Why they do what that they do? A study of purposes and strategic rules of Uruguayan's extensive beef farmers

Farmers must make decisions that are taken by different criteria, which are in all cases personal and circumstantial. From a technical point of view, at the moment to propose any change in the farm structure, or any application of some particular technique -or even in the government policy making- it is essential to know why a farm is like it is and why the farmers do what they do. To know the goals for which a farm operates seems to be a priority, or viewed in the opposite way, to ignore the farmer's objectives can lead to mistakes when planning any farm intervention programs. The objective of this study is to describe the farmers main Purposes (P) and the Strategic Rules (SR) associated, as they are defined by the Global Approach method. For this research twenty case farms were analyzed by two methods: Multivariate simple correspondence analysis and a text concept linking software (Redes2009). The results show that the most frequent P's were: i) "Those related to patrimony", ii) "Those related to guarantee a money income", and iii) "Those related to keep a rural way of life". The main SR associated to these P were, respectively, i) "To assure incomes" and "To keep herd as capital"; ii) "To manage work and family participation at farm tasks" and "To keep a comfortable way of life and life's quality"; and iii) "To assure incomes" and "To handle the indebtedness". The SR defined as "To assure incomes" was the most frequent, and it is strongly related with two economical P (i and ii, stated above), and to others SR like "To reduce cost and money management" and "To handle internal and external information". In conclusion, the most frequently mentioned P was related to economic and social issues, linked with economic and social SR. The agro-ecological P per se was no present in this study. (Résumé d'auteur

Evolution de l'agriculture et de l'élevage dans une zone de grands aménagements, le delta du fleuve Sénégal

Avant les aménagements, chacune des trois ethnies du Delta avait un type de système de production assez spécifique : les Maures étaient essentiellement des pasteurs transhumants, les Peuls associaient agriculture et élevage transhumant et les Wolofs étaient avant des agriculteurs et des pêcheurs pour ceux résidant le long du fleuve. Mais en vingt ans, les effets conjoints de l'aménagement hydro-agricole, de la sécheresse et du développement du tissu agro-industriel ont profondément modifié la situation de la zone. La culture irriguée, génératrice de revenus important, est devenue la principale activité des paysans Wolof, tandis que pour pallier la faible productivité de leurs troupeaux, les éleveurs Peul et Maures diversifiaient leurs activités : commerce, association cultures irriguées et élevage, emploi salarié. II s'agit d'une véritable association d'activités : en même temps que les systèmes se diversifiaient, les relations entre leurs composantes se sont développées; en particulier, ce sont actuellement les sous-produits de la culture irrigués qui permettent l'équilibre du bilan fourrager du Delta; leur utilisation laisse entrevoir la possibilité de développer, aussi bien chez les éleveurs traditionnels que chez les Wolof, des modes de conduite intensifs, dans lesquels les cultures fourragères pourraient avoir leur place. Avec l'achèvement des barrages qui va permettre une extension considérable des surfaces irriguées, l'évolution des systèmes de production et des relations agriculture élevage en cours devrait se produire

Aménagements hydrauliques et développement : stratégies paysannes d'adaptation dans le delta du fleuve Sénégal (1984-1991)

Les grands aménagements hydrauliques réalisés entre les années soixante et quatre-vingt-dix ont profondément modifié les écosystèmes de la région du delta du fleuve Sénégal, ou Waalo, remettant en cause leurs potentialités agropastorales, et par suite les systèmes de production traditionnels. Ainsi, tandis que près de 30000 ha étaient ouverts à la riziculture irriguée, la quasi-totalité du potentiel pastoral du Waalo disparaissait. Face à ces bouleversements, les populations ont progressivement adapté leurs activités en développant des solutions diversifiées qui valorisent les opportunités résultant localement des caractéristiques du milieu, des bassins d'emploi et des marchés. Marquée par le désengagement de l'Etat, la nouvelle politique agricole mise en place au Sénégal à partir de 1985 a déclenché dans ce contexte une véritable révolution agricole, qui a révélé le dynamisme et la capacité d'adaptation des populations rurales du delta, tout en confirmant la permanence de comportements propres à chaque ethnie et, à l'intérieur de chaque groupe, la diversité des stratégies paysannes. Cette étude l'illustre à travers deux thèmes : l'analyse des trajectoires des unités familiales de production entre 1985 et 1990 et la mise en évidence de la vitalité de l'élevage peul, pourtant totalement laissé pour compte par les politiques de développemen

Productivité des caprins dans les systèmes de production agricole du Delta du fleuve Sénégal

A travers l'analyse de la productivité, les auteurs présentent les principaux paramètres zootechniques de cheptel caprin du Delta du fleuve Sénégal, et les comparent aux références disponibles pour la même et quelques autres grandes zones agro-écologiques tropicales. Avec une production annuelle moyenne par chèvre inférieure à un chevreau (0,85) qui pèse à trois mois un peu moins de 8 kg, les performances sont relativement faibles, quoique conformes aux normes régionales. Les auteurs présentent également les pratiques alimentaires qui permettent aux éleveurs peuls du Delta d'améliorer de manière sensible la productivité de leurs troupeaux, d'environ 35 à 40 p. 100, et de valoriser ainsi le potentiel productif de leur cheptel caprin. (Résumé d'auteur

Tradition and change in the Southern cone of America. Limits and potentialities of multi-agent systems as methodological tools for the study of the social impacts of territorial dynamics

The territorial transformations that have taken place during the last decade in the South American temperate grasslands - the "Pampas" - have been accompanied by dramatic social changes. As large-scale agribusiness replaces extensive livestock production, agricultural investment fund managers -IFM- break as the newest actors of the reshaped landscape. Unable to reproduce their traditional livelihoods under the growing economic and environmental pressures, many family farmers are selling or renting their properties to IFM while migrating to the cities. Uruguay is a privileged laboratory for the study of this coupled socio-territorial dynamics. As in Argentina and Brazil, Uruguayan Pampas' are being agriculturized2 by large-scale soybean mono cropping. This process is being accelerated by the emergence of the new markets of China and India, the two main soybean importers of the Pampean countries. Bounded by tradition and by values that go beyond profit making, some family livestock farmers strive to avoid rural exodus and to adapt to these new scenarios while maintaining their livelihoods, strongly identified with extensive cattle grazing. Small to medium-sized farmers usually choose between two adaptation strategies: i) to continue with cattle grazing through, a) technological innovation and intensification and/or b) cost reduction; or ii) to abandon livestock production and convert to soybean production. Any of these strategies are threatened, however, by the strong increase of land prices, generated not only by soybean mono cropping (dubbed the "white gold" of South America), but also by major forestry and pulp mill developments. This paper will not focus on the environmental impact of soybean mono cropping in the Pampa biome, an issue which is still highly disputed. It will, instead, offer an interdisciplinar, systemic approach to the social consequences of the land competition between modern, large-scale agriculture and traditional, low input livestock production. How do land concentration and large-scale mono cropping affect the social sustainability of extensive livestock farming systems operating in usually small production units? Is it possible to model - and simulate - simultaneously the dynamics of physical-biological systems interacting with social systems? This article aims at evaluating the interest, contributions and limits of multiple-agent-based simulations or Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) as a methodology to answer to these questions. The underlying hypothesis is that MAS contribute to improve the understanding of the decision-making processes of family farmers, who must decide between sticking to traditional cattle-breeding or investing in the higher and shorter-term profitability of soybean production. However, MAS models must be enhanced through the inclusion of socio (and even psychological) variables allowing to better understand the complex dynamics of land - use related decision making processes. The article's structure has five sections: i) brief introduction of MAS, ii) application of MAS simulations (DinamicaParcelaria) to the specific case of territorial transformations resulting from the dialectic monocropping / livestock family farming in the Uruguayan Pampas, iii) application of MAS simulations (Arapey) to a case study in Northern Uruguay, where the traditional extensive livestock production system has not changed in the last two centuries, remaining as the sole production system iv) crosschecking of the above-mentioned preliminary results with the outcomes of participatory meetings with livestock producers in Uruguay. (Résumé d'auteur

Heterogeneity and vulnerability of livestock in forest plantations of Uruguay

In this paper we study the situation of livestock farmers related to the afforestation of the northwest region of Uruguay and suggest that their vulnerability has characteristics that vary according to characteristics of the modified ecosystem in which they operate and develop their resource endowments. We present an overview of mixed farming that includes trees and especially those that include cattle grazing. It is shown that the development of these systems has been associated with incentives from public policies, the demand for primary goods and the emergence of forms of agricultural organization that had not been present in the country. It presents various aspects of developments in the areas where forestry has shown great progress, justifying the need to elaborate on knowledge of the consequences of these changes. In particular, it proposes an approach that emphasizes the identification of interactions that we consider to be beneficial for both items. Briefly reviews some consequences that are manifested in changes in ecosystem services and the changes are associated with the original holding in the region: livestock. To analyze differences in vulnerability among farmers and in particular how this feature is affected by its connection with afforestation present a typology and the results of a series of interviews conducted archetypal representatives of the types we offer. Our study shows that differences exist between farmers associated with the afforestation that allow us to propose that will be affected differentially by changes that occur and the desirability of developing differential offers training and include consideration of public policy proposals that improve their situation. In particular, the valuation of environmental services throughout the silvopastoral systems can result in improved income from these new players in our national agriculture. (Résumé d'auteur