Claire Lamine

Conversion to Organic Farming: A Multidimensional Research Object at the Crossroads of Agricultural and Social Sciences - A Review

Literature on the conversion from intensive to organic farming is scarce. However, both the conversion of farmers to organic farming and of consumers to organic food are the driving forces for the development of the organic sector. In this review, we combine agricultural and social scientists’ viewpoints for a critical appraisal of literature on conversion to organic food and farming. First, a brief historical retrospective enables us to refer the scientific production to the institutional and economic context over the past decades. Secondly, we review the methods used to analyse conversion in agricultural and social sciences, and show that emphasis is most often laid upon the effects of conversion and the motivations to convert, on the basis of comparative approaches with so-called conventional agriculture. Therefore, the literature minimises the importance of transitional aspects and trajectories, and rarely approaches conversion as a longer process than its legal duration and from a wider point of view. Thirdly, we examine the paradigms of input efficiency and system redesign, which frame discussions about transitions in agriculture, beyond organics, and therefore helps shed light on sustainability issues. We suggest that analysing conversion and more generally transitions in agriculture as multidimensional issues, involving both production and social practices, entails interdisciplinary approaches and the redefinition of some central research topics.

Agri-Food systems and territorial development: innovations, new dynamics and changing governance mechanisms

The chapter explores the linkages between farming systems and agri-food chains in a territorial development context. Lock-in effects within the current agri-food system are analysed through a socio-historical analysis. Then the experiences of emergent, still relatively small-scale, alternative food networks are assessed in terms of their transformative potential to enable sustainable food systems at a larger scale. Finally, the analysis focuses on the transition processes of agri-food systems at the territorial scale and considers the changes needed in governance modes. The chapter underlines the interdependencies and possible complementarities between the various actors of agri-food systems from production to consumption, including intermediaries as well as public policies and civil society. It emphasizes the transition and governance aspects involved.

Crop management, labour organization, and marketing: three key issues for improving sustainability in organic vegetable farming

Most market-garden farms that have converted to organic farming (OF) in the last few decades in France are small and diversified. Larger farms usually specialize in a few vegetable species and frequently face technical and economic problems when they convert to organics. Diversifying production may be a means of increasing sustainability due to larger crop rotations and varied marketing outlets, but it has various implications on farm management, especially labour organization and marketing. In the present study, we examined how an acceptable degree of species diversification can act as a lever to develop organic vegetable production by combining sociologist and agronomist points of view. Multidisciplinary surveys of 30 market-garden farms varying in usable surface area and degrees of crop diversification were carried out. Consequences on crop management, labour organization and skills, and marketing implications were described, and farm sustainability was assessed. Specialized farms of the sample had a rather industrial organization of labour and marketing and benefited from economy of scale to produce vegetables. But in the long term, they may suffer from low agronomical sustainability because of narrow crop rotations and intensive crop management. Diversified farms were more sustainable according the criteria studied, but they suffered from the extremely complex management of cropping systems. These results are discussed on both the farm and territorial levels. Collective marketing initiatives and social networks might help reach an acceptable degree of species diversification at the farm level. Potential innovative organizations are identified, which could facilitate the transition to OF.

Transitions Towards Organic Farming at the Farm and at the Local Scales: The Role of Innovative Production and Organisational Modes and Networks

In a context of growing environmental constraints and economic uncertainties, how is it possible to facilitate transitions towards more ecological forms of agriculture? In this chapter, changes in practices from conventional agriculture towards organic farming (OF) are investigated by combining sociological and agronomical studies of farmers’ trajectories conducted in the fruit and vegetable sectors. We specifically explore the potential of combinations of systems, both at the level of production and in terms of marketing outlets. We analyse the processes of adoption of alternative crop protection strategies using the Efficiency-Substitution-Redesign grid developed by biological and agricultural scientists. The combination of diversified systems of production (including organic and IPM) and marketing channels (including short and long food supply chains) might provide promising transition pathways for organic farmers. We also examine the conditions that enable such transitions, involving learning processes, collective and territorial dynamics and the ability of the networks to overcome the classical frontier between organic and conventional agricultures. Our three French case studies, which cover a wide range of marketing networks and diversification levels, show that a robust ecologisation of agricultural practices requires the redesign of both technical agricultural systems, as well as the larger interactions within agri-food systems and non-agricultural networks.

Mobilisations et animations autour des réductions d’intrants: stratégies d’intéressement des agriculteurs dans trois territoires franciliens

Cette recherche est soutenue par l’attribution d’une allocation doctorale de la Region Ile-de-France et par le projet ANR POPSY (Systemes de production de grande culture, environnement, politiques publiques).

AGROECOLOGY: POLYSEMY, PLURALISM AND CONTROVERSIES

In recent years, a growing number of actors and institutions, in different countries, have begun using the notion of Agroecology, which has led to an expansion of its polysemy and its controversies. Taking this into account, this paper analyzes, based on the Brazilian and French experiences, the peculiarities of Agroecology in four different fields: science, social movements, government policies, and education. It also discusses three other issues: the analytical, programmatic and normative discourses; the different definitions, in the fields of science and education, of the object of study of Agroecology; and the different formulations regarding its fundamental principles. It is argued that, in this new context, recognition of this pluralism and the controversies acquires a central role in the construction of knowledge in the various fields linked to Agroecology.

The agroecology of food systems: Reconnecting agriculture, food, and the environment

ABSTRACT Re-localization is part of the solution but does not fully address the diversity of interdependencies within food systems. Based on the discussion in a workshop that was part of the 2015 conference on The Agroecological Imagination, we argue that an agroecological approach to food systems might provide an appropriate framework for understanding food systems transitions. We address three central questions. (1) Can agroecological practices add value to food, and what process of certification and labeling would help consumers understand the added value that certain practices provide? (2) How can agroecology introduce ecological concepts into decisions on food systems, especially at the scale of food systems rather than the scale of specific products? (3) What approaches to research and action-research are most appropriate – or remain to be developed – in order to favor such processes of reconnection between agriculture, environment and food? We conclude by arguing that an agroecological approach to food systems should favor processes which allow relational reflexivity – the capacity to take into account one’s own interdependencies to others but also interdependencies between other actors.

Redes alimentares alternativas e novas relações produção-consumo na França e no Brasil

O presente trabalho analisa redes alternativas de comercializacao de produtos ecologicos e novas relacoes producao-consumo na Franca e no Brasil. O metodo de investigacao foi baseado na pesquisa descritiva e qualitativa a partir de 20 experiencias selecionadas com atores (agricultores, comercializadores, consumidores e especialistas) que comercializam alimentos ecologicos na Franca e no sul do Brasil. Como resultado apresenta-se uma tipologia, as caracteristicas e a organizacao dos circuitos curtos de comercializacao. Os sistemas alternativos sao muito diversificados e dinâmicos, sendo uma opcao social, economica e ambiental para a agricultura familiar, fortalecendo os mercados locais e religando produtores e consumidores. Em ambos os paises as iniciativas bem-sucedidas em sistemas alternativos acontecem em locais onde existem formas de coordenacao em rede e parcerias entre o poder publico, entidades nao-governamentais, empresas, organizacoes de agricultores e consumidores.