Farmer cooperation to mitigate land concentration: A case study in the olive groves of southern Spain

Aim of study: Land concentration is a silent process that is occurring across European farmland, producing negative impacts in terms of territorial balance and equity. This paper analyses land concentration in the olive-growing sector, exploring alternative production systems that can help avoid such impacts. Area of study: Andalusia (southern Spain). Material and methods: The alternative productions systems considered are firstly outsourcing, and secondly, cooperative farming of the land with and without intensification. The production costs in these alternative scenarios are compared with the business-as-usual scenario. Main results: The results show that cooperative farming of the land outperforms outsourcing in terms of profitability and income distribution, thus promoting a broad, fair, and equitable distribution of land tenure and access to land, which in turn has direct implications for rural living standards and quality of life. Results indicate that by cooperating, small olive growers can reduce production costs below the average price of olive oils, especially when cooperative farming is coupled with sustainable intensification of production, which also brings social and environmental benefits. Research highlights: Several policy implications stem from this study, including the need to explicitly incorporate specific structural targets in terms of the size and composition of agricultural farms within the core Common Agricultural Policy objectives.