A Multifunctional Comparison of Conventional versus Alternative Olive Systems in Spain by Using AHP

Abstract

Over the last decades organic farming (EU Reg 2092/1991 and later amendments) and integrated production (regulations in some countries, such as Spanish Reg “Real Decreto” 1201/2002) are spreading as the major alternatives to conventional/chemical farming in the EU, reacting against a set of problems related to environment, food quality and sustainability of agriculture. Andalusia, the leading olive producing area in the world, located at the south of Spain, is not an exception. In this diffusion process it is implicitly or explicitly assumed that aforesaid alternative methods are more valuable than conventional one and therefore their spreading is a desirable public objective. Although partial studies, usually focusing on one or few criteria, about the environmental, economic, etc. performances of conventional vs. alternative farming techniques is increasing, little information is available from a multicriteria and holistic perspective according to the multifunctional role expected of agriculture. Some authors have recently suggested that a useful approach to environmental and social making-decision problems might be to move away from neoclassical economics orthodoxy and towards Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) Theory (Hernandez and Cardells, 1999). The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) (Saaty, 1977, 1980) is an interactive MCDM methodology with an increasing impact at both theoretical and practical level (e.g., www.expertchoice.com). AHP enables the inclusion of multiple criteria, stakeholders and decision-makers, in uncertain - lack of information - and high risk - what is at stake – scenarios, and the quantification of qualitative, subjective and intangible information. Although these characteristics make AHP a potentially useful tool for the multifunctional assessment of agricultural systems, its application in this field has not been found in the literature.