Charles-Henri Moulin

Supporting strategic thinking of smallholder dairy farmers using a whole farm simulation tool

This article investigates how a one-to-one support process based on the use of a whole dairy farm simulation tool helps both farmers to reflect on their production strategies and researchers to better understand the farmers’ contexts of action and decision. The support process consists of a minimum of four discussion sessions with the farmer: designing the Initial Scenario and formulating a diagnosis, building and simulating the Project Scenario corresponding to the objective targeted by the farmer, building and comparing alternative scenarios proposed both by the farmer and the researcher, and evaluating the process with the farmer. The approach was tested with six smallholder farmers in Brazil. It is illustrated with the example of one farmer who aimed to develop his milk production by more than doubling his herd size on the same cultivated area. Two other examples illustrate the diversity of issues addressed with this approach. The first estimates the sensitivity of economic results to price variations of milk and concentrates. The second compares two scenarios in terms of forage supply autonomy. The discussion assesses the outcomes of the approach for farmers in terms of response to their specific issues and of knowledge acquired. The research outputs are discussed in terms of the value and limits of using simulation tools within both participatory action research and advisory processes.

How do pastoral families combine livestock herds with other livelihood security means to survive? The case of the Ferlo area in Senegal

Reducing vulnerability to hazards is a major challenge for pastoral settlements in the dry lands of sub-Saharan Africa. Accumulation of a stock of living animals is a major means of livelihood security that pastoralists use to cope with their constraints, amongst which is high environmental variability. Diversification and long-distance mobility are other means of livelihood security, implying specific family organization. We analysed the combination of these means in ensuring the livelihood security of 508 familial settlements in the rural community of Ferlo, Tessekre (Senegal). At least 40% of the settlements surveyed were small pastoral families, composed of one or two households with small herds (less than 50 cows and 50 sheep). Herds were the major means of livelihood security, but due to lack of a sufficient labour and other assets, the situation of these impoverished families was very precarious. In 28% of the settlements, families combined livestock, crops and non-farming activities as livelihood means. The remaining 32% of the settlements were pastoral settlements supported by large cattle herds and, in many cases, the production of Aïd el Kebir rams (for the major Muslim religious event). Non-farming activities were also present in these settlements with large herds, especially activities in the livestock trade. Diversification can reinforce the function of herds as savings accounts and might also enable the pastoralists to invest in livestock activities. There were three groups of settlements based on the characterization of livelihood security strategies used by pastoral herders. Over time, pastoralists have to utilize several means of security to cope with climatic shocks such as droughts, and familial events such as the death of the familial chief. Family organization (dispersal or grouping), diversification and mobility are important means used to recover after major losses of animals.

Grassland Deterioration Linked to Farm Trajectories in the Eastern Amazon

In the eastern Amazon, new grasslands cultivated after deforestation often suffer fast weed invasion, which is a significant problem for the sustainability of new farming systems. The authors study the links between farming systems and grassland deterioration using farm survey data. They distinguish two main farm trajectories – a changing trajectory in which farmers do not maintain a good balance between grassland and cattle, leading to deterioration; and a stabilized trajectory in which farmers implement various grassland management measures ranging from continuous grazing to complex rotation, with low weed invasion. The conditions for stabilization of farming systems and the choices available for grassland management are discussed.

Challenges for local breed management in Mediterranean dairy sheep farming: insights from Central Greece

Local breeds are recognized as an important element for the maintenance of various and specific farming systems. Challenges for local breeds’ management, in a context of crossbreeding with exotic highly productive breeds, have been mainly studied in tropical countries. However, similar situation and challenges are likely to exist in Mediterranean countries subjected to climatic and feed scarcity issues. The objective of this work is to identify the challenges for local breed management in a regional context of informal crossbreeding with highly productive breeds. For this purpose, the case of dairy sheep farming in the region of Thessaly, in Central Greece, was examined. Semi-structured interviews were performed in 46 farms and processed through hierarchical classification on principal components. A follow-up on seven farms raising the Karagouniko sheep breed, the main local breed of the region, was carried on during one milk campaign. Results showed that a diversity of breeding strategies involving local purebred and crossbred flocks coexist in the region. The Karagouniko breed is facing several challenges. The supply in exotic breeding males and their crosses could be wide-scaled and involved a diversity of operators, whereas the supply in breeding males of Karagouniko breed was restrained to between-farm supply among flocks under milk recording scheme. In addition, the heterogeneity of access and quality of collective rangelands affected the farming of Karagouniko breed ewes, whose purebred flocks were significantly associated with the grazing on native grasslands. Finally, unfavorable dairies’ policies led Karagouniko farmers to seek higher flock milk production through levers that could impact the vulnerability of the farm, such as earlier lambing period or earlier weaning age. Farmers also questioned the use of highly productive breeds as a potential lever to reach higher flock milk production.