Alexandra Sintori

Evaluating Socio-economic and Environmental Sustainability of the Sheep Farming Activity in Greece: A Whole-Farm Mathematical Programming Approach

Ruminant livestock farming is an important agricultural activity, mainly located in less favoured areas. Furthermore, ruminants have been identified as a significant source of GHG emissions. In this study, a whole-farm optimisation model is used to assess the socio-economic and environmental performance of the dairy sheep farming activity in Greece. The analysis is undertaken in two sheep farms that represent the extensive and the semi-intensive farming systems. Gross margin and labour are regarded as socio-economic indicators and GHG emissions as environmental indicators. The issue of the marginal abatement cost is also addressed. The results indicate that the semi-intensive system yields a higher gross margin/ewe (179 €) than the extensive system (117 €) and requires less labour. The extensive system causes higher emissions/kg of milk than the semi-intensive system (5.45 and 2.99 kg of CO2 equivalents, respectively). In both production systems, abatement is achieved primarily via reduction of the flock size and switch to cash crops. However, the marginal abatement cost is much higher in the case of the semi-intensive farms, due to their high productivity.

Exploring Organic Cherry Investment Opportunities for Greek Farmers

Organic farming has grown rapidly in the European Union (EU) due to a rising demand for high-quality food, increased environmental concerns and market developments that led to the implementation of an organic policy and the creation of a positive institutional framework. Nevertheless, the production of organic fruit, including cherries, is still limited within the EU, despite high demand. Farmers generally adopt organic farming systems only if the support provided by the existing policy regime outweighs the increased risk and uncertainty. This study explores the effectiveness of current policy measures for the production of organic cherries in Greece using a real options methodology. The results reveal that the economic incentives provided by the existing policy regime contribute to profitability and compensate for the risk and uncertainty that organic cherry farmers face, although further institutional support is still needed.

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options in Greek Dairy Sheep Farming: A Multi-objective Programming Approach

Dairy sheep farming is an important agricultural activity in the Mediterranean region. In Greece, sheep farming offers employment and income to thousands of families. On the other hand, ruminant livestock farming has been identified as a considerable source of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). In this analysis, multiple objectives of policy makers are incorporated into a decision making model that yields a number of alternative mitigation strategies, for Greek dairy sheep farming. Each policy alternative achieves the environmental and socio-economic objectives at certain levels. The policy maker can then select the preferred alternative. The model utilizes detailed farm level data, which increases the accuracy of the results. The analysis is undertaken on two different farming systems identified in Continental Greece and indicates that there is a considerable degree of conflict among the GHGs minimization objective and the gross margin and labor maximization objectives. The results also indicate that the mitigation options for sheep farming involve the reduction or/and the intensification of the activity and also changes in the production orientation and feeding practices. The model, can, therefore, be a useful tool for policy makers, since it allows them to design appropriate measures, according to the mitigation option that best meets their preferences.