Characterising agri-environmental policies
Towards measuring their progress
This report proposes a taxonomy of policy design features for agri-environmental payment
schemes, with a focus on those features that are conducive to policy cost-effectiveness.
An application of the taxonomy to all agri-environmental payment schemes in six countries
(Argentina, Australia, Estonia, Finland, Korea, and Portugal) reveals that more than
70% of 85 agri-environmental payment schemes have some of these key design features,
including establishment of baselines; rates based on estimated or actual implementation
costs; inspections and penalties; contract flexibility; and technical assistance.
That said, at least 80% of the schemes could be improved, including by: use of cost-effectiveness
criteria for selecting recipients; moving from supporting the adoption of specific
practices to focusing on achievement of environmental outcomes; more regular policy
evaluations; and comprehensive collection of information on policy characteristics.
An in-depth application of the taxonomy to Korea illustrates the potential of this
taxonomy for country policy monitoring and evaluation purposes.
Published on April 19, 2021
In series:OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papersview more titles