Potential contribution of payments for ecological goods and services to farm income : Contribution potentielle au revenu agricole des paiements pour les biens et services écologiques

Potential Contribution of Payments for Ecological Goods and Services to Farm Income CHAPTER 2The Concept of Ecological Goods and Services in the Definition of the Multifunctionality of Agriculture The first time that the concept of agricultural multifunctionality arose in international policy debates was at the Rio Summit of 19921 (Pingault 2001, p.53). [...] Lastly, the inclusion of agriculture in international trade negotiations has drawn attention to the size of the subsidies that the industrialized countries pay and the protective barriers that they erect in this sector. [...] The concept of EG&S is directly related to the first two trends that Losch identifies: the degrada- tion of the environment and the management of natural resources. [...] In either case, the question arises as to the possibility of providing support to agriculture not only for the production of agricultural goods, but also for the other functions that agriculture performs, and in particular for the production of certain categories of EG&S. [...] Figure 1 illustrates the proportions of the various types of direct payments under the two pillars of the CAP.