Local Knowledge, Agents and Models for the adaptation to climatic varia- bility of livestock farmers in Uruguay Morales Grosskopf H. 1 , Bartaburu D. 3 , Dieguez F. 1 , Bommel P. 4 , Tourrand J.F. 2 . hmorales@planagropecuario.org.uy 1 Instituto Plan Agropecuario, Bvar Artigas 3802, Montevideo, Uruguay. 2 CIRAD, Campus international de Baillarguet. 34398 Montpellier Cedex 5 – France 3 Instituto Plan Agropecuario, Amorim 55, Salto, Uruguay. 4 CIRAD, ur Green, Montpellier, France, and Universidade de Brasilia, Brasil Key words: climate variability, models, decisions, livestock farming, Uruguay Abstract Basaltic soils in Uruguay occupy 3.5 million hectares, 25% of the country, and are mainly exploit- ed by extensive family ranching production systems. These shallow soils have an extremely re- duced capacity to accumulate water that make them more sensitive to drought with negative con- sequences in: forage production, animal production, feeding security, and high consequences on the economy and welfare of livestock farmers and the local communities living conditions, then on the whole beef supply chain and on national exports. Extreme events will be more frequent in the future as a consequence of current climatic changes. It is thus necessary to improve the adaptive capacities of the livestock producers. In order to understand the past effects of droughts, we developed an interactive agent based simulation model and we compared two different farmers’ archetypal strategies. The design of the model was conducted in four steps: 1) we simulated the grass growth using a logistic growth equation calibrated with data originated from the MODIS satellite, 2) the natural dynamic life cycle of the cattle was collectively designed, 3) we simulated the interaction between the grass and big grazers, 4) we designed different strategies of farm management, by using the information gath- ered in 8 workshops with the participation of 156 livestock farmers. Thus, we collectively exam- ined the simulation results with livestock farmers and development actors. Now, we are construct- ing a “serious game” called “Ganaderos y sequía” that will be accessible in our web page. The purpose is to get a flight simulator like game that will speed farmers’ learning and adaptation to droughts. Introduction Uruguay is probably one of the countries that is most dependent on rainfall due to two factors; i) the production of hydro-electric which at the time of normal rainfall provides nearly all of the elec- tricity consumed by the country, and ii) the prime importance of export of agricultural products which are produced on dry land. The inter-annual variety in rainfall and consequently plant pro- duction in Uruguay is very high (Baetghen and Carriquiry 2006) and this has major implications for the present systems of production. In recent years the episodes of drought have been relative- ly more frequent than in the past, and this, combined with raised interest from the scientific com- munity, has increased the search for tools that can accelerate knowledge accumulation and im- prove adaptation. Facing this type of problem, the institutions that intend to participate in the im- provement of adaptation must produce relevant statements which are credible and legitimate. Moreover, motivation, information and capacity are three of the essential components that can