Project summary
Since 2010 - the launch of 'Europe 2020', the ten-year strategy developed by the European Commission - the European Union has included strategies to combat climate change in all programmes and instruments of economic and social development. Sustainable development and attention to the environment have become concepts and key words in every area of intervention. The agricultural sector is no exception. On the contrary, agriculture and animal husbandry account for 24% of greenhouse gas emissions, making it the second-most important economic activity after the energy sector. If only methane and nitrous oxide emissions are taken into account, agriculture is even the largest contributor.
The European Union's roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy by 2050 includes an action plan in which each production sector contributes to the fight against climate change, according to criteria of efficiency and economic sustainability.
Accepting the challenge outlined by the Europe 2020 Strategy, the SheepToShip LIFE project intends to enhance the contribution that the sheep sector in Sardinia - from breeding to dairy products processing - can offer in climate change mitigation processes, proposing itself as an initiative aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the agro-zootechnical sector and in the agro-food industry.
Europe, with around 100 million animals reared in 2011, is second in the world in sheep numbers. The prevalent production of the farms is meat, followed by milk and wool. However, since 2003, sheep milk production in Europe has increased steadily - by 2.1% in the decade 2003-2013 - against a decrease in head count and meat production (by 4% and 10.5% respectively) (source: Faostat, 2013).
In general, the relationship between sheep farming and the greenhouse effect has been little studied, despite the continuous growth of the world's small ruminant population and the significant consumer interest in products of sheep and goat origin. In fact, globally, sheep and goat farms are responsible for about 6.5% of the greenhouse gas emissions of the entire livestock sector, which in turn is considered among the most impacting human activities, due to the significant emissions of methane and nitrous oxide. (source: FAO, 2013).
Considering these data, it is clear that the the evaluation of environmental impacts and the improvement of the environmental performance of sheep farming can have a strong strategic value both in the fight against climate change - through the reduction of climate gas emissions and the maximisation of the multifunctionality of production systems - and in the promotion of the economic and social sustainability of local supply chains. Ultimately, reducing 'greenhouse gas' emissions can and must mean reducing production costs without affecting productivity levels, thus leading to an increase in the profitability of companies. Therefore, the analysis of the environmental impacts of sheep production systems represents an important tool for the development of strategies aimed at increasing the competitiveness of agri-food companies in national and international markets, through:
- the restructuring/modernisation of companies, with the introduction of techniques and technologies with low environmental impact;
- the increase of the added value of excellent products, by welding the link between typical products, environment and territory;
- the promotion of the multifunctionality of companies, with the offer of environmental services - for example carbon storage, maintenance of biodiversity, prevention of environmental risks -, tourism and social services linked to the enhancement of the territory.
Goals
The project will develop good practices and innovative agro-zootechnical solutions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the Sardinian sheep supply chain, thanks to a more efficient and rational use of resources used in production processes and the improvement of the whole forage supply chain.
Through the promotion and diffusion of eco-sustainable production models, the project aims at a 20% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of the Sardinian sheep sector over ten years. The objectives that the project aims to achieve in the immediate future are:
- Promote the environmental improvement of production systems and demonstrate the environmental, economic and social benefits of eco-innovation in the agro-zootechnical and dairy sheep sectors;
- Promoting the implementation of environmental and rural development policies aimed at enhancing the environmental quality of the local agri-food and sheep sectors;
- To increase the level of knowledge and awareness of operators in the sector and the general public on issues related to the environmental sustainability of sheep production and their role in the fight against climate change.
Activities
- Analysis of the environmental impacts of the dairy and livestock sector in the sheep sector in Sardinia: through scientific analysis of sheep farms and dairies representative of the main production systems in Sardinia, the environmental performance of sheep milk produced according to the most common agro-zootechnical systems and Pecorino Romano, Pecorino Sardo and Fiore Sardo DOP cheeses will be assessed. This will allow to identify the environmental critical points of the production processes.
- Development of guidelines for the eco-innovation of the agro-zootechnical sheep and 3 PDO sheep cheeses of Sardinia:starting from the results of the analysis, and through meetings and working tables with the operators, the strategic approaches and the most appropriate technical solutions for the fight against climate change and the optimization of the environmental quality of the entire supply chain will be defined.
- Demonstrative actions in model companies: a) implementation on a company scale of eco-innovative production strategies and quantitative comparison of these strategies with traditional management systems; b) promotion of production systems with low environmental impact through training meetings in model companies.
- Environmental Action Programme: participatory elaboration of a Regional Environmental Action Programme for the sheep sector: The Programme will define the actions and gradual steps for a 20% reduction of GHG emissions in 10 years, defining the implementation and verification of the results, the timing and the stakeholders. The main stakeholders in the sector will contribute to the content of the Programme. An accurate socio-economic feasibility study will highlight the technological, cultural and economic barriers that may weaken or limit the Action Programme, proposing, for each of them, the appropriate countermeasures.
- Dissemination of results: implementation of an Information and Communication Plan for i) exchange of good practices, ii) transfer of innovative methods and technologies, iii) promotion of the intervention model, iv) stimulating public interest towards the themes of climate change and the relations between environment and agro-industrial systems. In particular, SheepToShip LIFE will focus its institutional action on the enlargement of the network of contacts and collaborations with actors and projects having common or similar objectives, through an intense activity of international public relations.
Target
- Agro-zootechnical companies and industrial processing of sheep's milk products;
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Public agencies providing technical assistance and private technical consultants in the agri-food sectors for sheep products;
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European, national and local political bodies in the Environment/Climate and Rural Development sectors
Area of project’ intervention
Sardinia was chosen as the area of intervention of the project because it is highly representative of the whole Mediterranean sheep sector, both in terms of quantity and for the presence, in a limited territory, of the main types of farming systems adopted in Europe. The great orographic, geological and microclimatic variability that characterizes Sardinia, in fact, means that the thirteen thousand sheep farms in the territory adopt, depending on their location, highly diversified production systems based on inputs consumed, the surface area used and the level of production intensification.
The region breeds - with almost three million out of a total of 6.3 million sheep in Italy - 46.3% of Italian sheep, and is the leading European producer of sheep milk, contributing 12% of total production in Europe.
These aspects make the island an ideal 'laboratory', which will allow the experimentation of a model to combat climate change fully integrated with the development strategies of the sheep supply chain.
