In large parts of the world, the reduction in the viability of agriculture and rural areas is an escalating problem. Sustainable Land Management offers a contemporary overview of the strategies employed to cope with the marginalisation of agriculture, through analyses of case studies and regional trends in marginalisation.The authors argue that complexities and driving forces governing marginalisation are not always the same across nations and regions due to climate, geography, economics, legislation and political status. This book illustrates in what form these complexities exist, and how these unravel at the national and regional levels. As the need to understand and cope with marginalisation processes has developed, the concept of multi-functionality has also gained a vital place in the string of coping strategies. This work contributes essential knowledge for the development of marginalisation mitigation policy actions across the globe. Informative and well-documented, this book will appeal to those researching and working in the fields of agricultural and resource economics, rural geography, environmental governance and sustainable development.

Contents: Preface 1. Introduction Floor Brouwer and Teunis van Rheenen PART I: UNDERSTANDING MARGINALISATION AND MULTIFUNCTIONALITY 2. Understanding Marginalisation in the Periphery of Europe: A Multidimensional Process Teresa Pinto-Correia and Bas Breman 3. Multifunctionality: What Do We Know of it? Patrick Caron and Dominique Cairol 4. The Clock is Ticking for Rural America Michael Duffy PART II: EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN VIABILITY OF AGRICULTURE 5. Northern European Features and Vulnerability to Marginalisation: Exploring Indicators and Modes of Coping Shivcharn S. Dhillion, Anna Martha Elgersma, Marja-Liisa Tapio-Bistroem and Hilkka Vihinen 6. Marginalisation of Rural Economies in the Czech Republic and Hungary Alajos Feher, Josef Fanta, Gabor Szabo and Frantisek Zemek 7. Rural Amenities in Mountain Areas Thomas Dax and Georg Wiesinger 8. Marginalisation in Spanish Dry Areas: The Case of Villafafila Lagoons Reserve Jordi Rosell, Lourdes Viladomiu and Anna Zamora 9. How Visible is Marginalisation in Europe? Teunis van Rheenen and Floor Brouwer PART III: SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES 10. High Nature Value Farming and the Agri-food Chain in Japan Yoichi Matsuki and Miki Nagamatsu 11. Social Capital: A Dynamic Force Against Marginalisation? Georg Wiesinger, Hilkka Vihinen, Marja-Liisa Tapio-Bistrom and Gabor Szabo 12. Understanding the Quality of Agricultural Land Use Systems Anna Martha Elgersma, Shivcharn S. Dhillion, Arnold Arnoldussen, Josef Fanta and Eva Boucnikova 13. Emerging Perspectives on Changing Land Management Practices Floor Brouwer, Teunis van Rheenen and Shivcharn S. Dhillion Index