Ovine Dynamics in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Whereas the crisis of ovine farming concerns the whole of the French production areas, it manifests itself in a specific way in the territories of the South of France, owing to the pastoral nature of the farms and to the diversity of meat products and of the associated industries. Starting from a study carried out in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, well-known today for its Sisteron lamb, this article retraces the evolution of sheep farming in the pre-Alpine agrarian systems during the twentieth century and summarizes the present situation through the analysis of the workings of the different farming systems. It discusses the relationships, often ambiguous, established between the quality of the products and the maintenance of the area and considers the the prospects which, in this context, to the sheep-farming sector of the area is facing.