Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/312496 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Citation: 
[Journal:] Circular Economy and Sustainability [ISSN:] 2730-5988 [Volume:] 3 [Issue:] 4 [Publisher:] Springer International Publishing [Place:] Cham [Year:] 2023 [Pages:] 1769-1791
Publisher: 
Springer International Publishing, Cham
Abstract: 
Abstract The agricultural sector has historically been the forefront economic sector in Turkey and is crucial for the rural sustainability and the pastures that are critical for biodiversity. However, inadequate policies and factors such as climate change and malpractices result in brittle pastures, rural–urban migration, and a declining agricultural sector. Also, pastures have been left without function and appropriated to other land uses such as quarries, energy power plants, and mines. Although the husbandry sector produces significant greenhouse gas emissions, pastures have a significant capacity of CO2 sequestration. In this study, Life cycle assessment (LCA) is applied to quantify the advantages and disadvantages of the transition between extensive and intensive production. The methodology presents a holistic analysis of the several impact categories and amounts of relevant products, services, and resource emissions along their life cycles. In order to assess the environmental effects of the lamb meat production, three sheep breeding systems in Turkey are evaluated. The study aims to promote a sustainable use of natural resources/assets without compromising the quality, competitiveness, or animal welfare and obtain recommendations for the future husbandry systems and rural development in Turkey. As an overall result, it can be stated that the intensification of sheep farming can lead to a decrease of greenhouse gas emissions per kg of meat. However, extensive sheep farming shows less impacts on soil acidification or eutrophication and can even be beneficial for erosion resistance or biodiversity if properly managed.
Subjects: 
LCA
Greenhouse gas emissions
Animal farming
Pasture management
Rural development
Turkey
Sustainability assessment
Land use
Sheep husbandry
Grazing sheep
Holistic grazing management
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
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Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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