations. The authors of the report entitled Limits to Competition, Grupa Lizbońska [7] identified the following seven main areas of globalization: finance; markets and strategies, in particular, competition; technology, research and development, and knowledge; lifestyles and consumption patterns; governance and legal regulations; political unification of the world; and globalization of perception and consciousness. The first three areas are economic globalization. Experts on this subject have also defined economic globalization to include both autonomous processes taking place on a global scale (global competition, mega-concentration of ownership and capital, strengthening cooperation among companies on a global scale), as well as processes likely to play a part in supporting innovation policy and conscious basing of management on knowledge and intellectual capital, and processes of spreading and widespread use of IT and ICT Gierszewska & Wawrzyniak [8]. The essence of economic globalization is the opening of the market across state borders. It created opportunities for freer movement of goods, capital, information, technologies, innovation, knowledge, and ideas. Although labor and service markets, as well as movements of people, have remained under tight control of national authorities, globalization has also triggered a great mobility of people, including labor resources and human capital. A final result of these phenomena in recent years has been strong migratory pressure from the populations of African and Asian countries to the European Union and other highly developed countries of the world.

Globalization concerns many fields of activity and management, social, political, and cultural life, as well as natural and climatic effects of human activity. We are interested in the following issue: how globalization relates to agriculture and how it affects its development and farmers’ behavior. In this matter, opinions are divided, yet the dominant one is that agriculture is not dependent on globalization as much as other sectors of the economy, in particular, finance, industry, and modern technologies. DE Reddy [9] is of the opinion that globalization leads to a reduction in family agricultural production while J Mellor [10] states that “globalization can greatly enhance the role of agriculture as an engine of growth in low-income countries by making it possible for agriculture to grow considerably faster than domestic consumption”. J von Braun and R Birner [11] identify globalization of agriculture with phenomena, such as: an increased share of food trade in the total production of food; the increased importance of foreign direct in- vestments in the agribusiness sectors, increased international trade in the means of agricultural production and processing of agricultural raw materials, and the inter- nationalization of scientific achievements, knowledge, technology, and information on agriculture and agribusiness. In addition, globalization means the increased importance of regulations related to food quality and standardization, harmonization of consumption patterns, and a stronger impact of processed food on human and animal health and on the natural environment.

When speaking about globalization of agriculture, we must consider this issue in the context of the whole sector of agribusiness and rural areas Kowalczyk [12]. Globalization of agriculture through the liberalization of markets takes place indirectly through international trade in raw materials, food, and the means of production, as well as through direct investments related to the concentration of various sectors of agribusiness, particularly the agri-food industry and the agricultural services sphere Adamowicz [13]. A specific feature of agriculture’s participation in the processes of globalization is the fact that it takes place not through the processes of production and trade in agricultural raw materials, but through the manufacturing effects of the processing industry, trade in food and turnover in other sectors of agribusiness. Agricultural production itself is spatial; it is connected to the immobile factor of land linked with a particular territory. The mobility of agricultural labor is also limited due to lower levels of education of farmers and the lower value of human capital. The territorial connection of the land factor significantly limits its capacity for concentration, and the prevalence of farming in order to meet national food needs in all countries of the world creates a need for movement on an inter- national scale of only a small part of the agricultural output produced. The bulk of the food needed to satisfy food demand and guarantee the food security of a country is covered by the country’s own production, regardless of the level of costs incurred. In theory, the global market could guarantee food security based on import, but only if there were efficient systems to manage global trade which guarantee reliability and stability of supplies. Such management systems and guarantees of supplies have not been developed and cannot be expected.

Agriculture and rural areas in Poland, all economic units and entities, and institutions related to agriculture and other areas of agribusiness are, to some extent, dependent on globalization processes. In the European Union, despite protective barriers imposed by the CAP on agriculture, global forces in many cases exceed the resistance and counteraction capacity of states and of the Union itself. The mechanisms used in this area include international negotiations under the World Trade Organization. The strong impact of globalization is particularly visible in non-agricultural sectors of agribusiness and in international agricultural trade. Processes of globalization are a factor accelerating the transfer of innovation and the implementation of new technologies. The agriculture of the European Union countries benefits from the positive effects of this transfer, but there are types of innovation such as genetically modified organisms, to which barriers are put up. The urge for liberalization and universalization also in the field of agriculture and the food economy does not guarantee that restrictions and barriers to international trade in agricultural raw materials, food, and the means of agricultural production will be fully effective in the long term.

Impact of globalization, especially unhampered liberalization of agricultural markets, could lead to the marginalization of agriculture and even to its disappearance in rich industrialized countries. However, the agriculture of these countries is protected by national and Community agricultural policy systems. The protection of the agriculture of these countries is justified not only by sectoral considerations, but also by the increasingly important environmental and public functions performed by agriculture and rural areas. Despite the use of agricultural interventionism and the protection of this sector in highly developed countries, those who suffer a loss due to globalization are small and medium- sized farms while large, specialized, large-scale farms, linked to industrial and trade enterprises within supply chains, gain profit. Therefore, globalization can cause significant changes in the agrarian structure and in the agricultural production structure, thereby threatening the sustainability of the European agricultural model [14].

Basic Development Processes and Trends in Agriculture

Agriculture could be perceived in three aspects: economic, social, and environmental. Its activity and the effects of this activity are considered as part of the concept of multi-functional and sustainable development. The condition and trends of change in each of these aspects are not strictly defined and measured; no fully satisfactory, comprehensive, and coherent theory of agricultural development has been developed. The social and environmental aspects of agriculture are not included in the economic calculation and the economic model of agriculture is also not well established [15]. The absence of an adequate profit and loss account regarding the use of environmental resources by agriculture and the scale of undervaluation of farmers’ contribution to creating public goods, as well as the absence of a reliable estimate of market-unpaid transfers from agriculture to other sectors of the economy make it difficult for agriculture to play a full and real role in the national economy. The multi- dimensionality and complexity of the issue of agricultural development calls into question the validity of the existing agricultural development model - the model of industrial agriculture, unable to solve the modern agrarian issue. This creates a need to develop a new theoretical paradigm for a sustainable model of agriculture and rural areas, taking into account the prospects for transformation and development of dominant agricultural structures in individual countries or groups of countries [15, 16, 17].

The contemporary agricultural issue in the economic sphere refers to the provision of food security and competitiveness of the agricultural sector; in the social sphere-income deprivation of farmers and risk to the social position of family farms; and in the environmental sphere-on the one hand, the excessive exploitation of natural resources and negative impact on the climate, and on the other hand- fair valuation of compensation for environmental services and the creation of public goods [15, 18, 19].

Modern agriculture is highly differentiated in regional terms and plays a different role in the national economy of individual countries. Still, there is a large number of countries in the world where agriculture is of fundamental importance, giving employment to the vast majority of the working population and providing a third of national GDP World Bank [13], Adamowicz [20]. At the opposite end of the spectrum, grouping industrialized and urbanized countries, agriculture employs only 2-3% of the working population and the contribution of agriculture to creating GDP is similar to or even lower than that of employment. Statistical indicators determining the role of agriculture in these countries do not reflect its actual economic and social role. The statistically unrecorded economic surplus generated in agriculture is transferred to other sectors of the economy, and market-unpaid agricultural values generated in agriculture are compensated by grants and subsidies addressed to agriculture under the agricultural policy [15]. Between these two groups, there is a whole range of countries with different levels of agricultural development and different levels of importance of this sector in the national economy. In general, agriculture is still important for the development of European countries at three levels: economic - impact on economic growth and development; social-shaping the living conditions of the population and the level of social well- being; and the level of shaping environmental and climatic conditions.

Another important condition for agricultural development is common technological progress and innovation in agriculture and other sectors of the economy, as well as cultural changes in rural communities. One of the spheres of the economy in which these conditions play a key role is the developing sphere of the bioeconomy. The most important processes which have taken place in the last forty years in agriculture of many countries of the world include World Bank & Adamowicz [13, 20, 21].

• dynamic increase in the production and productivity and an increase in the efficiency of use of resources and inputs;
• intensification of market-based international and internal competitiveness;
• reduction in statistical indicators determining the role of agriculture in the national and local economy ( the occurrence of progressive desagrarization of the economy);
• increased multifunctionality of agriculture and development of non-agricultural forms of farming in rural areas, weakening processes of demographic urbanization in highly developed countries;
• strengthening of consumer requirements in the area of food quality and safety and increase in the market power of large retail chains in food chains;
• increase in the ecological sensitivity of citizens and understanding by farmers of the need to shape the development of agriculture and food economy based on sustainability.

Over the past four decades, the agriculture of industrialized countries has greatly increased its manufacturing capacity through the process of modernization, increased consumption of industrial means of production, application of biological progress, specialization of production, concentration and cooperation with sectors of procurement, industry and trade in increasingly enhanced and diversified supply chains. In these countries, modern, market-oriented, and subsidized farms are able to produce agricultural output which highly exceeds the absorptivity of the internal market. The increased productivity and production all over the world limit export opportunities, which, in combination with the low absorptivity of internal markets, creates barriers and restrictions to agricultural development and strengthens the permanent tendency to lower the level of real prices of agricultural raw materials. A need to maintain employment in agriculture and an acceptable level of agricultural income legitimizes the use of different forms of agricultural support. The development of new agricultural production technologies entailed the emergence of new risks to the natural environment and climate. Climate change, environmental degradation, competition for land and water on the part of other sectors of the economy, growing prices of energy and other industrial inputs, and growing costs of innovation aggravate development problems and increase risks as well as uncertainty as to development prospects. However, there are indications that prices of food will stop falling, which may call into question the advisability of existing efforts to reduce the production, subsidize both producers and consumers of food, and protect the present European agricultural model [14]. The increased demand for bioenergy and other bio- economy products which are produced by farmers and based on agriculture, may create new foundations for an economic climate for agriculture. Despite the increased productivity and production efficiency, the problem of the shrinking of agriculture as a manufacturing sector in the national economy in favor of new forms of products will continue to grow. However, the limits of this shrinking, which can take a dangerous form of marginalization, are important. It is in the interests of both farmers and consumers not to allow marginalization, as food, especially high-quality and highly diversified food, meets the basic needs of all people.

Agricultural development in countries with favorable climatic and soil conditions, and in particular progress made in developing countries, puts pressure on liberalization of international trade as demanded in negotiations conducted by the WTO. The complete opening to international competition of global agricultural markets and the unhindered progress of the processes of globalization pose a strong threat to agriculture in the European Union countries. The survival prospects of the European agricultural model are therefore inextricably linked to the continuation of the CAP, which is an external protection with freedom of trade within the single market. In addition to competition of third- country agriculture, the agriculture of the European Union countries participates in internal competition taking place both within a country and among the Member States. It is competition both for land and labor resources, for supply and outlet markets, as well as competition for income transfers in the form of various grants or subsidies. An increasingly important area of manifestation of this competition will be the environmental and climate spheres. Common processes of pollution of the water, soil, and air environment, excessive emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and nitrates, methane, and other greenhouse gases, devastation of forest resources in tropical zones, large-scale river engineering, widespread land reclamation, improper cultivation in areas at risk of water and wind erosion, application of monocultural crops, expansion of fields threatening biodiversity are only part of large processes affecting the occurrence of adverse phenomena for humans and farming Adamowicz [3]. The occurrence of the so-called hole in the ozone layer, global warming, intensification of irregular and unexpected environmental changes in the form of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, storms, and other phenomena increase the risk in naturally exposed farming. Also in Poland this requires a different approach to these risks, inter alia, by extending the insurance system, also in a compulsory form. The range of natural threats to agriculture also includes previously unknown types of epidemics, such as BSE in ruminants, various types of avian influenza or epidemics in domestic swine, such as current African swine fever (ASF), transmitted by wild boar. The importance of necessary insurance also results from economic globalization expressed by the spatial transmission of business cycles and the rapid movement of price fluctuations among individual geographic markets. The sensitivity of agricultural income to changes on the side of supply and demand in the agri-food market creates a need to build systems for early warning against changes and schemes of insurance against the effects of such changes.

In addition to natural phenomena posing a risk which is difficult to predict, in nature there are permanent processes which create structural problems in a cumulative manner. These are the problems of escalation and structural intensification of water shortage and the growing problem of renewable energy. Polish agriculture, which occupies 60% of the country’s territory, affects the way of using scarce water which also becomes polluted during intensive production. The implementation of the concept of sustainable agricultural and rural development requires a new approach to the problem of water management. It is necessary to strengthen local retention systems, retain rainwater, and construct small dams and water reservoirs in order to retain it as long as possible in agricultural and forestry land.

In many countries of the world, including Poland, there is ongoing work to obtain new energy sources. One dynamically developing sector is the production of energy from unconventional sources, which include wind energy, photovoltaics, the use of bioenergy produced from by- products of crop and livestock production, or deliberately cultivated energy crops, and the production of biogas resulting from biological and physical processes in the processing of biomass.

New Forms of Sustainable Development

The concept of sustainable development, publicized in 1987 by the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, resulted from a need to counteract environmental degradation and quickly grew to cover social and economic aspects of development as well. Since then, it has been expanded by the contributions of various disciplines of science, so as to become the basic paradigm for all development programs, policies, and strategies formulated by international organizations, national governments and local authorities. Still, its essence is to guarantee a sustainable improvement in the quality of life of present and future generations by creating rational proportions among various types of capital-economic, human, social, and natural [22, 23, 24]. The concept of sustainable development is used by various scientific disciplines, entrepreneurs, economic activists, and politicians. Two parallel processes are observed here. The first consists in expanding the field of sustainability beyond environmental, economic, and social aspects. The second means intensifying and strengthening internal ties among these aspects Adamowicz and Zwolińska- Ligaj [25]. The concept of sustainable development applies to all areas of the economy of social groups, individual and collective economic entities, private and public institutions, governments, and international organizations. In 2015, more than 190 UN member countries, by adopting the Agenda 2030 document, committed to implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Table 1), divided into 169 specific tasks, in their national policies. The achievement of the objectives set and the tasks will allow countries, in adapting to specific conditions, to solve many urgent problems concerning poverty, environmental degradation, climate change, ensuring security, supporting collapsing sectors, structural change, etc. The concept of sustainable development refers directly to agriculture and rural areas, which are associated with food security, maintenance of environmental resources, and regeneration of labor resources, preservation of landscapes and of national and regional cultural heritage.

1. No poverty

2. Zero hunger

3. Good health and well-being

4. Quality education

5. Gender equality

6. Clean water and sanitation

7. Affordable and clean energy

8. Decent work and economic growth

9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

10. Reducing inequality

11. Sustainable cities and communities

12. Responsible consumption and production

13. Climate action

14. Life below water

15. Life on land

16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

17. Partnerships for the goals

Source: Garcia Feijoo, et al. [26]. Table 1: Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals according to the UN Agenda 2030.

A need to implement sustainable rural development was raised in various program documents and strategies in the European Union. Of particular importance are the first Cork declaration of 1996 and Cork 2.0 declaration of 2016, as well as the Europe 2020 Strategy, in which the EU Member States adopted a program for implementing the concept of sustainable development in rural areas and set targets and courses of action in the coming years [21].

The “Agenda 2030” and the Paris Climate Agreement, from the viewpoint of agricultural and rural development, point to the five main social and environmental risks and the same number of suggested solutions and synergistic effects. The main areas of risks include the occurrence of: poverty and marginalized communities; hunger and inefficient agriculture; land degradation and deforestation; lack of basic services; and undeveloped and peripheral regions. The suggested sectoral approach pointed to the need to undertake measures such as: development of health services education; biodiversity protection, disaster prevention; improving water, waste and energy management; and bridging the gap between rural and urban areas. It was assumed that the implementation of measures in the indicated areas should bring synergistic effects in the sphere of: migration between rural and urban areas; food security; climate change; environmental pollution; and cohesion and governance in territorial systems. Among the expected effects of future development, the following achievements were recorded: improvement in the quality of life; sustainable agriculture; viability of rural areas and resilience of rural communities; and a circular economy system along with mitigation of various inequalities.

The implementation of the concept of sustainable development applies to the whole economy and society and the use of all resources at the disposal of a state, region, company or international treaty organizations on a varying scale. It also applies to all sectors of the economy and management in urban centers as well as in rural areas. The use of resources and management in agriculture and rural areas is particularly sensitive to a need to make development sustainable due to having natural resources acting as public goods and to playing the role of a reservoir of labor resources for the whole economy. Therefore, from the very inception of the concept of sustainable development, there have been measures to adapt agricultural and rural development policies to the principles and objectives of sustainability. In the European Union, this took place through coordinating the CAP with environmental, energy, and climate policies. Initially, this took the form of limited measures forming a process of so-called greening the agricultural policy, then developing the concept of smart specializations of regions and smart villages, as well as the incorporation of agriculture and other natural sectors into the multifaceted concept of the bioeconomy Adamowicz [25]. Nowadays, agriculture and rural areas are becoming an integral part of new, numerous concepts, and forms linked with sustainable development. We will briefly address selected forms of agricultural sustainability: smart development, circular economy, sustainable consumption, sharing economy and green deal.

Green New Deal

The green economy can be defined as an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment (Pearce, Markandya and Barbier [32]; UNEP [45]; Kahle and Gurel-Atalg [46]. For several years, this concept has been of interest not only to scientists, but also in social and political circles. From the very beginning, the concept of the green economy has highlighted the importance of a tax system applying the polluter pays principle preventing generation of pollutants and promoting the collection of funds for its remediation. This management system is particularly important in areas of natural value and in production sectors that make heavy use of elements of the natural environment. Its importance has increased along with an increase in the phenomenon of climate change. It is obvious that this concept also applies to agriculture, the sector of agribusiness and the broadly defined bioeconomy. This interest has been reflected in elements introduced in the Common Agricultural Policy, especially after its reform in 1993. Another change in the CAP was marked by the instrument called greening. How- ever, the process of greening, which expresses concern for the environment, applies not only to sectors that make heavy use of land, water and other elements of the natural environment, but also to the whole economy and human communities. Therefore, this concept has become of interest to global institutions such as the UN “Strategy 2030” [47] as well as a subject of debate and the formulation of international conventions regarding the environment and climate. This path is also followed by the European Union, which in December 2019 announced a communication on the European Green Deal strategy EC, 2019 [48], convergent with the UN strategy.

The European Green Deal Strategy includes a set of ambitious, multi-directional recommendations pertaining to policies that shape the ways of managing the environment and also to direct entities managing the use of environmental resources. The concept of a green new deal has been recognized by the European Commission as a new growth strategy aimed at guaranteeing the efficient use of resources in production processes and not emitting greenhouse gases. The European Green Deal Strategy requires the modification of various Community policies relating, in particular, to sources of energy supply, industrial sectors, production and consumption, transport, and agriculture. To this end, attention should be paid to the protection and renewal of ecosystems, sustainable use of resources, and improvement of public health Wrzaszcz and Prandecki [49]. This also requires translating these general objectives into regulations on standardization, innovation, dialog with social partners, and international cooperation. Key initiatives to implement the European Green Deal between 2020 and 2021 are as follows:

• Further greening the Common Agricultural Policy and implementation of the Farm to Fork Strategy;
• Bio-diversity conservation and protection;
• Setting ambitious targets in the climate protection package;
• Clean, affordable, and secure energy;
• Seeking to achieve zero emissions and risks for a toxic- free environment;
• Mobilizing measures for the implementation of industrial development strategies according to the principle of a clean circular economy;
• Sustainable smart mobility;
• Consistent application of the concept of sustainable development to all areas of the European Union policy.

Conclusion

The adaptation of agriculture and rural areas in Poland to internal changes, civilizational progress, and the impact of the global environment has been accelerated by the requirements and conditions created by European integration. The results of scientific research, movements, and ideological concepts emerging on a global and European scale, concerning current and future problems of socio- economic development, are rapidly translated within the European Union into development concepts, programs, and innovation activities. We often deal not only with the demand model for innovation, but also with the model which is forced by integration mechanisms.

For a dozen or so years, we have observed the emergence of numerous new aspects and concepts of development. Most, if not all, new concepts emerge and develop according to the trend of sustainable development whose history goes back more than 30 years.

The sustainability of socio-economic development, including rural development, has become a well-established development paradigm, which links current development with ensuring that the development conditions of future generations are not worsened. The distinctive features of modern development trends, aimed at economic growth, improving the living conditions of society, and addressing social issues, include concern for preserving environmental values, protection against climate change, rational use of material resources, transition to renewable energy sources and smart forms of supporting regional and local development, transition from a linear to circular management model, highlighting consumer responsibility, and expanding the collaborative, participatory method of managing resources. All new innovative development concepts relate, fully or partially, to agricultural and rural development. It is necessary to develop research on factors and ways of adapting and implementing these concepts to the national and regional conditions in Poland and in any other country.

Note: The article is based on the paper by Mieczysław Adamowicz “Agricultural development processes in the context of globalization challenges and new approaches to the concept of sustainable development” published in Zagadnienia Ekonomiki Rolnej/Problems of Agricultural Economics 2021, 1(366): 24-45.