The overarching objective of the EU project MIND STEP was to support public decision-making in agricultural, rural, environmental, and climate policies related to agriculture, e.g. the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU. Particular attention was devoted to the representation of individual decision making behaviour at farm level.
The policy brief is available in this Link or you can find it here: mind-step.eu/assets/content/PBFinal1.pdf
Among the highlights of this policy brief:
• This policy brief summarises the key achievements and policy recommendations derived from the EU Horizon MIND STEP project (September 2018 to January 2024)
• MIND STEP addresses the integration of individual farmer behavior into the formulation and assessment of agricultural policies
• Including farm level decision making models and farm variables (such as age, income, knowledge and risk behavior of the farmer) into the macro-micro modeling chain frequently used by the European Commission, helps to identify successful policy measures and
increase their adoption by farmers
• Farm heterogeneity mean that mitigation policies can only be cost efficient if they are differentiated by farm type
• A gradual implementation of emissions taxes, that gives farmers and markets time to adapt and invest, seems the most cost-effective measure to mitigate climate change and reduce mineral Nitrogen input
• Reinvesting tax revenues into mitigation technologies can mitigate fluctuations in income and prices and further reduces net global emissions
• Regular re-evaluation of farm specific GHG emission levels can ensure that taxation and subsidy strategies are phased out once reduction potentials are achieved