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Analysing the Recent Dynamics of Agricultural Sustainability in Portugal Using a Compromise Programming Approach

Author

Listed:
  • António Xavier

    (CEFAGE (Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics), University of Évora, Largo dos Colegiais, 7000-803 Évora, Portugal)

  • Maria de Belém Costa Freitas

    (Sciences and Technology Faculty, MED—Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, University of Algarve, Gambelas Campus, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal)

  • Rui Fragoso

    (CEFAGE-UE (Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics), Management Department, Universidade de Évora, N° 2, Apt. 95, 7002-554 Evora, Portugal)

  • Maria do Socorro Rosário

    (Direção de Serviços de Estatística, GPP (Gabinete de Planeamento e Políticas), Praça do Comércio, 1149-010 Lisbon, Portugal)

Abstract

Society recognises the importance of agriculture to supply goods, which are essential for human survival and well-being. Sustainable agriculture is an important goal since resources need to be preserved for future generations. The recent agricultural policy orientations towards environmental concerns have also had consequences for Portuguese agriculture. The information provided by the 2019 Agricultural Census offers an opportunity to analyse the recent dynamics and establish rankings of municipalities related to agricultural sustainability. Sustainability in agriculture can be studied using different types of indicators, but its quantification and aggregation into an index is still difficult. This paper proposes an approach based on compromise programming to analyse sustainability considering the dynamics between the 2009 and 2019 Agricultural Census. This approach has three main steps: in the first one, the indicators are selected and a HJ-Biplot and Cluster analysis are carried out to identify groups of municipalities and general dynamics; in the second step, the weights of indicators are defined, and a novel compromise programming model is implemented to define the rankings of sustainability for each year; finally, in the third step, the spatial dynamics of the sustainability rankings are analysed and classified into the clusters of municipalities previously created. The analysis was implemented using data from the 308 Portuguese municipalities for 12 individual indicators encompassing the several dimensions of sustainability. The results were promising since the approach allowed for the identification of the main dynamics and tendencies regarding sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • António Xavier & Maria de Belém Costa Freitas & Rui Fragoso & Maria do Socorro Rosário, 2022. "Analysing the Recent Dynamics of Agricultural Sustainability in Portugal Using a Compromise Programming Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:19:p:12512-:d:930806
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Diaz-Balteiro, L & González-Pachón, J. & Romero, C., 2017. "Measuring systems sustainability with multi-criteria methods: A critical review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(2), pages 607-616.
    4. Gómez-Limón, José A. & Sanchez-Fernandez, Gabriela, 2010. "Empirical evaluation of agricultural sustainability using composite indicators," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1062-1075, March.
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