The contribution of the meat value chain to inclusive sustainable development in the highlands: a systems thinking approach

Highland regions support multiple essential services and activities worldwide but face harsh ecological conditions. To mitigate these challenges, the need for specific development policies arises, like inclusive sustainable development in highlands (ISDH). Mountain farming involves a variety of traditional livestock systems adapted to local conditions, resulting in strong interrelations with the regional culture and representing key economic drivers contributing to ISDH. Transdisciplinary teams interviewed 23 cases related to the meat value chain (MVC) from Argentina (11) and Europe (12). Actors interviewed were farmers, cooperatives, retailers, and associations. A systems thinking approach was applied to develop two conceptual maps (Causal Loop Diagram, CLD) for the Argentinian and European highlands, describing the contribution of the MVC to ISDH, through the interpretation of the viewpoints of interviewed actors. The results relate to the cases, not the regions. In each CLD, subsystems and leverage points were identified. The key challenges faced by each initiative were identified and clustered into themes for both territorial contexts. For the Argentinian highlands, three interconnected subsystems were identified (environment, diversification, and local development) together with three leverage points (sustainable resources management, traditional production, and own farm investment). For the European highlands, an additional subsystem was identified (community), together with two leverage points (public subsidies, diversification of products, and services). Both Argentinian and European initiatives share common challenge themes: natural resources, people, and lack of finance. The Insecure Land Tenure theme is specific to Argentina, whereas compliance and competition are specific to Europe. Argentina’s system depends more on family farms and self-financing to keep the activity going, with limited government help. European MVC relies more on subsidies to support its environmental sustainability and local development. The interplay between the challenges and the leverage points was explored, showing that more than one lever needs to be activated to address the impact of challenges. Taking a systems approach has revealed insights not available when breaking the system into its components. Limitations of this study consist of interpreting the actors’ view, lack of data triangulation, and validation of CLDs with actors, which means that caution is required to extrapolate results to the wider geographical context.