This work aims to assess, in a comparative way, the sustainability of organic and conventional olive growing systems in the Sfax region (Tunisia). This assessment will be undertaken based on I) a multidimensional perspective considering the three classical dimensions of sustainability-environmental, economic and socio-territorial-and II) on an experts' knowledge approach selecting the adequate criteria of sustainability to compare both systems. The Analytic Hierarchy Process methodology (AHP) was applied as the adequate framework to fulfil the study objectives based on a survey directed with a panel of 20 Experts. Results suggest the need to reinforce the economic performance of organic olive growing production system through political strategies focusing on I) the improvement of the productivity by the implementation of good practices II) the increase of the demand of organic products in the local market, essentially by the improvement of the consumer's purchase capacity and III) the adoption of a strategic plan to explore new markets.
This study aims to assess the economic efficiency of Tunisian olive oil firms in order to identify the organizational and technological variables that are directly associated with greater efficiency. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and fuzzy sets Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) method were used to achieve this. We find the managing director′s education level and information and communication technologies (ICT) training, the longevity of the company in inverse relationship with efficiency, the company′s presence on and use of virtual social networks, and the outsourcing of ICT management in combination have significant explanatory power in the companies that display greater economic efficiency.
Sustainability and multifunctionality of agriculture have become widely shared goals for both scientific community and decision makers. Nowadays, it is important to assess not only the economic sustainability of farms, but also their environmental and socio-territorial sustainability. Numerous sustainability measurement tools have been developed by researchers and some institutions to assess these three dimensions. With the purpose to improve farms' sustainability, this paper aims providing oriented strategies to go toward more conscientious farmers' practices in the Tunisian organic olive sector. To reach this goal, two methodological steps were followed: (i) a sustainability measurement process to quantify farms' sustainability by a methodological adaptation of the IDEA approach; (ii) on the basis of the obtained scores of the three sustainability scales, farms' segmentation was carried out by the use of cluster analysis. In that sense, a questionnaire directed to a sample of organic olive growing farmers was carried out in the regions of Sfax and Mahdia, Tunisia. Results show a variability of sustainability levels within and between groups of farms. Cluster analysis results confirmed the existence of two main farms' groups. The first group is more agro-environmentally and socio-territorially sustainable than the second one. Weaknesses in the sustainability performances have been identified and improvement strategies have been formulated and oriented to each group. Results also indicate that in some cases there is no antagonism between environmental, socio-territorial and economic sustainability, so it is possible to improve simultaneously the three dimensions of sustainability.Additional key words: cluster analysis; multifunctionality; sustainability; Tunisia. Resumen Son sostenibles las explotaciones olivareras orgánicas tunecinas? Un análisis "IDEA" adaptadoHoy en día es importante evaluar no solamente la sostenibilidad económica de las explotaciones agrarias, sino también la ambiental y socio-territorial. Con el propósito de mejorar la sostenibilidad de las explotaciones agrarias, este estudio tiene como principal objetivo proporcionar estrategias orientadas a impulsar el uso de prácticas más concienciadas por parte de los agricultores del sector del olivar ecológico de Túnez. Para alcanzar este objetivo, se han desarrollado dos etapas metodológicas: (1) implementando un proceso de medición cuyo objetivo es cuantificar la sostenibilidad de las explotaciones, mediante una adaptación metodológica del enfoque IDEA; (2) sobre la base de la puntuación obtenida de las tres escalas de sostenibilidad, y mediante el uso de un análisis de conglomerados, se ha llevado a cabo una segmentación de las explotaciones. Se elaboró un cuestionario dirigido a una muestra de agricultores del olivar ecológico en las regiones de Sfax y Mahdia (Túnez). Los resultados muestran una gran variabilidad de los niveles de sostenibilidad dentro y entre grupos de explotaciones. Los resultados del análisis de conglomerados confirmó...
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