The Specificities of Generational Renewal in French Alpine Agriculture
Given that 2026 has been declared the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists by the United Nations, and that pastoralism is a key component of Alpine identity, CIPRA France conducted an exploratory study on the following topic: the specific characteristics of generational renewal in French Alpine agriculture.
The Alpine Convention is the international treaty dedicated to the protection of the Alps, addressing various issues through its protocols, such as climate change, the green economy, population, culture, quality of life, and mountain agriculture. In total, the Alpine Convention focuses on 17 interconnected themes. The topic explored in this document lies at the intersection of several of these themes. Moreover, the Alpine Convention’s working group on mountain agriculture and forestry has identified generational renewal as a priority for 2026.
CIPRA has always paid particular attention to the views and perspectives of young people on a wide range of topics. This approach helps to better highlight the real needs on the ground. The present study is an example of this, in that the role of young people and future farmers takes on its full significance here: they are the ones directly confronted with the issue of generational succession.
This study focuses exclusively on the French Alps. It is a multifaceted topic that encompasses economic, social, climatic, and structural dimensions.