Typological analysis of the sustainability of dairy cattle farming in the Chelif valley (Algeria)

To identify production systems that could increase local milk production in a sustainable manner, a study was conducted on 135 dairy farms in the three main plains of the Chelif Valley, Algeria. These have been evaluated for environmental, social and economic sustainability based on the IDEA (Farm Sustainability Indicators) method. The Principal Component Analysis identified 4 different types dairy production systems, namely Type 1: Medium-size dairy farms with cereal crop production; Type 2: Small-size dairy farms; Type 3: Medium-size dairy farms diversified crop production, and Type 4: Large-size dairy farms with diversified crop production. Comparative analysis of ecological sustainability showed better results for medium-size dairy farms with cereal crop production (52.3 10.17 / 100 points) and for large-size dairy farms with diversified crop production (51.6 10.38 / 100 points), while the economic sustainability was better for medium-size dairy farms with diversified crop production (51.6 19.20 / 100 points). On the other hand, social security was the weak point for all farm types. On the regional level, it appeared that agri-environmental scores were better in Middle and Low Chelif valley while the best economic performances were recorded in High Chelif valley. On the regional level, it appears that the scores of agri-environmental scales are better in the middle and low Chelif while the economic performances are comparable between the three localities.