Multifunctionality in this study is defined as externalities resulting from agricultural production. It includes positive and negative externalities at the same time, and the improvement in multifunctionality means as reducing negative externalities and increasing positive externalities.
This study consists in three parts. First, we reviewed the methodologies for evaluating multifunctionality. Second, the dynamic relationship between multifunctionality and sustainability of agriculture was analyzed. Third, as an empirical example, the willingness to pay (WTP) of public for sustainable livestock production was estimated. This societal demand for sustainable livestock production would reflect the value of improvement in multifunctionality stemming from it.
The choice experiment was applied to evaluate the demand for sustainable livestock production. We identified three attributes of sustainable livestock production which are enhancement in breeding conditions, supply of safe livestock products, and decreases in negative environmental effects. Given the policy portfolios, respondents were asked to choose the most preferable option. Policy portfolios consisted in policies regarding three attributes and additional taxation for implementation of policies.
The results show that WTP for breeding condition enhancement and WTP for supply of safe livestock products are larger than WTP for decreases in negative environmental effects. Also, we found that the aggregated WTP for sustainable livestock production is quite large. To be specific, the aggregated WTP for sustainable pig production is about 3.7 ~ 4.4 trillion won per year. The aggregated WTP for sustainable cattle production is about 3.4 ~ 3.9 trillion won per year. Lastly, the aggregated WTP for the sustainable chicken production is about 3.4 ~ 4.2 trillion won per year. These results imply that the government would have to correspond to high demand for sustainable livestock production by facilitating policies and programs related to sustainable livestock production.

Researchers: Kim Soosuk, Sung Jae-Hoon, Cho Wonjoo, Lee Myunggi, and Lee Sangmin
Research period: 2018. 6. ∼ 2018. 12.
E-mail address: soosuk@krei.re.kr