Organic olive growing farms’ sustainability assessment: the Tunisian case

This paper aims to study the sustainability of organic olive growing farms in the region of Mahdia (Tunisia) as a model of a sustainable production system, emphasizing farmers’ practices as a determinant of sustainability. The study was carried out on the basis of two surveys; the first one with experts to select sustainability indicators, and the second with 32 organic farmers to study farms’ sustainability and farmers’ practices. A farms’ segmentation was achieved through a principal component analysis (PCA) and an outranking of obtained groups within the multicriteria ELECTRE III method according to different levels of sustainability. Results led to six farmer groups with different attitudes, performances, and sustainability levels. These differences were mainly linked to the degree of organic practice control, any marketing strategies related to the control of the value chain, direct marketing, and the commitment to engagement with environmental values. Results also highlighted the importance of organic intensification in the improvement of farms’ sustainability. Taking into account the characteristics of each group, targeted mitigation alternatives were suggested.