Assessing Farmers' Objectives in Short Food Supply Chains Study

ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO Adri Men ndez i Molist (Centre de Recerca en Economia i Desenvolupament Agroalimentari, CREDA Spain). International Symposium on the Analytic Hierarchy Process Friday, December 16

CONTEXT OF THE STUDY: LAB4SUPPLY Multi-agent Agri-food living labs for new supply chain Mediterranean systems. Towards more sustainable and competitive farming addressing consumers preferences and market changes Empowering small Mediterranean farmers Assessing the availability and sustainability of alternative supply chains Optimizing farmers commercialization choices 01 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Determine the relative importance that different objectives have on farmers decision-making process Understand how farmers value economic, social and environmental sustainability criteria when developing their business Determine to what extent farmers are concerned participating in Short Food Supply Chains Which of the following objectives do you consider to be most important for your farm activity? 02 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

METHODOLOGY 1 Literature review Identification of the main problems of farming business and selection of the most important farming objectives In-depth interviews Design of the farmers survey using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method as a multi-criteria decision-supporting technique 2 Farmers surveys Sample of 180 farmers from Spain, France and Morocco 3 Calculation of the weight of each objective in decision- making and comparison between countries AHP analysis 03 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

METHODOLOGY: SELECTED FARMING OBJECTIVES Farming objectives A. Increase economic efficiency A1: Lower production costs A2: Increase the selling price of my product A3: Improve productivity B. Improve production quality B1: Invest in knowledge and machinery Economic sustainability B2: Adopt traditional varieties B3: Adopt commercial varieties C. Optimize distribution C1: Sell directly to consumers C2: Get a pre-harvest sales contract C3: Minimize distribution costs (labor, transport, etc.) D. Social improvement D1: Ensure decent working conditions Social sustainability D2: Maintain the local agricultural activity D3: Ensure affordable food for the population E. Environmental objectives E1: Reduce phytosanitary Environmental sustainability E2: Maintain soil fertility E3: Rational use of water 04 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

METHODOLOGY: AHP A. Increase economic efficiency A 1 A 2 A2 A3 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A1 29% 10% A 1 A 3 60% Aggregation and normalization of the results 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A1 A2 A1 A3 A2 A3 A 2 A 3 4 3 4 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 4,00 0,25 3,00 0,33 0,25 4,00 A1 A2 A3 RGM W Weights (%) A1 1,00 4,00 3,00 2,29 0,60 60% A2 0,25 1,00 0,25 0,40 0,10 10% A3 0,33 4,00 1,00 1,10 0,29 29% 1,58 9,00 4,25 3,79 1,000 RGM 100% (ROW GEOMETRIC MEAN method) 04 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

RESULTS Farming objectives A. Increase economic efficiency 31,9% (Spain) 24,9% (France) 17,3% (Morocco) B. Improve production quality 23,1% (Spain) 20,3% (France) 31,3% (Morocco) E. Environmental objectives 16,6% (Spain) 24,3% (France) 18,9% (Morocco) C. Optimize distribution 14,1% (Spain) 15,4% (France) 18,0% (Morocco) D. Social improvement 14,3% (Spain) 15,2% (France) 14,4% (Morocco) B1: Invest in knowledge and machinery 13,3% (Spain); 7,5% (France); 15,7% (Morocco) C1: Sell directly to consumers 5,3% (Spain); 6,7% (France); 5,6% (Morocco) D1: Ensure decent working conditions 6,0% (Spain); 3,9% (France); 3,2% (Morocco) A1: Lower production costs 8,3% (Spain); 7,5% (France); 10,1% (Morocco) E1: Reduce phytosanitary 4,6% (Spain); 4,1% (France); 6,6% (Morocco) A2: Increase the selling price of my product 6,7% (Spain); 10,2% (France); 3,4% (Morocco) B2: Adopt traditional varieties 5,6% (Spain); 7,8% (France); 7,5% (Morocco) C2: Get a pre-harvest sales contract 2,5% (Spain); 2,8% (France); 6,4% (Morocco) D2: Maintain the local agricultural activity 5,1% (Spain); 5,3% (France); 5,3% (Morocco) E2: Maintain soil fertility 4,8% (Spain); 10,2% (France); 3,9% (Morocco) B3: Adopt commercial varieties 4,1% (Spain); 5,0% (France); 8,1% (Morocco) C3: Minimize distribution costs (labor, transport, etc.) 6,3% (Spain); 5,8% (France); 6,0% (Morocco) D3: Ensure affordable food for the population 3,3% (Spain); 6,0% (France); 6,0% (Morocco) A3: Improve productivity 16,9% (Spain); 7,2% (France); 3,8% (Morocco) E3: Rational use of water 7,2% (Spain); 10,0% (France); 8,4% (Morocco) 06 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

RESULTS: Farmers willingness to participate in SFSC Would you support the development and strengthening of short channels for selling the fruits and vegetables directly to consumers (without intermediate) in your region? Spain: 89,47% YES France: 89,13% YES Morocco: 97,37% YES Main reasons reported: Yes, if prices are higher than the conventional commercialization chains (64,58%) Yes, if it facilitates the commercialization process by being able to sell directly at the farm site (56,25%) Yes, if it facilitates the commercialization process by being able to sell online (37,5%) Does this expressed willingness to participate in SFSC coincide with the results of the AHP weight of main farming objectives in decision-making process? 05 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

RESULTS PER COUNTRY: SPAIN Weight of farming objectives in farmers' decision-making (SPAIN) 18% 17% 16% 13% 14% 12% 10% 8% 8% 7% 7% 6% 6% 6% 6% 5% 5% 5% 5% 4% 4% 3% 2% 2% 0% A1: Lower production costs A2: Increase the selling price of my product A3: Improve productivity B1: Invest in knowledge and machinery B2: Adopt traditional varieties B3: Adopt commercial varieties C1: Sell directly to the customer C2: Get a pre- harvest sales contract C3: Minimize distribution costs D1: Contract and ensure decent working conditions D2: Maintain the agricultural activity of my locality D3: Ensure affordable food for the surrounding population E1: Reduce phytosanitary E2: Maintain soil fertility E3: Rational use of water 07 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

RESULTS PER COUNTRY: FRANCE Weight of farming objectives in farmers' decision-making (FRANCE) 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 10% 10% 10% 8% 8% 7% 8% 7% 7% 6% 6% 5% 6% 5% 4% 4% 4% 3% 2% 0% A1: Lower production costs A2: Increase the selling price of my product A3: Improve productivity B1: Invest in knowledge and machinery B2: Adopt traditional varieties B3: Adopt commercial varieties C1: Sell directly to the customer C2: Get a pre- harvest sales contract C3: Minimize distribution costs D1: Contract and ensure decent working conditions D2: Maintain the agricultural activity of my locality D3: Ensure affordable food for the surrounding population E1: Reduce phytosanitary E2: Maintain soil fertility E3: Rational use of water 08 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

RESULTS PER COUNTRY: MOROCCO Weight of farming objectives in farmers' decision-making (MOROCCO) 18% 16% 16% 14% 12% 10% 10% 8% 8% 8% 8% 7% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 5% 4% 4% 3% 4% 3% 2% 0% A1: Lower production costs A2: Increase the selling price of my product A3: Improve productivity B1: Invest in knowledge and machinery B2: Adopt traditional varieties B3: Adopt commercial varieties C1: Sell directly to the customer C2: Get a pre- harvest sales contract C3: Minimize distribution costs D1: Contract and ensure decent working conditions D2: Maintain the agricultural activity of my locality D3: Ensure affordable food for the surrounding population E1: Reduce phytosanitary E2: Maintain soil fertility E3: Rational use of water 09 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

RESULTS PER COUNTRY: COMPARISON Farming objectives (Spain, France and Morocco comparison) 18% 17% 16% 16% 13% 14% 12% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 7% 7% 7% 8% 7% 7% 7% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 5% 5% 5% 6% 5% 5% 5% 5% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 3% 3% 3% 4% 3% 2% 2% 0% A1: Lower production costs A2: Increase the selling price of my product A3: Improve productivity B1: Invest in knowledge and machinery B2: Adopt traditional varieties B3: Adopt commercial varieties C1: Sell directly to the customer C2: Get a pre- harvest sales contract C3: Minimize distribution costs D1: Contract and ensure decent working conditions D2: Maintain the agricultural activity of my locality D3: Ensure affordable food for the surrounding population E1: Reduce phytosanitary E2: Maintain soil fertility E3: Rational use of water SPAIN FRANCE MOROCCO 10 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

RESULTS PER COUNTRY: COMPARISON Weight of main farming objectives in farmers' decision-making (comparison) 35% 32% 31% 30% 25% 24% 25% 23% 20% 19% 20% 18% 17% 17% 15% 15% 14% 14% 14% 15% 10% 5% 0% A. Increase economic efficiency B. Improve production quality C. Optimize distribution D. Social improvement E. Environmental objectives SPAIN FRANCE MOROCCO 11 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

MAIN FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Attitude-behavior gap: the gap between farmers interests in SFSCs and actual behavior. The economic performance of the farm plays a decisive role in the farmers' decision-making in the three analyzed cases of study. Distribution hazards and social-related objectives seem to be the least determinant factors. When exploring mechanisms to incentivize farmers to adopt SFSCs, economic sustainability and efficiency must be guaranteed. This knowledge may provide more efficient and sustainable supply chain alternatives matching farmer s preferences. The AHP methodology as an appropriate multi-criteria decision-supporting technique. Main limitations and further research: Limited farmers sample dimension. Further analysis should include farmers profiles and products as analytical variables of the decision-making process analysis. More research is needed to determine the relationship between the choice of supply chain alternatives and the objectives of the farming activity. 12 ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO

ASSESSING FARMERS OBJECTIVES TO PARTICIPATE IN SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS IN SPAIN, FRANCE AND MOROCCO Adri Men ndez i Molista, Zein Kallasa, Maite Puig De Moralesb, Youn s Noutfiac, Olfa Boughamourab& Hassan Ouabouchd adria.menendez@upc.edu a CREDA-UPC-IRTA, Centre for Agro-food Economy & Development, 08860, Castelldefels, Spain b CIHEAM-IAMM, International Centre for Advanced Med. Agronomic Studies, Montpelier, 34093, France. c National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA), 10101, Rabat Morocco d Universit Hassan 2 de Casablanca, Casablanca-8110, Morocco