One of the 23 mountain reference regions of the H2020 MOVING project is Drôme Valley (France).
It is located in the French pre-Alps, surrounding the Drôme River. The territory is characterised by important and well-preserved natural areas, and an important agricultural sector. The selected value chain (VC) in this reference region is sheep meat locally produced and valorised.
Extensive sheep farming, also known as pastoralism, is characteristic of the mountain and mid-mountain areas of the Drôme Valley. This activity provides many services at the local level: enhancement of difficult areas, attractiveness of the landscape, quality production, preservation of biodiversity. Local slaughtering and direct sales allow the production of added economic value in the territory.
However, this value chain is facing strong pressures affecting the resource and the viability of the sector: increased predation pressures, low rainfall, rising temperatures and an increase in extreme events. Other factors, such as the increase in the number of people visiting the countryside, the decline in meat consumption and developments in the food industry, are also weakening the value chain.
During the first two years of the project, the Drôme Valley Multi-Actor Platform (MAP) mobilised 70 key actors at local and regional level. In addition, twenty interviews and a workshop were conducted to share vulnerabilities and problems and to identify ways of supporting this value chain.
At this stage of the value chain analysis, it can be concluded that extensive sheep farming in the Drôme Valley is:
- Highly exposed to and affected by climatic conditions.
- Particularly vulnerable due to the context of predation.
- Fragile due to the cumulative effect of other impacts on the value chain such as land use conflicts and demografic pressure.
- It has the capacity to adapt in order to mitigate the consequences of climate change.
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