• An international seminar in Madrid has laid the foundations for the creation of this new network for scientific and technical cooperation in the framework of the International Year of Rangelends and Pastoralists of the FAO.

Madrid, 13 April 2026.- Thirty-one experts from sixteen countries (CIHEAM members and other countries of Africa and the Middle East), together with representatives from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the interprofessional association Provacuno and the cooperative Oviaragón have participated in the international seminar ‘Mediterranean Livestock Systems: Challenges and Strategies for Sustainability’ held on 7 and 8 of April in Madrid.

The event was organised by CIHEAM Zaragoza, with the collaboration of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and with the support of the Masar al’an programme of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), as part of the celebrations of the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.

The seminar has laid the foundations for the creation of a network on sustainable Mediterranean livestock systems. “It will be an opportunity to promote multi-actor and multidisciplinary approaches and exchanges to analyse, discuss and implement training, research, and innovation activities, together with cooperation projects in developing countries of the Mediterranean and beyond”, as stated by Raúl Compés, director of CIHEAM Zaragoza.

The initiative takes an integrated approach, incorporating not only technical aspects related to animal production and pastures, but also environmental, ecological and social dimensions. Antonio López-Francos, administrator of Cooperative Projects and Networks at CIHEAM Zaragoza comments on the aims of the network. “It will promote multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, involving specialised groups in thematic areas of common interest to strengthen scientific and technical cooperation in the Mediterranean region”.

Challenges for Mediterranean livestock systems

Livestock systems in Mediterranean countries are confronted with a complex set of environmental, economic and social challenges that undermine their sustainability. The region’s climate is increasingly characterised by hot, dry summers and highly irregular rainfall patterns. These trends intensify pressure on water resources and reduce the availability of pasture. Climate change further exacerbates these dynamics, accelerating rangeland degradation and compromising the productivity and resilience of extensive livestock systems.

At the same time, traditional livestock farming systems face mounting economic constraints. Small farms find it difficult to compete with industrialised systems and  struggle to overcome social challenges such as rural depopulation and the ageing of the agricultural community.

Background

Since the 1990s, CIHEAM and the FAO have worked in close collaboration, promoting and running thematic networks aimed at knowledge-sharing between experts in sheep and goat production, pasture management, and forage resources.

The new network will integrate and expand the existing networks and broaden their scope, proposing alternatives and strategies to strengthen the transition of Mediterranean livestock systems towards sustainability and resilience.