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The DIAMOND method (DIagnostic de durabilité des ateliers d'élevage des Animaux MONogastriques Déclinable par espèce) is a method for evaluating the sustainability of livestock workshops.

It was developed within the framework of the Cunipalm project to evaluate the sustainability of breeding practices in rabbit and palmiped workshops. The method was formalised by the publication of a user guide and then an S+Durable? tool adapted to the evaluation of innovations in research conditions.

The DIAMOND method

Animal production is at the crossroads of new social, economic and environmental issues and sustainable development has been a priority for several years. It is in this context that INRAE and ITAVI have joined forces to develop a multi-criteria evaluation method for the sustainability of livestock workshops, in order to provide national references for economic, social and environmental efficiency and to identify the technical choices or combinations of practices that have an impact on these issues.
This work led to the development of the DIAMOND method (DIagnostic de durabilité des ateliers d'élevage des Animaux MONogastriques Déclinable par espèce). This method is designed to be generic to all monogastric animals (rabbits, poultry, pigs, etc.).
It was developed by co-construction as part of a participatory approach based on a consensus of stakeholders including experts, representatives of the two sectors (rabbits and fattened palmipeds), citizens and consumers.

The construction process consisted of 4 stages:

• the delimitation of the boundaries of the system under evaluation,
• the definition of sustainability objectives and their weighting,
• the choice of sustainability indicators and
• the methodology for aggregating data for the interpretation of the results.

The method was applied iteratively within the national networks of reference farms (rabbits and palmipeds for foie gras), which made it possible to validate it and to produce national references for economic, social and environmental efficiency for each of the two production sectors studied. The analysis of the data made it possible to highlight the influence of structural characteristics or technical choices on sustainability and to establish a typology of workshops.
This work is a valuable asset for the sectors in terms of communication but also of strategic analysis to identify progress margins and action priorities.