Sheep Farming in the Local Development of Southern Patagonia, Argentina
Project Facts
UNPA: Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; CONICET: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas ; CENPAT: Centro Nacional Patagonico, Cirad, France
Fernando Coronato, CENPAT-CONICET, Argentina; Alejandro Schweitzer and Enzo Fasioli, UNPA-CONICET, Argentina; JF.Tourrand, Cirad, France
Case overview/description
The Patagonia has been colonized at the end of the 19th Century by the Argentinean army. One of the objective was to develop sheep farming, based on the experience in the Pampa in the North and Falklands Islands in the South. However, Pampa and Falklands biomes are savannas or prairies adapted to an high stocking rate than Patagonia which is a cold and arid steppe. Less than an half Century after, the result is a strong degradation of the rangeland with a great part of the farms which are abandoned progressively during the 20th Century, especially in the Central Patagonia. In the same time, mining (coal, oil and gas) and tourism are become the motors of the local economics. However, sheep farming extends the main part of Patagonia and sheep is always present in the mental models of local people. So the challenge is to define the place of the sheep farming in the future of Patagonia in order to maintain rural activity, local development and natural resources, including landscape and biodiversity.
Assess the potential and the impacts mining, tourism and sheep farming according to the local contexts. Draft scenarios for the future with the local partners. And use the results in policymaking
yes, different options
Private land. Several thousand hectares but very low stocking rate (2-3 sheep/ha)
Sheep: Merinos and Corriedale
Free market, local market, niche market
Scientists, policymakers, local stakeholders, breeders, traders, etc…
Large survey based on questionnaires + interviews with local stakeholders + participative workshops and special research to better understand strategic points
Outcome/ Beneficiaries/ Issues
good if willingness of Argentinean goverment
good because opportunities
Low due to the high rangeland degradation
Base of the programme
co-viability between sheep and wildlife, especially jaguar and pumas.
1. The potential of degradation of human society (the main part of the Patagonian steppe has been destroyed in less an half century.
2. Very high cost to recuperate a degraded ecosystem, especially arid steppe. Some options exist in Patagonia, but impossible to apply except for little areas than those degraded by oil exploration.
3. The importance of sheep in the mental models of local people and tourists, even the sheep has disappeared in the main part of the Patagonia.
4. Need to think the sustainable development integrating/combining diverse alternatives.
5. Great interest of participative workshops to share the ideas and resolve some conflicts between the local stakeholders and groups of people.
Funds and time of reseracher to better advances
South Patagonia, Sheep farming in arid and cold steppe, sustainable development, policymaking