Six Collective Challenges for Sustainability of Almería Greenhouse Horticulture

Abstract

Globally, current food consumption and trade are placing unprecedented demand on agricultural systems and increasing pressure on natural resources, requiring tradeoffs between food security and environmental impacts especially given the tension between market-driven agriculture and agro-ecological goals. In order to illustrate the wicked social, economic and environmental challenges and processes to find transformative solutions, we focus on the largest concentration of greenhouses in the world located in the semi-arid coastal plain of South-east Spain. Almería family farming, predominantly cooperative, greenhouse intensive production, commenced after the 1960s and has resulted in very significant social and economic benefits for the region, while also having important negative environmental and biodiversity impacts, as well as creating new social challenges. The system currently finds itself in a crisis of diminishing economic benefits and increasing environmental and social dilemmas. Here, we present the outcomes of multi-actor, transdisciplinary research to review and provide collective insights for solutions-oriented research on the sustainability of Almeria’s agricultural sector. The multi-actor, transdisciplinary process implemented collectively, and supported by scientific literature, identified six fundamental challenges to transitioning to an agricultural model that aims to ameliorate risks and avoid a systemic collapse, whilst balancing a concern for profitability with sustainability: (1) Governance based on a culture of shared responsibility for sustainability, (2) Sustainable and efficient use of water, (3) Biodiversity conservation, (4) Implementing a circular economy plan, (5) Technology and knowledge transfer, and (6) Image and identity. We conclude that the multi-actor transdisciplinary approach successfully facilitated the creation of a culture of shared responsibility among public, private, academic, and civil society actors. Notwithstanding plural values, challenges and solutions identified by consensus point to a nascent acknowledgement of the strategic necessity to locate agricultural economic activity within social and environmental spheres.This paper demonstrates the need to establish transdisciplinary multi-actor work-schemes to continue collaboration and research for the transition to an agro-ecological model as a means to remain competitive and to create value.

An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture

“…The results show that an overall change of approach has taken place in the research in GT. Although at the beginning of the period, the principal motivation behind the majority of studies was the increase in production and cost reduction: currently, there has been a paradigmatic change in favour of more sustainable systems, from an economic, social and environmental point of view [39,64]. This is driven by different factors such as the demand pressure for more ecological and sustainably produced products, the greater awareness of the stakeholders about environmental aspects, the regulatory changes on an international level with respect to environmental conservation and clean production and the evidence of the consequences of climate change for the sector.…”

“…The intensification of agriculture is achieved by applying high levels of inputs such as fertilizers or herbicides, which can contaminate the environment and affect the health of the local populations [37,38]. In many studies, the use of these types of inputs and certain practices related to intensive agriculture have been associated to the loss of biodiversity and the reduction in the flow of ecosystemic services, placing the maintenance of human well-being at risk [39]. Furthermore, agricultural overexploitation can affect the fertility and erosion of the soil if the practices do not preserve its characteristics [40,41].…”

Telecoupling through tomato trade: what consumers do not know about the tomato on their plate

“…The municipality of Westland has the highest concentration of greenhouse horticulture in the country, accounting for 80% of cultivated land (CLO, 2018). In Spain, tomato production is concentrated in the semi-arid coastal plain of the province of Almería in southeast Spain (Castro et al, 2019). This Spanish region houses the largest concentration of greenhouses in the world (Castro et al, 2011(Castro et al, , 2014Quintas-Soriano et al, 2014).…”

“…But the area of greenhouses has increased because the remaining farmers bought the greenhouses of other farmers cultivating other crops (see Section 3.3.2). Conversely, the area of greenhouse horticulture in southeast Spain continues to increase (Castro et al, 2018a(Castro et al, , 2019Lopez-Rodriguez et al, 2015;Quintas-Soriano et al, 2016b). The economic contribution of the Spanish greenhouse horticulture is approximately 1800 million Euros (Giagnocavo et al 2018).…”

Biodegradable Raffia as a Sustainable and Cost-Effective Alternative to Improve the Management of Agricultural Waste Biomass

“…Greenhouse structures and crop production techniques have evolved steadily [39], allowing farmers to achieve high productivity. An environmental problem results from the higher generation of residual biomass at certain times of the year [54]; the accumulation is difficult to manage properly [55][56][57][58][59]. Protected horticulture in Almería produces an estimated 1,370,743 t/year of residual agricultural biomass, of which only a small percentage is used on the farms [10].…”