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Abstract
Agricultural biodiversity is an environmental resource. Much of the agricultural
biodiversity remaining in situ today is found on the semi-subsistence farms of poorer countries
and the small-scale farms or home gardens of more industrialized nations. The traditional small
farms of Hungary are labelled "home gardens" as a reflection of their institutional identity during
the collectivisation period. Homesteads managed with family labor, they continue to serve
essential food security and diet quality functions during economic transition. Home gardens
contribute to the preservation of rural settlements and cultural heritage, and they contain
relatively high levels of several components of agricultural biodiversity. The role of home
gardens in the agri-environmental program that is now being formulated by Hungary and the
European Union has not been elucidated, though the stated goal of these policies is to support
multifunctional agriculture. This study estimates the private value that Hungarian farmers assign
to home gardens and their biodiversity attributes, and indicates how such information might be
used in designing least-cost mechanisms to support their maintenance as part of the national agri-environmental
program.