Structural Analysis of Farming Systems in Western Macedonia: A Cluster-Based Approach

Theodoros Siogkas, Katerina Melfou (), Georgia Koutouzidou, Efstratios Loizou and Athanasios Ragkos
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Theodoros Siogkas: Department of Agriculture, University of Western Macedonia, Terma Kondopoulou, 53100 Florina, Greece
Katerina Melfou: Department of Agriculture, University of Western Macedonia, Terma Kondopoulou, 53100 Florina, Greece
Georgia Koutouzidou: Department of Agriculture, University of Western Macedonia, Terma Kondopoulou, 53100 Florina, Greece
Efstratios Loizou: Department of Management Science and Technology, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece
Athanasios Ragkos: Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Hellenic Agriculture Organization “DIMITRA”, Terma Alkmanos, 11528 Athens, Greece

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 15, 1-15

Abstract: This paper examines the farming systems and operational structures in the Region of Western Macedonia (RWM), Greece and constructs a typology of farms based on structural, operational, and socio-economic characteristics. Agriculture remains a vital pillar of the regional economy, particularly in the context of RWM’s ongoing transition to a post-lignite development model. Using farm-level data from the 2018 Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) identified four latent dimensions of farm heterogeneity—income and productivity, asset base, land size, and labour structure. Hierarchical and K-means cluster analysis revealed three distinct farm types: (1) medium-sized, high-efficiency farms with moderate reliance on subsidies (30% of the sample); (2) small-scale, family farms with modest productivity and limited capitalisation (48%); and (3) large, asset-rich farms exhibiting structural inefficiencies and lower output per hectare (22%). These findings highlight structural vulnerabilities, particularly the predominance of undercapitalised smallholdings, and provide a data-driven foundation for Thdesigning differentiated policies that support farm resilience, generational renewal, and sustainable rural development.

Keywords: principal component analysis; K-means; hierarchical clustering; farm typology; FADN; Greece; regional development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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