Rendered Agroecosystem Services and Dysservices of Dairy Farming: A Bottom-Up Approach in Galicia (Spain)

Ibán Vázquez-González, María do Mar Pérez-Fra, Ana Isabel García-Arias, Bernardo Valdês-Paços and Edelmiro López-Iglesias
Additional contact information
Ibán Vázquez-González: ECOAGRASOC—Department of Applied Economics, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
María do Mar Pérez-Fra: ECOAGRASOC—Department of Applied Economics, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Ana Isabel García-Arias: ECOAGRASOC—Department of Applied Economics, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Bernardo Valdês-Paços: ECOAGRASOC—Department of Applied Economics, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-20

Abstract: Humans have traditionally sought provisioning services from rural areas, but society is becoming increasingly aware of other services that rural areas provide to human beings, agroecosystem services. At the same time, however, certain dysservices can be identified. The analysis of agroecosystem services and dysservices is a key point to consider in decision-making processes and provides a tool for acting on sustainability. Notwithstanding, few approaches to the dairy sector exist with this focus, and they often do not incorporate the vision of the actors from the entire value chain. The aim of the present paper is to identify agroecosystem services and dysservices deriving from the dairy farming in Galicia (Spain), as perceived by actors linked to this sector. The methodology followed a bottom-up approach (Focus Group) and identified 19 agroecosystem services (S) and 9 dysservices (D) grouped into four main categories: provisioning (6S/0D), environmental quality (5S/5D), rural vitality (6S/2D), and cultural heritage and quality of life (2S/1D). The results show strong awareness of services and dysservices, in particular as regards rural vitality (mainly related to employment and income generation) and environmental services (dyservices linked to intensive systems). We have, however, detected a significant gap in awareness of certain classical environmental services (carbon sequestration of pastures). Finally, one of the innovative findings is the identification of rural vitality services and dysservices, including the social role that farming plays in consolidating the population in rural areas, and in preserving local traditions and culture.

Keywords: agroecosystem services; agroecosystem dysservices; Galicia; dairy farming; dairy value chain; focus group; rural vitality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/15/8509/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/15/8509/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:15:p:8509-:d:604643

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().