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Economic and Financial Sustainability Dependency on Subsidies: The Case of Goat Farms in Greece

Author

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  • Maria Tsiouni

    (Department of Agriculture, International Hellenic University, 57400 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Stamatis Aggelopoulos

    (Department of Agriculture, International Hellenic University, 57400 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Alexandra Pavloudi

    (Department of Agriculture, International Hellenic University, 57400 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Dario Siggia

    (Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, 90133 Palermo, Italy)

Abstract

Goat farming is an important production sector not only for Greece, but also for other Mediterranean countries, as it contributes to the family economy in rural areas. Despite the importance of goat farming, this sector has experienced economic difficulties due to poor management and increased production costs. The aim of our research is to determine goat farm profitability by surveying goat farmers for revenues, variable costs, and fixed costs of their farms. With the use of Principal Component Analysis, all economic factors contributing to overall production costs are examined, as well as their specific impacts on cost formulation. According to our results, goat farms in Greece are not profitable and they cannot survive without government subsidies. Farm economics and agricultural policies could be leveraged to improve community and environmental outcomes in order for farms to be economically and financially sustainable.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Tsiouni & Stamatis Aggelopoulos & Alexandra Pavloudi & Dario Siggia, 2021. "Economic and Financial Sustainability Dependency on Subsidies: The Case of Goat Farms in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:13:p:7441-:d:587582
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    2. Ghazali, Samane & Zibaei, Mansour & Azadi, Hossein, 2023. "Impact of livelihood strategies and capitals on rangeland sustainability and nomads' poverty: A counterfactual analysis in Southwest Iran," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
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    5. Ilias Makris & Sotiris Apostolopoulos & Vasileios Giannopoulos & Panos Dimitrakopoulos & Panagiotis Charalampakis, 2025. "The Impact of Formal and Informal Institutional Elements on Land Mobility Within Rural Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-25, May.
    6. Niftiyev, Ibrahim & Bagirzadeh, Elshan, 2024. "A Comparative Study of Energy Sector’s Variability of Countries in the Organization of Turkic States," EconStor Conference Papers 313417, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

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