Collective strategies for territorial agroecology through crop-livestock cooperation

The SagiTerres project aims to co-produce knowledge on agro-ecological transition by studying collective strategies of resource exchange between livestock farmers and farmers in the Minervois. In this region, which is mainly specialised in viticulture, agroecological models are emerging around agricultural-livestock integration practices between organic field crop systems, viticultural systems and livestock systems. Different organisational methods are emerging to facilitate these exchanges between farmers, and thus to perpetuate agricultural activities and their complementarities in the region. However, the maintenance, or even the reintroduction of livestock farming is a central issue in areas such as the Minervois, requiring the involvement of farmers and local stakeholders to ensure sufficient access to forage and pastoral resources, to circulate and to stabilise their activity in the area. Livestock breeding appears to be a central component for the ecological transition of these agricultural systems, particularly thanks to the mobility of these animals between different areas, which can provide various ecosystem services (control of cover in viticulture, fire fighting, opening up of environments, closing of nutrient cycles).

This project is a continuation of the emergence project of the same name, which made it possible to specify certain forms of agriculture-livestock integration deployed on the territory, the organisational methods implemented, and the problems related to the consolidation and perpetuation of these collective strategies for territorial agriculture-livestock integration. The consolidated SagiTerres project aims to go further, both in the analysis of collective initiatives and in the involvement of territorial actors. This continuation will aim to strengthen and develop these collective strategies through the co-design of territorial scenarios articulating different forms of agricultural-livestock integration in their biotechnical and organisational dimensions, and different collectives and stakeholders in the territory concerned.

Based on the characterisation of previously identified and documented ’innovative’ practices, the aim will be to (i) explore new modalities of agriculture-livestock integration (scenario design); (ii) design new territorial configurations (spatial modelling); (iii) evaluate these different scenarios (multi-criteria evaluation); (iv) test their relevance with regard to their operational implementation, and define the modalities of the latter.

At each of these stages, through the conduct of participatory workshops (co-design, cross-assessment, discussion), the various partners involved in collective initiatives or actors in the territory will contribute complementary knowledge and specific expectations to be taken into account, concerning the conditions of technical and organisational feasibility, the levers of support for the initiatives, the resources that can be mobilised, the positive or negative impacts to be anticipated, the obstacles to be overcome and the opportunities to strengthen and stabilise the initiatives. The project is supported by partners from civil society and research, with the involvement of agricultural actors and actors from the planning and territory.

The expected results concern both biotechnical references on integration practices (soil management, production, nutrient flows), elements to support the implementation of co-constructed modalities of agriculture-livestock integration on a territorial scale, to support new collectives and actors, and finally scientific knowledge capable of supporting the wider agro-ecological transition of territories.