Agroecological Transition from Farms to Territorialised Agri-Food Systems: Issues and Drivers

Marie-Benoît Magrini,Laurent Hazard,Marie-Angélina Magne,Guillaume Martin,Gaël Plumecocq,Nathalie Couix,Michel Duru

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-01953-2_5

Abstract

Agroecological transition corresponds to a systemic transformation consisting in the ecologisation of agriculture and food. It concerns multiple stakeholders (farmers, supply chains, natural resource managers, etc.) and is characterised by a deliberate political intention to bring about change. This chapter highlights a set of determinants of agroecological transition at play in transforming the techniques and the values underpinning both agricultural production and food consumption choices – both of which can lead to various new agri-food systems. Based on the literature on transition studies, we focus on several considerations that could help stakeholders to better engage in such a process: (i) transition takes place over time intervals that vary, depending on the analysis scale (the farm or the agri-food system as a whole); (ii) transition is complex, systemic and requires changes of the whole sociotechnical regime; (iii) transition implies strong connections between niche-innovations and the dominant sociotechnical regime; and (iv) changes in values and individuals’ abilities are fundamental drivers. Hence, by focusing on the plurality of factors and stakeholders at work, we unpack the complexity of this transition, and in this way help the stakeholders to design and execute it. To conclude, we examine specific issues around the governance of agroecological transition.

Highlights

What Agroecological Transition Are We Talking About?Faced with the urgency of sustainable development and the crises that the agricultural sector is experiencing, successive governments in France have strengthened measures to make agriculture more ecological
We show that various innovations related to transformation and sale infrastructure for agricultural productions have a significant influence on the agroecological transition” (AET)
Farmers’ perception of risks affects their capacity to change. This dimension is even more important considering that the changes to be implemented in an AET are complex and uncertain for multiple reasons (Duru et al 2015a, b): (i) they are systemic; (ii) they are based on capacities that farmers may have lost; (iii) they are highly dependent on local conditions, which means that farmers must adjust the nature and extent of these changes based on their production situation; (iv) they are uncertain because the response of the agroecosystem to new management practices is poorly known in advance; (v) they must correspond to local socio-economic opportunities and threats; and (vi) they must adjust dynamically to changes in the production context

Summary

Introduction

What Agroecological Transition Are We Talking About?Faced with the urgency of sustainable development and the crises that the agricultural sector is experiencing, successive governments in France have strengthened measures to make agriculture more ecological.

Results

Conclusion