PATHWAYS database system description and main type at NUTS2 level

This repository contains the questionnaire results from consulting livestock experts as part of the European H2020 PATHWAYS project (Pathways for transitions to sustainability in livestock husbandry and food systems) https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101000395. The aim of the database development was to create a spatially explicit typology of ruminant farming systems at NUTS2 level across the EU-27 and United Kingdom, including dairy cows, suckler cows and fattening cattle, plus dairy sheep, meat sheep and goats, for further use in modelling and policy analysis. The database typology development followed a multistage approach in which NUTS 2 regions were first grouped into homogeneous clusters based on EU statistical data from Eurostat and FADN and each cluster was then cross checked with expert knowledge (https://zenodo.org/uploads/19817114), and allocated to a livestock system described by an expert. This approach comprised three main steps: (i) selection of indicators for each livestock category from Eurostat (European Union, 2025) and the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN, 2023), (ii) application of a multivariate statistical procedure at NUTS 2 level to derive clusters from Eurostat and FADN data and aggregation of these clusters into a condensed number of systems, and (iii) consultation of experts to validate and describe these systems and to add husbandry information that is not available in EU databases. Only indicators available for all retained NUTS 2 regions for a given livestock category were included and the final set of variables used in the analysis is reported in the two files, which provide a description of livestock systems characterised in the PATHWAYS project: “PATHWAYS_database_systems_description.xlsx” provides: Qualitative and quantitative data for a wide range of variables regarding livestock system type, geographical extent, species, breed type, productivity, grazing patterns and feeding, housing. “PATHWAYS_maps_database_codes_by_NUTS2_Z2.xlsx” provides: Main livestock system types per NUTS2 region for spatial allocation of dominant ruminant systems per European NUTS2 region.