IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i20p5642-d275981.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Alternative Approaches of Summer Milk Sales from Transhumant Sheep and Goat Farms: A Case Study from Northern Greece

Author

Listed:
  • Athanasios Ragkos

    (Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Hellenic Agriculture Organization “Demeter”, 115 28 Athens, Greece)

  • Alexandros Theodoridis

    (School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Georgios Arsenos

    (School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece)

Abstract

Sheep and goat transhumance provides a wide range of ecosystem services (ES). Transhumance-specific dairy products could function as a nexus between the system and the public, incorporating ES which are not remunerated in markets, but in Greece, there are actually no such dairy products. Within this context, the objective of this paper was to present a case study regarding a comparative assessment of three different approaches (supply chains) in milk sales from transhumant farms. The first involved production of cheese on-farm and direct sales to consumers. In the second approach, farmers sold their milk to the same industry throughout the year, where it was mixed with milk from non-transhumant farms. The third approach concerned cheese produced solely from milk of transhumant flocks in a small dairy in the highlands. An assessment framework was developed examining the perceived quality; economic performance of farms; compatibility and; representativeness and contribution of each approach. Based on five in-depth interviews with farmers and dairies, it was found that a combination of the three approaches would be beneficial for farms—to decrease risks—and for the system as a whole, in order to convey the ‘agro-pastoral message’ to wider audiences and to increase the recognisability of transhumance. In addition, the analysis showed that the economic performance of each approach was related more to managerial issues and organizational requirements rather than to the achievement of higher prices and more added value in the first and third approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Athanasios Ragkos & Alexandros Theodoridis & Georgios Arsenos, 2019. "Alternative Approaches of Summer Milk Sales from Transhumant Sheep and Goat Farms: A Case Study from Northern Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-21, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5642-:d:275981
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5642/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5642/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Swinton, Scott M. & Lupi, Frank & Robertson, G. Philip & Hamilton, Stephen K., 2007. "Ecosystem services and agriculture: Cultivating agricultural ecosystems for diverse benefits," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 245-252, December.
    2. Gianluca Brunori & Francesca Galli & Dominique Barjolle & Rudolf Van Broekhuizen & Luca Colombo & Mario Giampietro & James Kirwan & Tim Lang & Erik Mathijs & Damian Maye & Kees De Roest & Carin Rougoo, 2016. "Are Local Food Chains More Sustainable than Global Food Chains? Considerations for Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-27, May.
    3. Roberta Sonnino, 2007. "Embeddedness in action: Saffron and the making of the local in southern Tuscany," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 24(1), pages 61-74, March.
    4. Moya Kneafsey & Laura Venn & Ulrich Schmutz & Balász Bálint & Liz Trenchard & Trish Eyden-Woods & Elizabeth Bos & Gemma Sutton & Matthew Blackett, 2013. "Short Food Supply Chains and Local Food Systems in the EU. A State of Play of their Socio-Economic Characteristics," JRC Research Reports JRC80420, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Tsang, Eric W. K., 2014. "Old and New," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(03), pages 390-390, November.
    6. Damian Maye & James Kirwan & Emilia Schmitt & Daniel Keech & Dominique Barjolle, 2016. "PDO as a Mechanism for Reterritorialisation and Agri-Food Governance: A Comparative Analysis of Cheese Products in the UK and Switzerland," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-16, October.
    7. Henk Renting & Terry K Marsden & Jo Banks, 2003. "Understanding Alternative Food Networks: Exploring the Role of Short Food Supply Chains in Rural Development," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 35(3), pages 393-411, March.
    8. Barjolle, Dominique & Sylvander, Bertil, 1999. "Some factors of success for origin labelled products in agri-food supply chains in Europe : market, internal resources and institutions," 67th Seminar, October 28-30, 1999, LeMans, France 241033, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Johann Baumgärtner & Getachew Tikubet & Gianni Gilioli, 2010. "Towards Adaptive Governance of Common-Pool Mountainous Agropastoral Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(6), pages 1-24, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Irene Tzouramani & Stamatis Mantziaris & Pavlos Karanikolas, 2020. "Assessing Sustainability Performance at the Farm Level: Examples from Greek Agricultural Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-22, April.
    2. Christina Paraskevopoulou & Alexandros Theodoridis & Marion Johnson & Athanasios Ragkos & Lisa Arguile & Laurence Smith & Dimitrios Vlachos & Georgios Arsenos, 2020. "Sustainability Assessment of Goat and Sheep Farms: A Comparison between European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-23, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stevens Azima & Patrick Mundler, 2022. "Does direct farm marketing fulfill its promises? analyzing job satisfaction among direct-market farmers in Canada," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(2), pages 791-807, June.
    2. Alexandre Dubois, 2019. "Translocal practices and proximities in short quality food chains at the periphery: the case of North Swedish farmers," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(4), pages 763-778, December.
    3. Luigi Mastronardi & Davide Marino & Vincenzo Giaccio & Agostino Giannelli & Margherita Palmieri & Giampiero Mazzocchi, 2019. "Analyzing Alternative Food Networks sustainability in Italy: a proposal for an assessment framework," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Alexandra Doernberg & Annette Piorr & Ingo Zasada & Dirk Wascher & Ulrich Schmutz, 2022. "Sustainability assessment of short food supply chains (SFSC): developing and testing a rapid assessment tool in one African and three European city regions," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(3), pages 885-904, September.
    5. Giaime Berti, 2020. "Sustainable Agri-Food Economies: Re-Territorialising Farming Practices, Markets, Supply Chains, and Policies," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-9, March.
    6. Sarah Bowen & Tad Mutersbaugh, 2014. "Local or localized? Exploring the contributions of Franco-Mediterranean agrifood theory to alternative food research," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(2), pages 201-213, June.
    7. Andre Deppermann & Petr Havlík & Hugo Valin & Esther Boere & Mario Herrero & Joost Vervoort & Erik Mathijs, 2018. "The market impacts of shortening feed supply chains in Europe," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(6), pages 1401-1410, December.
    8. Enthoven, Laura & Van den Broeck, Goedele, 2021. "Local food systems: Reviewing two decades of research," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    9. Sebastian Kretschmer & Sheena Dehm, 2021. "Sustainability Transitions in University Food Service—A Living Lab Approach of Locavore Meal Planning and Procurement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-31, June.
    10. Bolette Bele & Ann Norderhaug & Hanne Sickel, 2018. "Localized Agri-Food Systems and Biodiversity," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-17, February.
    11. Paola De Bernardi & Alberto Bertello & Francesco Venuti, 2019. "Online and On-Site Interactions within Alternative Food Networks: Sustainability Impact of Knowledge-Sharing Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-14, March.
    12. Potira Preiss & Flávia Charão-Marques & Johannes S. C. Wiskerke, 2017. "Fostering Sustainable Urban-Rural Linkages through Local Food Supply: A Transnational Analysis of Collaborative Food Alliances," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-30, July.
    13. Bavec, Simon & Bouroullec, Mélise Dantas Machado & Raynaud, Emmanuel, 2017. "Analysis of Short Food Supply Chain Governances: Innovative Collective Platforms Supplying Local Produce," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 2017(1), June.
    14. Rosario Michel-Villarreal & Eliseo Luis Vilalta-Perdomo & Maurizio Canavari & Martin Hingley, 2021. "Resilience and Digitalization in Short Food Supply Chains: A Case Study Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, May.
    15. Fournier, Anne J., 2018. "Direct-selling farming and urban externalities: What impact on product quality and market size?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 97-111.
    16. Vladimir Todorovic & Marinko Maslaric & Sanja Bojic & Maja Jokic & Dejan Mircetic & Svetlana Nikolicic, 2018. "Solutions for More Sustainable Distribution in the Short Food Supply Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-27, September.
    17. Giaime Berti & Catherine Mulligan, 2016. "Competitiveness of Small Farms and Innovative Food Supply Chains: The Role of Food Hubs in Creating Sustainable Regional and Local Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-31, July.
    18. Norbert Floriš & Pavol Schwarcz & Loreta Schwarczová & Michal Munk, 2022. "Short Food Supply Chains and Small Farms—Evidence from Slovakia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, February.
    19. Catherine Brinkley, 2018. "The Small World of the Alternative Food Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-19, August.
    20. Alexandra Doernberg & Ingo Zasada & Katarzyna Bruszewska & Björn Skoczowski & Annette Piorr, 2016. "Potentials and Limitations of Regional Organic Food Supply: A Qualitative Analysis of Two Food Chain Types in the Berlin Metropolitan Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-20, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5642-:d:275981. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.