Risk Management, Vulnerability, and Risk Perception of Organic Farmers in Spain

This study analyses the specific risks that organic farmers must manage. Due to the special features of management of their productive system, and due to the specific characteristics of their cultivations, they must face different risks than conventional farmers. Even if the Spanish farmers rely on the insurance system to manage their risks, today organic farmers do not have specific insurance products to manage them. The methodology and results presented in this study include the following: First, the primary information is compiled after the elaboration of more than 500 questionnaires to organic farmers of diverse Spanish regions. Second, the risk analysis is carried out by evaluating statistical, probabilistic, and stochastic properties of the organic production data. We evaluate and discuss the aspects of our study that relate to other international studies. Productions considered in this research are olive grove, vineyard, cereals, fruits, vegetables, nuts and, citrus fruit. Specific risks of organic farming – in contrast with conventional farming – have been identified and quantified, showing the existing differences of perception, vulnerability and risk management, as well as the different risk level and recovery after an event of adverse climatic conditions. This research lays the foundations for the elaboration of a specific agrarian insurance for organic productions, which will serve in a near future, as a tool for the management of the specific risks of Spanish organic farmers.