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Norms and standards can either exclude players from the market, or contribute to higher values and a better distribution of the added value among the economic agents. In this paper, we state as a reminder that institutionalization and valorization, i.e., politics and economics, are the main drivers for change, and that one can hardly be sustainable over time without including the other. We will show that institutionalization of agroecology, i.e., the process of developing or transforming rules and procedures that influence a set of human interactions, must go hand to hand with valorization, i.e., to enhance or try to enhance the price, value, or status by organized and governmental action. We will use the case study of Kenya and the development of agroecology in the country since its independence. We will first provide the historical background of the agricultural development of the country: the colonial legacy, the socialism of the seventies, the impact of the liberalization era with the Washington consensus, and the recent emergence of agroecology. In a second section (results and discussion), we will describe the main drivers of the institutionalization of agroecology in the country. We will illustrate how agroecology struggles with the still prevalent dominance of conventional agriculture. A reason for this situation is the prevalence of the informal sector which excludes many farmers from formal support, including credit schemes and support policies. Institutionalization and valorization need to interact through price and credit incentives in order to provide the proper political and economic framework for environmental-friendly innovation adoption. In conclusion, a role of the State is to reduce uncertainty and risks, with the aim of promoting investments. Prices crystalize the antagonism between market and political failures and the formal and informal sector. Agroecology (mostly informal) and organic farming (formal) reflect the impact of the informal sector and the role of State intervention. Agroecology and organic farming can be the symptoms of the market and the State coexistence, or put differently, market or State failures.

We combine methodological individualism and the cognitive and behavioral sciences to propose a framework to understand the processes of economic change. Methodological individualism states that subjective individual motivation explains social phenomena. Cognitive and behavioral sciences in medicine state that a permanently interacting cognitive triad affects human behavior: cognitions, behavior and emotions. The 3 major aspects of the cognitive triad are 1) the universality of emotions, 2) the need to recognize the emotional virtues of conflicts versus violence, and 3) the bidirectional relations between emotions, cognitions, and behavior (one affects the others and vice versa). Therefore, understanding how the components of the cognitive triad interact with each other can explain not only human decision making, but also institutional change. We test this framework to the history of pesticide regulations since 1945 in Europe through the lenses of the precautionary principle. We analyze the major turning points in pesticide regulation from the cognitive triad. Pesticide regulation evolved with a major cognitive switch from food security to environmental protection. Pesticide regulations gave substance to the behavioral requirements induced by the cognitive switch. Emotions, through cognitive dissonance, were a major factor for change as they drove the gradual cognitive switch. Cognitions, behavior and emotions interacted permanently and evolved from one temporary equilibrium to another. Put simply, a large part of what was considered as normal before is not anymore; and inversely, a large part of what was considered as abnormal before is now considered as normal. The process of change of public policies can therefore be a matter of understanding the processes underlining the cognitive triad in human decision making. This framework offers challenging interdisciplinary opportunities and renews the ways we understand institutional change for sustainable development.

This article aims to measure the role of collective action in the pursuit of healthy and remunerative production objectives in the French West Indies. We mobilise the theory of collective action to highlight the role of more or less formal networks in achieving these objectives. The theoretical originality of our approach lies in considering the diversity of collective action in Martinique and Guadeloupe according to the degree of formalisation of networks. We use original data collected from about 400 market gardeners in the two territories, which allow us to analyse in greater detail the different forms of collective according to their degree of formalisation. Our results confirm our hypothesis that the degree of formalisation conditions the achievement of the individual objective of the farmers especially when the collective objectives of the organisations coincide with those of the members who make them up. In particular, our results show that farmers’ organisations are the organisational forms that best meet the objectives of economic valuation of production and reduction of the use of plant protection products., Cet article vise à mesurer le rôle de l’action collective dans la poursuite des objectifs de production saine et rémunératrice dans les Antilles françaises. Nous mobilisons la théorie de l’action collective pour souligner le rôle de réseaux plus ou moins formels dans la réalisation de ces objectifs. L’originalité théorique de notre approche réside dans la prise en compte de la diversité de l’action collective en Martinique et en Guadeloupe en fonction du degré de formalisation des réseaux. Nous utilisons des données originales collectées auprès d’environ 400 exploitations maraîchères et vivrières sur les deux territoires, qui nous permettent d’analyser plus finement les différentes formes de collectif en fonction de leur degré de formalisation. Nos résultats confortent notre hypothèse que le degré de formalisation conditionne la réalisation de l’objectif individuel des exploitants et ce, d’autant plus que les objectifs collectifs des organisations coïncident avec ceux des membres qui la composent. Nos résultats montrent notamment que les organisations de producteurs sont les formes organisationnelles qui permettent de répondre au mieux aux objectifs de valorisation économique de la production et de réduction d’utilisation des produits phytosanitaires.

Net house technology is a novel climate smart innovation for tackling many of the challenges of pesticide restrictions, pesticide resistance, standard and norms compliance. Net houses are relatively low-cost structures covered with insect nets that act as physical barriers against several insect pests and predators such as birds. In addition, net houses protect crops from periodic hail, preserve soil moisture content, reduce evapotranspiration and further buffer the extreme climate conditions (high temperature and humidity) due to ventilation. We conducted tests of the pest exclusion technology package composed of a net house, drip irrigation, and adapted seed varieties under real farming conditions. We tested this technology package among smallholder farmers producing tomatoes, cabbages and French beans in Kenya. We assessed the profitability and return on investment in net house technology using Cost Benefit Ratios (CBR). Even trials are rarely optimal. We considered real farming conditions with sub-optimal production and pesticide practices, farm-gate price diversity, and natural hazards (weather variation, pest attacks, etc.). The results show that yields for tomatoes were four times higher than open field, and at least twice higher for cabbages and French beans. The main factors affecting the marketable yield and the CBR were the farm-gate prices, seed varieties (for tomatoes), drip irrigation (all three crops), and the proficiency of the farmer in handling the components of the technology package (all three crops). Other secondary, factors were natural hazards (droughts, pest attacks, etc.). Support policies should simultaneously target investments, extension services and market access strategies among farmers.

The shadow economy (or non-observed economy) needs to be explicitly considered because it affects the implementation of public policies and therefore the justification of State intervention. The aim of this paper is to study the impact of the shadow economy on the sustainability assessments of value chains. As an illustrative case, we studied all the mango value chains in Burkina Faso : Exports to Europe (by boat or by plane), continental exports, dried mangoes exports, juice production, and the domestic market. For the economic analysis, we considered the added value and employment. For the environmental analysis we considered distance and technology. For the social analysis we considered land access and child labor. The shadow economy represents about 80% of the economy of Burkina Faso. About 96% of the working population does not have a permanent formal contract, i.e., no health coverage, no retirement plans, no insurance, and, by definition, no tax contribution. From an economic standpoint, we found that the shadow economy in the mango value chain represents only about 30 % of the total added value, predominantly the FSC of fresh mangoes consumed in Burkina Faso. However, about 99% of the 27,000 of the farmers and workers involved in the value chains do not have permanent formal contracts. From an environmental standpoint, old and poorly maintained trucks over long distances affect negatively the environment. The absence or poor technology support from the State and the absence or poor-quality controls affect the environmental impacts of all the mango value chains. From a social standpoint, the shadow economy affects access to land with blurred boundaries between traditional and State laws. We noticed that schoolchilds were mobilized to help farmers during the harvest season. Such a work can be both considered as child labor from the international standards on child protection from international experts, but also be considered as a traditional norm and value from the local populations for sensitization purposes. The shadow economy and the non-observed economy should be explicitly recognized, especially for value chains lurking in the shadows. The shadow economy is not a " black or white " phenomenon but a continuum between illegal and unrecorded activities to legal and recorded activities. The quantitative aspects of value chains are necessary as well as the moral and ethical values they convey for sustainable development.

The literature about sustainable development emphasizes cooperation and participatory approaches as a major, if not a necessary, prerequisite for sustainable development. Therefore, if cooperation is necessary for sustainable development, it is not so much the assessment of the complexity of a value chain in itself which matters most, but the quality of the interactions between its stakeholders. Consequently, the quantitative and technical aspects of value chains should be analyzed through their contribution to the quality of the interactions between their stakeholders. Cognitive dissonance is one of the means to analyze the quality of interactions. We applied it to the domestic vegetable value chain in Martinique, a small island in the French West Indies. Cognitive dissonance is a state of mental conflict between values, beliefs, ideas or feelings. It is one of the major components for the success of cooperation in behavioral and cognitive sciences. The domestic vegetable value chain regroups about 2600 farmers. It can only supply 40% of the total demand. The gap is filled with imports. We analyzed the quantitative and qualitative dissonance patterns among 17 interacting stakeholders of the domestic vegetable value chain: farmers, wholesalers, collective catering, supermarkets managers, and agricultural institutions. We show that dissonance is the result of conflicting self-interests, conflicting business models, and conflicting public policies: individualistic behaviors vs collective action, market driven business models versus rent-seeking models, and European public policies not always adapted to small island economies. Recognizing and describing dissonance between the stakeholders of a value chain is a first step towards change in favor of sustainable and responsible value chains.

The recognition of power relations, conflicting self-interests, and potential inequalities over time, is a first step towards sustainable and responsible value chains. In this paper, we focus on a 44 km2 watershed in an Island in the French West Indies, Martinique. This watershed concentrates different competing value chains, different power relations, different access to factors of production, and different business models. The elements in common between the stakeholders are the geographical location, the constraints of stringent norms and standards towards less dependence on synthetic pesticides, and a strong attachment to the island. We interviewed 54 farmers in vegetable, sugarcane and banana production. We analyzed the main drivers of change over time in the watershed and their impact over the current value adding and innovation management for pesticide reduction. We built a cartography of the stakeholders. The results show systemic inequalities in land access, labor, technology, and access to credit between export-oriented farms and the other non export-oriented farms. These systemic inequalities find their roots in the course of an history of power relations. These power relations are also influenced by the structural rent-seeking strategies provoked by the ultra-marine status of remote islands attached to the European Union. We discuss the opportunities for new alliances between the different stakeholders based on 1) higher farm-gate prices to small farms in order to influence the opportunity costs in favor of new certification schemes, 2) investments in human capital among extension services, and 3) higher and better targeted subsidies to small vegetable farms in order to reduce the current transaction costs to access the subsidies. Supply chains could not only compete for natural resources, including land, but also for labor.

The question of limiting the use of synthetic pesticides and selling locally in agriculture is a central issue that gathers both public and private requirements. Indeed, it has become a topic of particular interest for researchers in multiple fields of research. As an illustration, the ECOPHYTO PUMAT (Pour un maraîchage attractif : le cas de la tomate en Martinique) project was launched with the aim of promoting safe and local vegetable farming in Martinique. Indeed, the horticultural farming systems are evolving rapidly with simultaneous challenges: stringent norms and standards and new marketing channels. However, to this date, local production only supplies about 40% of the total demand in Martinique. To our knowledge, this issue has not been studied in the French overseas, which justifies this project and the associated doctoral considered. To identify the stakes and levers for such a challenge, we need tangible data that are representative of farms in all their diversity, including farming and marketing practices. We also need to understand how these farms interact with their environment. In this context, we will present our theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches.

International audience; This research focuses on the determinants of the adoption process of digital tools. More precisely, we study this adoption conditional on its use. As West Indian market gardeners use digital tools very little in their farming activities, they represent a particularly interesting population to consider. The theoretical originality of our approach consists in taking into account different levels of analysis to understand the adoption process of a digital tool. The first level concerns the adoption of an innovation through the resource-based view theory. The second level considers the adoption of a digital tool through the degree of farms’ complexity. Finally, the third level focuses on understanding the adoption of a tool conditional on its use. The empirical originality lies in the construction of a database of 400 West Indian producers in order to assess each level of analysis. The methodological originality is to couple a factorial analysis to identify the tool-use pairs of digital tools with a bivariate probit modelling focused on two main uses: acquisition of production skills and marketing support. Our results show that digital tools, whatever their use, are used by producers who are not part of networks or whose complex production and marketing practices require a specific response that these networks cannot always provide.; Tout l’enjeu de cette recherche est de s’interroger sur les déterminants du processus d’adoption des outils numériques. Plus précisément, nous étudions cette adoption du numérique conditionnellement à son usage. Les producteurs maraîchers antillais mobilisant peu les outils numériques pour leurs activités agricoles représentent une population particulièrement intéressante à considérer. L’originalité théorique de notre approche consiste à prendre en compte différents niveaux d’analyse pour comprendre le processus d’adoption d’un outil numérique. Le premier niveau concerne l’adoption d’une innovation par la théorie des ressources et compétences. Le second niveau considère l’adoption d’un outil numérique par le degré de complexité des exploitations. Enfin le troisième niveau s’attache à la compréhension de l’adoption d’un outil conditionnellement à son usage. L’originalité empirique repose sur la construction d’une base de données auprès de 400 producteurs antillais afin d’apprécier chaque niveau d’analyse. L’originalité méthodologique est de coupler une analyse factorielle pour identifier les couples outil-usage du numérique avec une modélisation de type probit bivarié centrée sur deux usages principaux : l’acquisition de compétences pour la production et l’appui à la commercialisation. Nos résultats montrent que les outils numériques, quel que soit leur usage, sont plus mobilisés par des producteurs non insérés dans des réseaux, ou dont la complexité et la diversité des pratiques productives et commerciales nécessite une réponse spécifique que ne peuvent pas toujours apporter ces réseaux.

Food supply chains (FSCs) not only need to be competitive, but increasingly face scarce resources and societal pressure for sustainable development. This paper assesses the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of five different FSCs that are all competing for the same primary product. We used the value chain methodology for the economic sustainability, life cycle assessment for the analysis of environmental sustainability, and a scoring approach for social sustainability. We applied these methodologies to five FSCs competing for mangoes in Burkina Faso: 1) the FSC of fresh mangoes exported (by boat or by plane) to the European Union, 2) the FSC of fresh mangoes exported to continental Africa, 3) the FSC of dried mangoes exported to Europe, 4) the FSC of mango juice and puree, and 5), the FSC of fresh mangoes consumed in Burkina Faso. For each FSC, we considered: 1) the added value per kilogramme; 2) male and female employment; 3) the contribution to the national economy; 4) working conditions; 5) the contribution to household food and nutritional security; 6) damage to human health per added value, 7) damage to ecosystems per added value, and 8) increased resource scarcity per added value. None of the FSCs obtained a perfect score. The domestic FSC had the best sustainability indicators and the African FSC distributed the highest share of added value to farmers. The number of middlemen, the operating costs, the trade value of the mangoes, and bargaining power, are the main factors affecting the distribution of the added value. The informal sector is a major factor that affects the social assessment through access to land and to most social rights. Distance and transport technology are the main factors that affect the environmental sustainability. Our results will help improve benchmarking of FSCs in a sustainability framework, targeting of private funding investment, and policy support for sustainable development.