INTRODUCTION - Review of progress

The aims and objectives of LSIRD network.

The LSIRD is aiming to identify the ways in which the research community should be reacting to developments in the livestock sector in the less-favoured areas of the EU, and to develop ideas for lines of multi-disciplinary work that will be appropriate for the 21st century. The programme of activities has been designed in order to explore a number of areas in detail that are currently highly influential on the development of the sector through the medium of the broad conferences and the focused workshops.

The LSIRD project has reached its mid-point, so it is now time to take stock of the progress made so far and to highlight the main objectives for the coming 18 months.

The changing nature of LFA livestock farming

Livestock farming systems in the European LFAs will be influenced by developments in policy, and its associated subsidy structures. In particular, the main issues towards which these policies are directed will be diversification and the encouragement of quality value-adding, maintenance of landscape and natural resources, and the development of rural economies.

The work programme

These processes form the heart of the LSIRD activities. In January 1997, the first conference "Livestock systems in European rural development" was held in Nafplio, Greece. The Nafplio Conference presented these issues in a format designed to bring together as wide a range as possible of key actors in LFA livestock, policy, and environmental research, and to set the agenda for the rest of the LSIRD activities.

The broad approach of the Nafplio conference demonstrated that we have some way to go in co-ordinating research efforts to follow the same course towards a truly integrated sustainable livestock sector in the LFAs. In particular, it highlighted the considerable controversy that remains over the political development of the CAP and rural development policy.

The LSIRD is now going through the main issues in a series of focused workshops. Each of the workshops is addressing a different topic that is likely to influence the kind of livestock farming systems that will be found in the next 10 - 20 years. The objective of each is to identify the direction of change in each case, and to develop a vision of the future towards which multi-disciplinary research may be directed.

Two workshops have been held already this year. The first of these, "The future development of EU rural policy mechanisms and the implications for livestock farming research in the disadvantaged areas", examined the ways in which EU policy is evolving. In particular, the workshop, which was held in Granada in May, looked at the likely effects of the WTO negotiations, the incorporation of Eastern European countries into the CAP, the "Cork Conference", and the demands for increased emphasis in the environmental management role of agriculture.

The second, "Improving market integration and value-adding in domestic livestock enterprises in disadvantaged regions - implications for future research" , was held in Witzenhausen, Germany in September 1997. One of the more attractive alternatives for maintaining profitability in farming enterprises in the face of (at best) static product prices and rising costs, is to undertake some form of value adding activity. The Witzenhausen workshop looked at a variety of ways in which value may be added to the products of LFA livestock systems such as on-farm processing, organic farming, and regional labelling (e.g. Appellation d'origine). Value-adding is set to increase in importance, and is likely to have a significant effect on LFA livestock systems by placing the emphasis to a greater extent on product quality through for example the use of traditional extensive production systems, rare breeds, organic farming etc.

The way ahead

The relationship between livestock farming and landscape/ habitat management and the development of agri-environmental measures will form the basis of the next workshop which will look at the kind of environmental products that livestock systems will be expected to deliver in the future and what research will be required to support this. The final workshop will look at the changing role of rural development initiatives in supporting farming communities and the application of integrated rural development strategies.

Workshop 3 will be held in the Rhône delta, France in March 1998. Workshop 4 in Thessaloniki, Greece in June 1998.

The final conference will draw all these themes together into a synthesis of current thinking on the future goals for livestock farming in the LFAs, a considered analysis of recent developments in LFA livestock systems, and a series of recommendations for future research. This conference will be held in Ireland on 3-5th December1998.

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