Sustainability Assessment of Goat and Sheep Farms: A Comparison between European Countries

Christina Paraskevopoulou, Alexandros Theodoridis, Marion Johnson, Athanasios Ragkos, Lisa Arguile, Laurence Smith, Dimitrios Vlachos and Georgios Arsenos
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Christina Paraskevopoulou: Laboratory of Statistics and Quantitative Analysis Methods, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Alexandros Theodoridis: Laboratory of Animal Production Economics, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Marion Johnson: Organic Research Centre, Trent Lodge, Stroud Road, Cirencester GL7 6JN, UK
Athanasios Ragkos: Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Hellenic Agriculture Organization “Demeter”, 115 28 Athens, Greece
Lisa Arguile: Organic Research Centre, Trent Lodge, Stroud Road, Cirencester GL7 6JN, UK
Laurence Smith: School of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester GL7 6JS, UK
Dimitrios Vlachos: Laboratory of Statistics and Quantitative Analysis Methods, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece
Georgios Arsenos: Laboratory of Animal Husbandry, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-23

Abstract: European sheep and goat farming faces diverse challenges at global or local scales and constitutes an important sector for many countries, playing important sociocultural, economic and environmental roles. A closer examination of the overall sustainability of the sector is necessary to assess the performance of different farm types in various geographical settings. This comparative study evaluates the use of a common sustainability assessment (SA) tool for the major European countries in the sheep and goat sector. In particular, the study reports the results of a SA using the Public Goods (PG) Tool, adapted within the Innovation for Sustainable Sheep and Goat Production in Europe (iSAGE) Horizon 2020 project, which includes questions accounting for 13 dimensions of a sheep and goat farm sustainability. In total, 206 farmers from Greece, Italy, Spain, Finland, United Kingdom, France and Turkey were interviewed, all of which were typical of specific types of a pan-European sheep and goat farm typologies elaborated within iSAGE. The study resulted in composite indicators of performance in each dimension for each country. Finland, Italy and the United Kingdom performed better than other countries, while Turkey and Greece performed below average in most categories. The results highlight challenges for each country but also at the European level, the latter mainly relating to generational renewal and an unwillingness to invest in the adoption of a more sustainable approach with long-term results.

Keywords: small ruminants; sustainability; sustainability assessment; goat production; sheep production; dairy; meat (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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