Climate‐Resilient Agriculture and Sustainable Livelihoods in Europe

ABSTRACT

Achieving climate‐resilient agriculture (CRA) is a key concern for policymakers and at the core of the European Union's (EU) agenda. Indeed, sustainability influences a wide range of livelihood assets, which can also directly affect CRA in Europe. Therefore, this study used a quantitative meta‐analysis of 43 original articles published between 1990 and 2024 to identify effective strategies to enhance the resilience of the European agricultural sector. In this regard, the search was done in the Web of Science, Scopus, and Science Direct databases by the main inclusion criteria on socio‐economic and environmental sustainability. For this purpose, livelihood assets and adaptation strategies that help improve or strengthen CRA and sustainability in Europe were examined from three social, economic, and environmental perspectives. According to the meta‐regression coefficients, human and financial assets can be significant for achieving better socially sustainable agriculture, suggesting that in Europe, as a developed region, human and financial assets contribute more to a socially sustainable and resilient agriculture than social, natural, and physical assets. Furthermore, social and natural assets follow in terms of importance to achieve more sustainable and economically viable agriculture. Livelihood assets also exhibit significant spatial and temporal impacts on environmental sustainability across Europe. According to the meta‐regression findings, advancing agriculture's transformative resilience‐building potential requires sustained investment in key livelihood assets, particularly human, financial, social, and natural capital. Since CRA takes a holistic approach that includes some simple farming techniques, the results also suggest focusing on human, social, and natural assets to support inclusive education, fair access to livelihood assets, and a sustainable environment as combined strategies for lasting sustainability.