Socio-economic analysis and efficiency of small ruminant farms: The Case of Western Mediterranean

The Western Mediterranean Region, which owns natural resources, meadow-pasture and scrub, provides a suitable environment for small ruminants breeding. Turkey's about 5% of the presence of sheep and goats is located in the Western Mediterranean Region. The 1991-2018 period was examined according to 1991 in 2014; Turkey's number of sheep and goats has been a decrease 19.0% ratio, Western Mediterranean Region's number of sheep and goats has been a decreased 4.9% ratio. In the region, especially between 2006-2012, presence of goats declined significantly. This case has entered the recovery process, especially after 2014. Presence of Turkey's number of sheep and goats has been decreased 9.9% ratio, but the number of small ruminants has been increased 3.9% ratio in the region. In this study, it was aimed to determine the socio-economic structures of the small ruminant farmers, to reveal the annual activity results and to determine the marketing structures, to determine the technical efficiency of the farmers and to determine the factors affecting the success of the small ruminant production in the region. The material of the research was the primary data obtained by the survey method from farmers and related stakeholders. Also, data on TURKSTAT and Breeding Sheep Goat Breeders' Association (DKYYB) in the West Mediterranean Region were used. The stratified sampling method was applied to the population of the research region, and the sample volume was calculated as 102 farmers for sheep farms and 95 farmers for goat farms. In the distribution of sample farmers, according to strata, "Neyman Method" was used considering the number of animals. Chi-square independence test and/or analysis of variance were used to evaluate the socio-cultural structure of the farmers. Indicators such as Absolute Profit, Relative Profit, Pure Income were calculated in order to determine the economic structure and annual activity results of the farmers. Likert Scale was used to investigate marketing opportunities, to determine the utilisation status of farmers from livestock supports, to identify problems in the sector, to determine satisfaction and expectations of farmers. Factor Analysis for determining the effective factors in breeding, Stochastic Frontier Analysis for measuring the efficiency of farms, and focus group meetings were held with stakeholders to develop recommendations for improving the sector. In the factor analysis results of the research findings, the total variance percentages of the factors obtained for goat farmers were 74.616%. The total variance percentages obtained for sheep farmers were 70.650%. The gross farm income (GPI) was calculated as 94523.3 TL in the goat farmers, and the share of gross production value (GPV) was determined as 97.25% in the GPI. 69.20% of the GPV was generated from goat production. The GPI of sheep farmers was 123178.1 TL, and the share of GPV was 97.56% in the GPI. 75.50% of the GPV was generated from the sheep production activity. The average technical efficiency of goat farmers in the region was 0.80, and sheep farmers were 0.77. The solution proposals presented at the end of the research were to increase the production of forage crops in order to reduce the roughage gap, increasing the number of animal markets in the region, creating market opportunities through cooperatives and unions to increase the sale of milk and milk products, establishment of businesses that receive and process products on site, making public spots to increase consumption, improving the living conditions of shepherds and providing social security to shepherds. Keywords: Small ruminant, farm, economic analysis, efficiency, Western Mediterranean.