Objectives of the project
The ambition of this project is to contribute to the future of the Atlantic coastal marshes farms involved in the breeding of Maraîchine cattle while improving the preservation of the biodiversity of the wet grasslands in these territories. The hypothesis of the project is that these two issues will be addressed by improving the value of meat from the Maraîchine breed through better characterisation and sharing of its qualities with local stakeholders.
The project therefore has three objectives, corresponding to three actions:
- Clarification of the values, expectations and representations that local stakeholders (breeders, members of nature protection associations, processors in the sector, current and potential consumers and scientists) have of the Maraîchine breed, its meat, its breeding methods, the marsh and Nature;
- The quantification and production of references on the intrinsic and extrinsic quality of Maraîchine meat: on cattle and grasslands management practices, on the methods of marketing, on the preservation of biodiversity within the farms and on the nutritional and sensory characteristics of Maraîchine meat, with an objective of collective learning;
- The construction of an approach for the valorisation of Maraîchine breeding based on the formulation of a “desirable future” and mobilising for that purpose a collective process of innovative conception, anchored on the results of the first two actions.
Implication of the units of research
URSE
Sébastien Couvreur is the co-leader of action 1 and is involved in the work carried out on the characterisation of farmers’ practices (action 1), the link to meat quality (action 2) and the organisation committee of the construction of a value-adding approach (action 3).
Timothée Petit is involved in the work carried out on the characterisation of the breeders’ practices and the conceptions that the actors of the territory have of the Maraichine breed and meat (action 1) and the construction of a valorisation approach (action 3). He also represents the ESA in the project’s co-construction committee.
LARESS
Annie Sigwalt is involved in the work carried out on the characterisation of farmers’ practices and the conceptions that local stakeholders have of the Maraichine breed and meat (action 1) and the construction of an approach to promotion (action 3). She is supervising the M2 level internship of Loïc Belin, recruited for action 1. She also represents ESA on the project’s co-construction committee.
Keywords
Marsh and wet grasslands, desirable future, Maraichine breed, meat quality, biodiversity, collective design
Scientific leader of the Project
Anne FARRUGIA, Unité expérimentale de Saint Laurent de la Prée (UE DSLP)
Contact ESA
Sébastien COUVREUR, URSE Unit
Timothée PETIT, URSE Unit
Annie SIGWALT, LARESS Unit
Partnership
Association pour la valorisation de la race bovine Maraîchine et des prairies humide
UMRH de Theix (63)
Funding
The project is part of the call launched by the Fondation de France in 2018 on the theme “the future of the coast and the sea” and the axis “thinking and healing Nature“.
Length of the project
3 years from 1 september 2018