Sustainability assessment of HaloSheep agro-ecological system (social, economic, environmental)

WP7 aims to demonstrate how the correct and innovative utilization of local food resources in saline area can provide socio-economic benefits to sheep and goat farmers. Data protocols are developed for economic and environmental evaluation to summarize the content of the questionnaire and relate it to the tool for calculating production costs and carbon footprint. Nine farms are involved in the study: three Tunisian, four Turkish and two Greek. Seven breed sheep and two, both Turkish, breed goats.

WP7 carried out a socio-economic assessment of the farms in the three different country analysed in the project. The economic assessment was made on the basis of WP3 data collected by questionnaires and the processed output is the cost of production of sheep and goat meat expressed in euro per kilogram of meat produced (live weight). This was done in the nine pilot farms of the sample. To enrich this analysis, the "income per unit of work" was also calculated, which is a useful indicator for better understanding the financial health of the farms. The social part of the WP3 questionnaire was also explored. The main tests concern education level, habits, generational change, etc.

WP7 also carried out an analysis of the environmental sustainability of the farms involved. By applying the LCA method, it is possible to assess the environmental impact of farms. This method consists of four steps: scoping, inventory, evaluation and interpretation of results. As a result, the farms with low yields are the ones that emit the most. It is clear that goat farms tend to emit more GHG than sheep farms due to the fact that goats have lower digestive efficiency than sheep and usually have lower milk and meat yields. The main source of GHG emissions is found to be enteric fermentations, ranking first in all nine cases. In addition, there are two other sources common to almost all farms: purchased feedstuff and manure management.

The data obtained from the analyses performed represent the starting point for simulations and post-innovation evaluations. WP7 will analyse how best practices can influence both the revenue and costs for farmers as well as the environmental impact.