Efficiency of food protein production in humid tropics: a tradeoff among farms, plants and animals – PROTEIN3

PROTEIN3 is a research action multi actor project focused on evaluation of strategies to increase food sovereignty, especially food protein production, in tropical humid areas. The working hypothesis is that a greater efficiency in the production and consumption of dietary protein requires: i) a balance between animal and vegetable proteins; ii) a multi-criteria assessment on each farm, animal and plant scale. It is postulated that mixed crop-livestock system are the farms with the highest efficiency for protein production compared with specialized farms but optimization between crops and livestock must be sought. Concerning protein plants, priority should be given to multiple uses dual legumes crops (monogastric livestock vs. ruminant livestock vs. human). Multiple animal responses (meat production, livestock resilience to environmental stress, environmental impacts…) need to be evaluated seeking tradeoff between the several functions. The project PROTEIN3 combines global approaches and disciplinary approaches, social and biotechnical sciences.