A qualitative assessment of water in Alentejo’s agriculture
: challenges and paths forward

  • Frederico de Herédia de Lancastre Freitas Fragoso de Barahona (Student)

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

Water is the most critical production factor for competitive agriculture. Besides increasing farmers' economic benefits, it promotes population settlement in rural regions and environmental sustainability. Alentejo is the most critical farming region in Portugal due to water scarcity, and its water demands have been increasing for the last few decades, mainly because of irrigation. At the same time, environmental uncertainty brings challenges at the strategic decision level, namely for farmers and policymakers. The research examines the main factors, attributes, challenges, and opportunities related to water management scarcity in Alentejo. Since collaboration between countries, agencies, and the population is critical to fighting water scarcity in the short term, the research is examined through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals, shared-value creation, and governance literature. To empirically evaluate the research questions related to water management scarcity, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with leading primary and secondary stakeholders from the agriculture sector in the region. The qualitative data analysis used Leximancer, a text analytics software that performs an automated content analysis based on relationships between terms that frequently co-occur within interviews. Findings suggest that new solutions to cope with increasing water necessities to more easily detect flaws in irrigation perimeters and a clear water governance public policy plan, must be made accordingly with agriculture stakeholders’ interests for agriculture to maintain its attractiveness and sustainability. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided, along with directions for future research.
Date of Award3 Jul 2023
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
SupervisorNuno Moreira da Cruz (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Agriculture
  • Water scarcity
  • Sustainability
  • Irrigation
  • Governance
  • Water transfers

Designation

  • Mestrado em Gestão e Administração de Empresas

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