A systemic description of the dairy value chain’s contribution to inclusive sustainable development in highland

The present research, conducted in the framework of the HIGHLANDS.3 project (H2020, MSCA-RISE) aims to investigate on the benefits of the dairy value chain beyond food provision, and their contribution to inclusive sustainable development in highland. A transdisciplinary team interviewed 15 cases related to the dairy value chain across four highland regions in Europe: Alps, Carpathians, Pyrenees, and Massif Central. Actors interviewed were farmers, cooperatives, retailers and associations. A system thinking approach was adopted to process data. For each case were identified the factors contributing to inclusive sustainable development in highland, then clustered within similar topics. Then, a comparative analysis identified commonalities and differences between the cases. A causal loop diagram (CLD) was constructed for each region and another CLD integrating the regional data. The CLDs were then interrogated to identify subsystems and potential points of leverage, to enhance the sustainability of the system and to identify differences and similarities across the regions. The results indicate that dairy value chain in mountain areas provides multiple benefits beyond food production. They include enhanced ecosystem services, strengthened local communities, added value products, protected local resources and strengthened farm families. Activities like cooperation, diversification of activities and local commercialization contribute to strengthen the local community. Differences between the cases included traditional practices (transhumance), reuse of by-products and action to reduce the environmental impact.