Sustainability assessment in a sheep production system

Abstract

The aim of this project was to assess the sustainability in a system for the production of sheep under grazing in the municipality of Ahuazotepec, Puebla. The applied methodology is based upon the Framework for Evaluating Management Systems incorporating Sustainable Indicators (MESMIS), which contemplates the following: 1) Definition of the object of evaluation, 2) Identification of the critical points of the system, 3) Selection of diagnostic criteria and indicators, 4) Measurement of indicators and 5) Presentation and integration of results. The object of study was defined by characterizing sheep production systems that are commonly applied in the area, this characterization allowed the identification of the critical points of the system. Each critical point is determined by taking into account some attributes of sustainability: productivity, stability, resilience and reliability, adaptability and self-management. Diagnostic criteria containing different indicators were then proposed to measure each attribute, assigning one of the four values to each indicator: desired, medium, low and unwanted. The results were processed to generate an amoeba-type diagram in which the 31 indicators were plotted. This evaluation led to analysis to define which of the components of the system are perfectible, by using techniques designed to ensure the sustainability and then propose an alternative system, more sustainable than the present one.