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Soil Pollution, Animal Contamination and Safe Food Production: The Case of the French West Indies

Author

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  • P. Andres-Domenech

    (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, AgroParisTech)

  • Valérie Angeon

    (ECODEVELOPPEMENT - Ecodéveloppement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

  • Samuel Bates

    (LC2S - Laboratoire caribéen de sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UA - Université des Antilles, GRANEM - Groupe de Recherche Angevin en Economie et Management - UA - Université d'Angers - Institut Agro Rennes Angers - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement)

  • Colombine Lesage

    (PEYI - Plateforme Expérimentale sur le végétal et les agrosYstèmes Innovants en milieu tropical - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

This article presents a new model to manage the provision of healthy food despite incomplete information about exposure of natural resources to a persistent pollutant (chlordecone). This toxic molecule has contaminated both terrestrial and aquatic resources for several decades in the French West Indies. As a consequence, the threat of exposing humans to contaminated food jeopardizes local agricultural and livestock activities. We address the problem that breeders face: producing healthy food with incomplete information on the animals' contamination. We examine the compatibility of respecting health-production constraints with the timing of animal management. We consider the dual set of constraints that breeders face: (1) they must achieve a target contamination rate that complies with the regulation on the Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) and (2) they must comply with a production calendar that tells them at what age the animals are to be sold. We also discuss the economic and biotechnical consequences that changes in the MRL impose on meat production. We compute the time required to decontaminate the animals and analyse the cost for farmers to adapt to (i) the regulation in place and to (ii) the more stringent health-related targets that are expected in the future. Our results are sensitive to the choice of species cattle, goats, sheep and pigs), the rearing practices, the information setting and the initial contamination rate. This paper opens strategic windows for breeders to guarantee their economic sustainability and their ability to produce healthy meat despite the incomplete information on pollution at their disposal.

Suggested Citation

  • P. Andres-Domenech & Valérie Angeon & Samuel Bates & Colombine Lesage, 2023. "Soil Pollution, Animal Contamination and Safe Food Production: The Case of the French West Indies," Post-Print hal-04242035, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04242035
    DOI: 10.1007/s10666-023-09921-1
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04242035v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romain Espinosa & Damian Tago & Nicolas Treich, 2020. "Infectious Diseases and Meat Production," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 1019-1044, August.
    2. Ousmane Z Traoré, 2022. "African trade of mangoes to OECD countries: disentangling the effects of compliance with maximum residue limits on production, export supply and import demand," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 49(2), pages 383-432.
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    Keywords

    Livestock; Soil pollution; Maximum residue limits for pesticides; Safe meat production;
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