Assessment of the Effect of Agricultural Research

The project aimed at assessing the effect of agricultural research. We improved the modelling of agricultural production in the Danish input-output model and applied the STEPWISE impact assessment method to monetarise the externalities.

The client

Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries – Denmark

Our role

This was a joint project with University of Aarhus and  DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy. We contributed with the LCA and agricultural expertise. Project completed December 2010.

Pilot project – effects of agricultural research

The project was a pilot project aimed at demonstrating a method for assessing the effect of agricultural research by improving the assessment of the externalities of agricultural production. We did this by expanding the Danish national input-output tables with 16 different types of agricultural production in physical units.

For the analysis of externalities we used the STEPWISE impact assessment method that enables the expression of environmental effects both by a range of impact categories (such as acidification, eutrophication, global warming etc.) and by relevant “damage”-models quantifying the environmental impact on three aggregated areas: Ecosystems (effects on biodiversity), human health (effects on healthy living conditions) and resources, as well as life cycle costs.

This project had the Danish title ‘Pilotprojekt – effektvurdering af forskningsmæssig indsats’ and was funded by the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fishery. The project resulted in a publication (in Danish): Pilotprojekt – Samfundsmæssig effekt af miljøforbedrende tiltag i jordbruget.