Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Sustainable animal farming has become an important practice that addresses environmental
challenges, economic pressures and food security concerns. This study aims to examine the key
factors associated with adoption of sustainable animal farming practices in Sweden. The researcher
used mixed method approach because the researcher did quantitative analysis with qualitative
insights to provide a comprehensive understanding of the research problem. The quantitative
component analyzed the association between five key variables namely farmer attitudes,
environmental factors, economic and market conditions, government policies, and knowledge and
advisory services with sustainable farming. The results revealed a positive correlation between
farmer attitudes, environmental factors, knowledge and advisory services and government policies
with sustainable animal farming. The economic factors are not show significant association between
sustainable animal farming. The qualitative data were collected through ten semi-structured
interviews with animal farmers across southern Sweden. Thematic analysis of the interviews
identified several major themes, including economic constraints, policy and regulatory challenges,
environmental awareness, market dynamics, knowledge gaps, and structural differences between farm
types. While farmers demonstrated positive attitudes and strong environmental awareness, the
findings highlight that economic pressures, particularly high investment costs and unstable market
conditions are the most significant barriers to sustainability adoption. Additionally, government
policies support sustainable practices, their complexity and lack of flexibility limit their
effectiveness, especially for small-scale farmers. The study also found that consumer demand for
sustainable products is growing but remains inconsistent due to price sensitivity while advisory
services, although valuable, require more practical and tailored approaches. Four variables showed
statistically significant positive associations with sustainable animal farming namely farmer
attitudes, environmental factors, government policy, and knowledge/advisory services. Economic and
market conditions showed a weak positive but non-significant association in the survey data. The
qualitative results show that economic factors are major barriers based on thematic analysis. The
researcher identified economic factor was qualitatively important but not statistically supported
as a linear survey association in this sample.