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Background and challenges

Nowadays, animal rearing is criticised for not always taking animal welfare into consideration. For example, in France, only 10% of pigs have access to the outdoors, namely those produced according to organic farming specifications or from local production sites such as the Sarthois pig (small courtyards OUI OK) or those raised with a special-quality approach (e.g. Basque, Catalan, Corsican, Auvergne). Similarly, 95% of meat rabbits are raised in wire cages, without access to the outside world and without enrichment of the living environment. The SANBA metaprogramme aims to contribute to the transition towards more sustainable and acceptable livestock farming.

In this context, allowing access to the outdoors for animals that have been kept primarily in confinement is an interesting approach that meets a growing demand from consumers. This production method has positive consequences for the health of the animals (e.g. fewer lamenessbalance problems) and their well-being (more space, diversification of behaviour). However, it also has limitations such as greater exposure to diseases transmitted by wild animals (swine fever or avian flu), risk of predation, a possible decrease in performance (animals subject to temperature fluctuations), risk of pollution (management of effluents on the outside range). In addition, existing livestock buildings are not always adapted to allow access to the outdoors.

Objectives

In this context, the goal of the project is to contribute to the transformation of breeding systems (mainly meat rabbits or butchering pigs) by producing knowledge and proposing practices that together can guarantee the well-being and health of farm animals throughout their lives. From this point of view, we will be able to focus on the weaned animal as well as on the animal before weaning, or even before birth if important stumbling blocks are identified during the early stages of life. The aim is to track down or co-design and evaluate innovative practices and better understand the physiological mechanisms involved (ethology, immunity, microbiota, epigenetics, etc.). Feedback from farmers and citizen-consumers on these innovations will be collected. Some parts of the project will be treated in a more generic way (pigs, rabbits, chickens, calves) in order to give a broad scope to the flagship (OUI OK)project. Similarly, particular attention will be paid to the working conditions of farmers.

While the acceptability of livestock systems is the subject of societal controversy concerning respect for animal welfare, access to the outdoors meets a growing demand from citizen-consumers (Delanoue et al., 2015) and its benefits will not be called into question here.

Species concerned

Structure of the project

The methodology is based on open innovation, and the project is organised in six complementary tasks (Figure 1): Task 1: project management and scientific animation ; Task 2: study of perception, resistance and motivations of farmers and citizen-consumers for livestock farming with access to the outdoors; Task 3: identification of innovations by "Tracking innovations in livestock farming"; Task 4: evaluation of animals and systems (definition of conceptual frameworks to evaluate animal health and welfare and system sustainability); Task 5: co-design of rabbit and pig farming systems with access to the outdoors; Task 6: Analysis and support of the innovation process.

Figure 1: Organisation of the flagship project SANBA and link with other scientific projects.

Partnerships

The project is based on a co-construction approach with non-academic stakeholders (veterinarians, farmers, advisors, NGOs, consumers, public decision-makers, etc.) in order to guarantee a strong transforming power of the knowledge produced and to significantly change breeding practices and systems. 

Numerous specialised scientists (INRAE) have been mobilised:

• Joint research unit GenPhySE, PHASE and Animal Genetics divisions: digestive health, immunology, microbiota, behaviour, stress, epigenetics 
• USC 1383 IECM, Animal Health division: immunology, endocrinology, porcine physiology, ethics 
• Joint research unit PEGASE, PHASE division: automated analysis of behaviour, social relations and welfare of piglets
• Joint research unit 1300 BIOEPAR, Animal Health division: pig health, veterinary medicine, clinical assessment of animal health and welfare, anti-infectious immunology, analysis of the innovation process
• Joint research unit 0346 EpiA, Animal Health division: epidemiology, pathogen-microbiota interactions 
• Joint research unit 1225 IHAP, Animal Health division: pathology, parasitism
• Joint research unit 1326 LISIS, ACT division: knowledge production and diffusion
• Joint research unit 1248 AGIR, ACT division: sociology of animal husbandry, animal husbandry/society relations
• UAR 0564, committee from the Animal Health division: animal health, innovation management

External partners involved: 

Joint research unit -ESO - University of Rennes 2 (sociology); IDEAS innovative design support platform (https://www6.inrae.fr/ideas-agrifood), Faculty of Veterinary Science of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Animal Welfare Research Group, Norway); Aarhus University - Department of Clinical Medicine and Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics (Denmark)