Participatory approach to optimize antibiotic use to guarantee the health and welfare of pigs and poultry[Réflexion participative pour une optimisation de l’usage des antibiotiques garantissant santé et bien-être des porcs et volailles]

Antibiotic use has fallen by almost 50% in the French poultry and pig sectors in the last 15 years. However, the degree of change has varied among farms, and the introduction of antibiotic-free labels by retailors has sometimes resulted in an excessive reduction in antibiotic use, to the detriment of animal health and welfare. To improve antibiotic use, a participatory approach was applied that brought together representatives of veterinarians, the pig and poultry sectors, technical institutes, the Ministry of Agriculture, and researchers. This paper presents the main stages of the process and their results, concerning the long-term vision shared by the group about antibiotic use on farms and analysis of the obstacles that need to be lifted to move towards this shared objective. The results show, among other things, the importance of standardizing and disseminating systems for monitoring, at the farm level, animal health and welfare, antibiotic use and the level of resistance to antibiotics, in order to allow farmers and veterinarians to precisely monitor the antibiotic use. Other fields of action concern (i) the need for better communication and consumer information on the issues of animal health, welfare and the proper use of antibiotics, and (ii) the issues of the economic competitiveness of the sector and the economic viability of farms that want to invest in prevention.