Multi-criteria sustainability classification of dairy farms in a portuguese region

Abstract

This paper presents a Multi-criteria Decision Aid assessment of dairy farms sustainability in the Entre Douro e Minho region in Portugal. Sustainability is a multidimensional concept encompassing often conflicting economic, social and environmental points of view, potentially involving various stakeholders and decision makers. Seven environmental and seven socio-economic criteria were considered, aided by experts from different fields of knowledge. We used the multi-criteria classification method ELECTRE TRI to sort dairy farms into three categories, where socio-economic and environment viability were studied separately. The results were then combined to summarize the socio-economic and environmental viability according to four categories: Highly Sustainable, Moderately Sustainable, Marginally Sustainable and Not Sustainable. We used a Geographic Information System for better visualization and analysis of the spatial behavior of the classification obtained.