Abstract
In response to African swine fever (ASF) outbreaks in wild boars in Belgium in 2018, the French authorities issued national biosecurity measures for all pig farms, regardless of their geographical and socio-technical scale. Considering the Corsican pig farmers' demonstrations against these measures (for geographical, cultural, and economic reasons), this article questions the suitability of standardized top-down national measures that potentially endanger traditional breeding systems, which are increasingly marginalized in relation to the dominant industrial model. From an action-research approach, the article analyzes how local stakeholders go beyond usual classical biosecurity issues to propose a territorialized preparedness. Mediating between Corsican farmers and the government representatives, a technical committee made up of actors from various regional research and development bodies drew up a socially acceptable preparedness proposal. Viewing the health risk from a local standpoint, the committee provided arguments for maintaining the extensive grazing that is non-negotiable for the farmers, while getting the farmers to agree to change other practices (reproduction control) as a measure against health hazards already present. Analysis of the preparedness process and the mediation process shows that a territorialized bottom-up approach to the governance of health risks can make biosecurity measures more acceptable to farmers. It also points to the legitimacy of a set of alternatives to top-down measures that standardize farming systems and may lead to the disappearance of small farmers and their traditional systems.
Highlights
African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious viral disease specific to wild and domestic swine, with no danger to humans but with serious consequences for animal health
Following the creation of this farmers’ collective, the technical committee (TC) included multidisciplinary Corsican stakeholders concerned with animal health: the Groupement de Défense Sanitaire (GDS–farmers’ association for livestock health protection), the Groupement Technique Vétérinaire (GTV–regional association of veterinarians), the Chambers of Agriculture of the two districts of Corsica, the Regional Chamber of Agriculture, INRAE, the two departmental hunting federations, the Corsican Office of Agricultural and Rural Development (ODARC), and representatives of the main farmers’ organizations
Our results show three steps in the acceptability process: (i) a collective acknowledgment of the unacceptability of the national biosecurity measures, (ii) a collective design process
Summary
African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious viral disease specific to wild and domestic swine, with no danger to humans but with serious consequences for animal health. France has been free of ASF since 1974 [1], but the virus has been endemic since 1978 in Sardinia, an island only 12 km from the coast of Corsica. It entered Europe in 2007 through the Caucasus and has spread throughout Eastern Europe and Asia, where it threatens the pig industry in affected countries. Territorial ASF Preparedness in Corsica prescribing biosecurity measures for all pig farms, regardless of their location and socio-technical characteristics. The decree includes strong measures to set up double enclosures and to fence all outdoor farms with grazing land
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