Work package 3: Assessment of the environmental and economic efficiency of Mediterranean crop-livestock systems

This WP aims at producing and integrating the technical, economic, and environmental parameters to assess the economic and environmental efficiency of crop-livestock system along a geographical transect of intensification. The following activities will be developed in the three research areas, one in each of the three countries:

  

  • Activity 3.1: Typology of crop-livestock systems. A transect will be identified from the mapping activity in 2.1 and 2.3 in link with landscape, population, production system and economic tissue in each research area. The typology of crop-livestock systems conducted on each transect will be based on:
    • Spatially-based sampling of crop-livestock systems;
    • Survey of household/farm (including a detail description of the feeding systems considered as a key point to improve environmental and economic efficiency);
    • Cluster analysis (typology);
    • Description of types as a sample of farming systems.
  • Activity 3.2: Monitory animal performances and animal productivity. This monitoring will be conducted on a sample of the previous typology (3.1). It will allow to assess the parameters of production and productivity in link with water and soil management. Complement microbiological analysis on animal products will allow to relate animal performance with health issues.
  • Activity 3.3: Assessment of the environmental efficiency. This activity will be based on the monitoring of water use and soil fertility in cultivated and rangeland areas. It will allow assessing potential risks (pollution, fertility) due to some pratices (sampling and micro-biological analysis on soil and water).
  • Activity 3.4: Assessment of the economic efficiency: This activity aims at elaborating and assessing indicators of economic efficiency (input/output or outcome measures, etc.). The assessing will be based on household survey among a sub sample of farms and the use of technico-economic tools such as ALIVE tool (developed in partnerships CIRAD, FAO and WB).

The main deliveries will be the production of indicators of environmental and economic efficiency of the crop-Livestock farming systems in the 3 research areas; the comparativiness of the indicators between the countries will raise hypothesis to analyse the adaptive processes (WP4) and socio-ecological sustainability (WP5).

Reports