Les races hyperspécialisées entre verrouillage et ancrage local, l'exemple du Texel Belge

Abstract

The Belgian Blue cattle breed is a core example to illustrate the notion of lock-in in animal production. We study in this paper the situation of another hyper specialized breed, the Belgian Texel sheep, and we re-question an animal genetic resources management set-up, crossing both approaches of lock-in and of localization of agrifood systems. This work leads us to show how the Belgian Blue is a model for Belgian Texel stakeholders, even if the lock-in modalities are different. We discuss the question of adaptation and adaptive capacities of local breeds. Finally, we underline the importance of questioning what is the meaning of "local" for the stakeholders.