Abstract
In the context of the valorisation of marginal mountain areas an emerging theme concerns the re-introduction of cereal cultivation in areas typically affected by critical due to both their orographic and climatic conditions. This is done through new production models that provide: 1) processing of primary production directly at the farm (with a focus on bread and beer); 2) consequent elimination of transport activities between primary and processed products; 3) adoption of new mechanisation solutions to manage the field cultivation phases, which are largely precluded to the conventional machinery currently available on the market. These aspects require an integrated approach to assess the performance of alternative food value chains through life cycle assessment (LCA) and multi-criteria analysis (MCA).
For the agrifood sector, the latter is also useful to deal with policy interactions at differen levels. Indeed, many policy-driven decisions could contribute to promote more integrate sustainable approaches through targeted interventions at economic (e.g. income support) social (e.g. working conditions) and environmental (e.g. pesticide reduction) levels. LCA is one of the most widely used methodologies for estimating impacts as it is able to avoid transferring negative impacts in time and space, effectively neglecting them. However, information obtained from technical analyses, such as LCA, is not always easy to interpret and use in decision-making contexts. The MCA enables transparent decision-making processes within complex systems (typical of agrifood), where even very conflicting priorities may prevail among the decision-makers involved. Fundamental is the construction of the MCA impact matrix, which represents the "objective" component of the analysis and is the junction with the assessments obtainable from LCA. This enables more science-based decision making processes. In the case study four alternative supply chains compatible with the prevalently mountainous territory of South Tyrol were considered: rye-bread, barley-beer, cow's milkcheese, goat's milk-cheese. A comparative LCA was performed (OpenLCA software) on the functional unit of a hectare of cultivated land. Data were obtained by field trials, expert estimation and secondary data where needed. The results of this preliminary analysis were used in MCA. The main results show that on farm cereal-bread value chain is an interesting alternative, but very much linked to the climatic risk – e.g. loss of primary production; preferred by decision makers with strong environmental interests and low labor effort. On the contrary, alternatives linked to animal husbandry are less risky, and preferred by decision-makers whit a low-risk investments profile.