Ioannis Kaimakamis, PhD

Livestock Economics & Agribusiness Strategy – Ioannis Kaimakamis

About

Livestock economics & agribusiness strategy

Strategy and capital, where animals are still the asset

I help boards, investors and public agencies make better decisions about livestock – the farms, the supply chains and the policy environment that surrounds them.

Twenty years in dairy, meat, feed, public governance and applied livestock research – across boardrooms, farms, factories, payment systems and policy files.

EN · EL Greece · EU · selected international Available for select 2026 engagements
20+ Years in animal industries
25+ Strategic engagements
€14.6m Investment advised
9 Peer-reviewed papers

01 The story

How I got here

I grew up close to Greek farms and went on to study agriculture at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where I later completed a PhD. From day one, the questions that interested me were not only biological. Why does one farm in the same valley earn three times what its neighbour earns? Why does a producer with excellent product quality stop being competitive after year five? Why does a well-designed policy scheme fail on the ground?

Those questions pulled me toward the boundary between zootechnics and economics. I spent years building investment cases, redesigning farm operations, working with boards and advising public-sector stakeholders – always trying to keep one foot in the barn and one foot in the spreadsheet.

Today, my work sits at three intersections: livestock data and capital; farm operations and policy; the Greek sector and the wider European context. The clients who get the most out of working with me are those who already sense that the easy answers no longer hold and want a clear-eyed read on what comes next.

Three intersections

Where the work sits
Data × Capital

Livestock economics meets investment discipline

Herds, animals, milk flows, carcasses and feed are converted into decision-ready financial logic for boards, investors and lenders.

Operations × Policy

What works in the barn, what survives in regulation

A good policy or investment thesis must hold up against animal biology, farm labour, disease risk, data quality and operational constraints.

Greece × Europe

Greek sector specifics in the wider European frame

Greek livestock decisions are shaped by local structure, EU law, CAP delivery, PDO governance, trade flows and continental disease risk.

02 How I work

A simple, repeatable approach
01 Diagnostic

Understand what is actually happening

Two to four weeks of structured discovery – data review, stakeholder interviews, site visits where relevant. The output is a clear diagnostic memo: what is happening, what is at risk and where the levers sit.

Output: diagnostic memo.

02 Strategy

Turn the diagnostic into a decision

Financial modelling, scenario design, governance mapping, risk analysis and investment thesis development. Built to survive a board challenge and a lender’s due diligence.

Output: decision-ready strategy.

03 Execution support

Stay where the work needs translation

Optional project-by-project support: PMO, technical advisory, procurement coordination and stakeholder management. I stay where I add value and leave when the in-house team has it.

Output: operational delivery.

03 What I write about

Four recurring themes
Political economy

The political economy of dairy and meat consolidation

How dairy and meat value chains are being reshaped in Greece and Europe through M&A, vertical integration, PDO governance and trade defence.

Read insights
Capital assets

Livestock as a capital asset

Animals, herds and genetics treated as the capital assets they actually are – with P&L logic, sensitivity to milk and meat prices, biological risk and depreciation curves.

View related projects
Governance

CAP governance and data

How agricultural policy is administered, audited and sometimes abused – from data integrity and control systems to the next CAP delivery framework.

Read insights
Resilience

Small-ruminant resilience under climate and disease pressure

Sheep and goat systems facing disease outbreaks, climate volatility, mastitis, aflatoxin and structural change – and what resilience strategies actually pencil out.

Read latest publication

04 Career & credentials

Professional architecture, not a linear CV
Public governance

CAP delivery, controls and institutional reform

Board-level experience in the national CAP paying-agency environment, with exposure to payment governance, digital transformation, eligibility controls, land and livestock verification, anti-fraud policy and cooperation with national and European authorities.

Farm operations

Executive leadership in dairy sheep and goat farming

Direct executive exposure to intensive sheep and goat dairy operations, including production KPIs, herd health, reproduction, feeding strategy, capex planning, operational reporting and board-level performance management.

Agribusiness advisory

Strategy, deals and investment logic

Advisory experience across dairy, meat, feed and livestock value chains, including strategy, valuation support, commercial and technical due diligence, M&A support and investment-case development.

Feed & nutrition

From feed markets to formulation and commercial execution

Commercial and technical experience in compound feeds, premixes, additives and specialised feed products, including market development, pricing, product positioning, formulation logic and strategic partnerships.

Dairy procurement

Milk sourcing, producer networks and supply quality

Experience in strategic sourcing of sheep, goat and cow milk, supplier evaluation, quality assurance, technical producer support and raw-milk procurement strategy for industrial dairy processing.

Research & teaching

Academic grounding in livestock systems and agricultural economics

PhD in Animal Science and MSc in Agricultural Economics from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, with teaching experience in livestock enterprise management, agricultural economics and techno-economic analysis.

Selected academic and applied research work

Livestock systems, value chains and applied policy

Research and project work includes sheep and goat farming typologies, dairy value-chain mapping, mastitis and milk-quality projects, poultry and beef system analysis, livestock innovation hubs, and applied studies for regional development and agri-food strategy.

The common thread is the translation of biological and technical livestock data into economic, strategic and policy-relevant decisions.

05 Spoken at · Worked with

Selected venues and confidential mandates
Speaking venues

Academic, policy and industry audiences

EAAP-ASAS, Panhellenic Meat Conference, Hellenic Zootechnical Society, Hellenic Society of Agricultural Economics, Interreg BRIDGES and selected sector events.

Selected clients and partners remain confidential due to the nature of advisory, investment, operational transformation and public-sector assignments.

06 Working details

Languages · Scope · Engagement
Languages

English · Greek

Working language in both. Materials can be produced bilingually in Greek and English, depending on the audience and the engagement.

Geographical scope

Greece · European Union · Selected international

Strongest network in Greece and the wider EU agri-food space. Open to international engagements in livestock-heavy economies.

Engagement format

Strategic mandate · Board advisor · Project-based

Retainers, defined project mandates, or single board / investor briefings. Remote, hybrid or on-site.

If a question on your desk fits the work above, the best way to test fit is a short call

Most engagements start with one. Tell me the question – I will tell you whether I am the right person and what a good first step looks like.