Pastoralism: Climate, Sovereignty and International Cooperation

Step By Steppe had the honor of attending the February 24 conference at the Salon International de l'Agriculture 2026, dedicated to the strategic role of pastoralism in climate and food system transitions.

Speakers included:

• Annie Genevard, French Minister of Agriculture
• Ulambayar Nyamkhuu, Ambassador of Mongolia to France
• Marie Bjornson-Langen Bjørnson-Langen, Deputy CEO of the AFD - Agence Française de Développement
• Élisabeth Claverie de Saint Martin, CEO of the CIRAD Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement
• Jean-Louis Cazaubon, Vice-President of the Occitanie Region
• Christian Asna, pastoral farmer and President of CORAM

A powerful dialogue connecting diplomacy, public policy, science, and field experience.

A Concrete Franco-Mongolian Partnership

The Ambassador of Mongolia emphasized that: “France is a country of agricultural excellence.”
She shared a compelling example: hardy French cattle introduced into Mongolia are now contributing to school milk programs, providing Mongolian children with milk during school breaks.
Her Excellence also highlighted the strong potential for cooperation between Mongolia and France in the field of pastoralism, particularly in the context of 2026 being proclaimed the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, an initiative led by Mongolia and implemented globally by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The Minister’s Message

The French Minister of Agriculture stressed:
- Pastoralism as a pillar of food sovereignt
- Its key role in climate adaptation
- The need to support pastoral farmers facing economic and predation challenges
- The importance of integrating pastoral systems into public agricultural policies.

Her message was clear: pastoralism is not a relic — it is a forward-looking system capable of reconciling production, biodiversity, and sustainable land management.

🌱 Science, Investment and Resilience

The contributions of AFD - Agence Française de Développement and CIRAD underlined that pastoralism is:
- A climate resilience tool
- A stabilizing socio-economic force in vulnerable regions
- A strategic domain for research, innovation, and international cooperation

Our Conviction: Pastoralism is not marginal. It is a strategic ecological and social infrastructure.

As Gilles Deleuze wrote: “The nomad distributes space; he does not divide it.”

Paris International Agricultural Show 2026, conference dedicated to the strategic role of pastoralism in climate and food system transitions.

Pastoralists do not exploit territories - they inhabit, manage, and sustain them. The future is not above ground. It lies along the rangelands.