Search

This paper studies the transformation of irrigated systems in the semi-arid Elqui Valley in Chile. We use the notion of hydrosocial territory to analyze the effects of new hydraulic infrastructures on irrigation practices and institutional water rules. The methodology is based on the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. The installation of new infrastructures associated with the rise of commercial agriculture, financed by the State, leads to a gradual abandonment of canals and water turns and disintegrates the collective decision-making process within the irrigators' associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper questions the notion of 'local' as applied to food provisioning and its social, spatial and political dimensions. The aim is to understand how the different actors involved in local and 'localized' food circuits think, use and apply this notion. By following the diverse representations of locality – from the actors' discourses to urban planning texts – and the practices that implement them, the authors (an anthropologist, a geographer and an urban planner) examine the variability of this notion in order to analyze the way it is appropriated and reconfigured according to the arena in which it is mobilized. This text also aims to reflect on the limits and contributions of a multidisciplinary approach to these issues. The challenge is to show that the summing of these three approaches brings out new elements that do not emerge from each individual analysis. The notion of 'local' is part of an administrative, spatial and ideological reality that is being constantly recomposed according to political, social and economic processes. Questioning this notion by involving three dimensions and three disciplines, enables our reflection to avoid the impasses of scientific literature in which the meaning of what is local seems to be self-evident while remaining fixed in specific disciplinary frameworks, and to show its shifting nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a summary of the discussions held during the 2nd International Symposium on Work in Agriculture (March 29–April 1, 2021). The objective of the paper is to report on the themes and ideas exchanged, in a multidisciplinary framework, and to build a common vision of the future of agricultural work on a global scale. The dynamics of agricultural development, on the scale of continents, oppose northern and southern countries, raising different questions (for example agriculture without farmers in northern countries versus decent work for a large agricultural working population in southern countries). But some issues are cross-cutting: the agroecological transition, gender issues, the digital revolution, migration, are changing agricultural work in depth. We propose some perspectives for a research agenda to address the future of work in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a survey conducted in northwestern Nicaragua, which aims at understanding how the flows of money and food generated by the diversified and multi-situated activities of farm households intervene in food access and perception of food security. In the study area, family agriculture develops in difficult agro-ecological conditions, and aims at producing staple food production and cattle ranching. In response to the lack of income, farm households have diversified their agricultural production with off-farm activities, locally and in migration. This diversification and multilocation allow them to generate income and food, essential for food security in regions at the origin. Social relationships between household members and beyond (extended family, neighborhood, and institutional actors) structure the flows of money and food. To capture these flows, the survey questionnaire, composed of three sections, is organized around a unique identification key: the individual. By capturing individual activities and resource flows directed towards the family kitchen, the survey offers possibilities for analyzing food security based on the deconstruction of conventional analysis units (residence, household, operation). Production and circulation communities are then established to study the supply strategies of the consumption community, which is the starting point for the analysis of food security. The questionnaire was applied to 350 households in a study area located in the North-west of Nicaragua. Data were gathered by paper questionnaire and face-to-face interview between April and June 2016. Additional individual interviews were conducted between February and May 2016. The data were entered between July and October 2016, before being checked, cleaned and prepared for analysis between June and October 2017 on the SPSS software. The metadata was produced on NESSTAR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the feedback from the project leaders on the management of interdisciplinarity involving 14 scientific projects (3 networks and 11 research projects) that are part of a program on the integrated management of animal health, and from researchers participating in the overall management of the program. The difficulties encountered by the project leaders relate to a need for acculturation among disciplines, to the equilibrium and mutual respect between disciplines within the project, to the lack of time dedicated to the scientific animation of the project, and to the difficulty of publishing interdisciplinary work. The level of interdisciplinarity varies among projects, from juxtaposition of several disciplines to their actual integration. Recommendations proposed to future project leaders at the various steps of a projet involve the co-design step, in order to facilitate the decentering of disciplinary questioning, the implementation step requiring an agile management, and the report step, in order to analyse how interdisciplinarity has shifted disciplinary lines and modified initial questions. Strengthening of interdisciplinary programs should prioritize the training of researchers in interdisciplinarity, provide support for the conception of interdisciplinary projects, and analyse the degree to which integration of disciplines was achieved in the projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of large amounts of data requires using methods that combine a range of fields such as computer science, mathematics, statistics, etc. All of these methods useful for data processing form the basis of "data science". In this context, text mining approaches allow the discovery of new and useful knowledge for experts generally originating from different application areas (e.g., epidemiological surveillance, food security, etc.). This paper provides an overview of the use of text mining methods in various projects related to agriculture and health. A generic methodological approach is then proposed and discussed. This is based on three stages: (1) Data collection. Corpus acquisition from the Web can be done with queries on search engines or RSS feeds. (2) Extraction of terminology using text-mining approaches. Terminology is automatically extracted using different parameters of the BioTex tool (e.g., F-TFIDF-C and C-value measures) dealing with texts in English, French and Spanish. (3) Validation of terms with end-users and field experts based on different approaches (e.g., surveys, workshops, etc.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many documents have been published and webinars held on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on food security at international levels, which tend to blur our understanding of actual dynamics on the ground. Based on a network of researchers from Cirad and its partners in a wide diversity of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, this paper attempts to take stock of what is happening in the food and agriculture sector. The information provided allow for a more nuanced analysis when compared to international organizations’ reports. While lockdown and social distancing measures have only mildly affected world trade and production of staple food, some perishable products have been wasted, unable to reach markets. The crisis emphasizes the disconnection between food production and trade and the dire situation of many poor consumers, in cities, holding informal jobs, who have been hit very hard. The crisis should help imagining short- and long-term measures to support food systems resilience along an integrated approach and adaptation strategies already developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bioeconomy is becoming increasingly important in public policy, especially in the European Union and the USA. It is described either as a new biotechnological industrial revolution, or as a great transition toward the use of renewable resources, both of these through the development of 'biorefineries'. To organize the transition, agro-industry, and the chemical, wood and biotechnology industries are involved in intensive institutional work. This work aims to problematize the organization of this new industrial bioeconomy, its links with other sectors, and the regulation of the change. To do so, public policies support backcasting exercises and roadmap development. However, the history of this transition toward the use of renewable resources shows that similar problematizations were conducted in the past. We look at two historical periods. First, very similar promises to those of today were formulated in the 1930s, by the USA chemurgy movement. Second, during the 1980s, the chemical industry became interested in sugar following the oil crisis of the 1970s. During this period the problematization of the biorefinery as a structuring artefact emerged. In this paper, we review these two historical periods to interpret today's 'visions of the future' from a historical perspective. We conclude this study by comparing and contrasting former and current tensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beekeeping is facing challenges worldwide and management of honeybee biodiversity is a key stake. In France, some set ups aim at conserving local honey bees whereas prevailing model selects honeybees for production first. The Corsican honeybee have a unique situation as the stakeholders both aim at maintaining and making selection of the local ecotype, with an aim of honey production with bees adapted to the island apiary conditions. This paper aims at questioning how such a set-up has been built. Our work is based on interviews of beekeeping stakeholders. We first show the strong links between the local ecotype management and the protected designation of origin for the honey. We then show that selection criteria are not specific to the local conditions, whereas the activity in general appears very connected to those conditions. We show that the set up for selection of the Corsican bee produces (and is expected for) other elements then the single genetic aspects. We show that the management of local bee population, rather than combining two genetic management orientations, combines several items of interests beyond the single genetic management aspects, and should be comprehended in its milieu (biogeographical, sociotechnical, socioeconomics, etc.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recovery of the grey wolf population in France has generated numerous conflicts, which have been studied by many disciplines including the social sciences. Our paper shows that a discursive approach to these controversies can offer new insights and help to understand the continuing oppositions between the various actors involved. A comparative analysis of the argumentative discourses developed in two articles published by two national French newspapers, Libération and Le Monde, highlights two contrasting representations of environmental equilibria. The first aims at an equilibrium between livestock and nature (Libération), the second at an equilibrium between wolves and nature (Le Monde), each equilibrium being disrupted respectively by wolves and humans. The stability of the social-ecological community is based on the exclusion of one actor. Despite a similar formal structure, each article develops a specific authority through the interaction between the peritext and the text, and through the enunciative system in order to legitimate the author's representations. In the Libération article, we show that the scientific authority serves to objectify and thus legitimate the argumentative discourse, whereas in Le Monde, a militant authority subjectifies the discourse. In both papers, the authority is also closely linked to the identity of the country (France). Both articles have a polemical dimension, which is however more explicit in Le Monde where the opponents are clearly identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To render policies for water and soil conservation planning (WSCP) more efficient, Tunisia is seeking to reorient them through innovative participatory approaches.Reorientation is taking place in contexts in which data is often lacking, and where the environmental dimension needs to be clearly objectified. Furthermore, very fewspaces are available that allow such dialogue between different stakeholders. This paper analyzes an original participatory approach designed to produce quality information and data by exploiting local knowledge and accounting for and sharing the perceptions of the different stakeholders, and finally building a consensus to enable more efficient WSCP policy-making. In addition to a survey of the participant's satisfaction, evaluation called on outside observers and used an evaluative framework of the process itself, its outcomes and its short-term effects. Sharing and taking into account not only the information and data collected but also the expertise and perception of the different stakeholders made it possible to produce data that all the participants rated as 'satisfactory' to 'very satisfactory'. The participatory process supported the knowledge of all the stakeholders and helped create a constructive dynamics that encouraged group learning. The commitment and the mobilization of the stakeholders, especially at national level, in an operational arena geared towards reaching agreement on territorial stakes, agricultural practices and WSCP, paves the way for the decentralization of political power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical elements in agroecology: ecological intensivity. Agroecology is the science of agroecosystems. Ecological intensification is the process by which ecological functionalities can be intensified to obtain higher biomass production from agroecosystems, environmentally friendly, and in a way that has to be compatible with ecological viability principles. This statement defines an ecologically intensive agriculture. Ecological intensification is a very creative domain for new technologies but theoretical bases are still lacking. This paper enumerates some available theoretical elements. It appears that the management of ecologically intensive agroecoystems needs new transdisciplinary approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the description of a biography of a land in a village located in central Myanmar, this paper analyzes the interplay between local land relations and government practices. In Myanmar, colonial and postcolonial land reforms and policies have partly changed land access for local populations. This case study focuses on a specific plot of land: originally held by a family of villagers in the 1950s, the plot was latter allocated by government agents to the couple who cultivated it via a land-lease arrangement. The land was afterward turned into a "vacant land" following the implementation of a military-socialist policy and is now the village's football ground. Meanwhile, the parcel remained dependent upon local uses and regulations challenged by development issues that update the question of its status: common land, village land, or vacant land? First, the plot's biography enables to show successive and overlapping uses and status. Second, the unfolding of government practices (colonialists, military-socialists and post-democracy) are analyzed and confronted to local land relations and moral economy. Finally, the role of village headman is highlighted in regard to how land status are claimed and negotiated, concluding on the importance of local-government relations to understand the dynamics of social changes at play in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of water management, collaborative planning involvement of various local stakeholders and adaptive management of local issues have become the keywords of public policies. In this paper, we focus on the intermediations induced by the Coclick'eau approach. Via the development of a collective expertise this approach targets support to different stakeholders concerned by the same territory by providing participatory decision-making support to reduce negative impacts of agricultural practices on water quality. Within a political context which emphasizes the role of agriculture on water quality our objective is to identify the capacity of this approach, based on the development of local technical and agronomic knowledge to be mobilized in the production of local scenarios, to support the elaboration of action plans aimed at solving water quality problems. This study was conducted in three water catchments. We show that the governing bodies earmarked for participation by the national framework are not those witnessing the processes of translation and learning that support the emergence of a collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]