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International audience; Due to an EU directive making integrated pest management (IPM) mandatory, European farmers are expected to reduce their use of chemical pesticides, which may potentially increase production costs and risk of harvest loss. Less pesticide use is appreciated by many consumers and may generate a higher willingness to pay (WTP). However, IPM is a wide concept and it is difficult for consumers to distinguish between products with high and low risk of pesticide residues. As a result, consumers might use other characteristics, such as country of origin, for the identification of safer products. In this study, we investigate if a higher WTP for Norwegian strawberries is associated with a belief that they contain less pesticide residues than imported berries. We use regression analysis to estimate to what extent the difference in WTP for Norwegian and imported strawberries is correlated with various perceptions about strawberries. The analyses reveal that the stronger the belief that Norwegian strawberries have less pesticide risk than imported ones, the higher the WTP for Norwegian strawberries. This means that if consumers believe domestic farmers use little pesticides, domestic products might be able to sell at considerably higher prices than imports. Hence, it may be economically beneficial for farmers to keep pesticide use at a minimum. Furthermore, we find that consumers have a higher WTP for strawberries produced with less use of pesticides, although not pesticide-free, indicating that IPM is appreciated.

International audience; This article’s objective is to highlight the different forms of agriculture present in the Argentinian Pampas, to analyse their logics, in particular in their relationships to the territory, and to discuss the relationships they have with each other. The theoretical framework adopted is that of “territorial pacts”. This framework makes it possible to define for each form of agriculture through three dimensions of its local integration into the territory (territorial mediation) and through four dimensions of its integration into institutions (agricultural development model). This theoretical framework was taught and put into practice by a team of 7 or 8 researchers and teacher-researchers and 80 fifth-year students of agronomy within the framework of a 1-week study trip repeated in three consecutive years in Santa Fe province. This is an interesting province for studying this subject because of the historical importance of family farming and the growth of large business farms. The method includes analyses of the agronomist’s skills and reflections with students. Three agricultural development models could be distinguished and analysed: business farming, small-scale family farming and conventional farming. These models highlight the roles of technicians, cities, markets, symbolic issues and personal projects. In conclusion, it appears that relationships between these different models are more along the lines of a co-presence and not of a coexistence. The latter would require the construction of a local public space and a profound change in the models’ current strategies. Nevertheless, a plural conception—and one that is open to dialogue—of the study programmes of the university faculties of agronomy could be a first step towards coexistence, since it appears that these faculties are at the centre of the tensions arising from co-presence.

Reducing pesticide use has become a goal shared by several European countries and a major issue in public policies due to the negative impacts of pesticides on the environment and on human health. However, since most of the agri-food sector relies on pesticides in these countries, substantially reducing pesticide use is a complex issue. To overcome this situation, we argue that agricultural research has a major role to play and must adopt a pesticide-free paradigm to expect a deep impact on pesticide use. In this article, we explain why this new paradigm is needed and outline research fronts that it will help address. These research fronts are related to five strategies: (1) redesigning cropping systems to enhance prophylaxis, (2) diversifying biocontrol strategies and associated business models, (3) broadening the scope of plant breeding to include functional biodiversity and evolutionary ecology concepts, (4) setting new goals for agricultural machinery and digital technologies, and (5) supporting development of public policies and private initiatives for the transition toward pesticide-free agri-food systems. The corresponding research activities must be managed conjointly to develop systemic and coupled innovations, which are essential for reducing pesticide use significantly. We therefore provide examples of cross-cutting objectives that combine these fronts while also highlighting the need for interdisciplinary research projects. By doing so, we provide an overall orientation for research to achieve sustainable agriculture.

International audience; In West Africa, farmers face challenges to innovate and change their practices toward more sustainable cropping systems. Farmer Field Schools (FFS), an advisory service based on participatory principles, aim to support farmers’ innovation. This study investigates farmers’ innovation by characterizing their trajectories of change in agricultural practices after they participated in FFS. Two contrasting types of FFS for family farmers in the cotton-growing area of West Africa were selected. The FFS differed in how they were implemented; farmer participation was either consultative (farmers participated little in developing the FFS curricula and structure) or collaborative (farmers participated actively in developing the FFS curricula and structure). Former FFS participants were interviewed on their successive changes in cropping practices over a 4 to 8-year time span. The sample included seven FFS on rainy season cropping (17 interviews in Burkina Faso, 22 in Togo), and four vegetable gardening FFS (21 interviews in Togo). The Efficiency-Substitution-Redesign framework was applied to pest management, organic and mineral fertilization and legume cropping practices. Our results show that the way FFS were implemented influenced farmers’ trajectories of change in practices. After consultative FFS, changes in practices were limited. After collaborative FFS, we found a variety of changes in the production and use of compost, biopesticides, and inclusion of legumes in the cropping system through intercropping or pure cropping. Redesign of cropping systems included increasing on-farm compost production, collective pest management, and crop rotations. Collaborative FFS can be seen as step-by-step design processes for locally adapted cropping systems. This is the first time that farmers’ trajectories of change in practices are used to assess the effects of FFS. This approach is valuable for understanding farmers’ decision making and the role of participatory innovation support initiatives such as FFS.

International audience; Over the last few years, intensive agriculture has often been denounced as a source of negative effects, particularly at the environmental and health level (overexploitation of natural resources, degradation of their quality, appearance and development of several diseases, etc.). Reducing the excessive use of agricultural inputs for the protection of the environment and the preservation of human and animal health is a social requirement nowadays. Investing in more sustainable agricultural models which make it possible to reduce, or even eliminate the risks, has become urgent. A possible solution may be to resort to agroecological systems. In order to be sustainable, these new systems must be performant at the agronomic, economic, social, and environmental levels. There is a multitude of tools for assessing the sustainability of agricultural systems. These tools are inappropriate for organic and agroecological systems, and do not make it possible to measure the agroecological transition performance of farms (Trabelsi et al. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23:139–156, 2016; Trabelsi 2017). This research project aims to design a decision support tool in order to help farms throughout the agroecological transition process, to assess the performance of this transition, and to put forward improvement scenarios. Contrary to other assessment methods, ESSIMAGE (Evaluation and Simulation of Agroecological Systems) is based on both pressure and impact indicators, and takes the specificities of agricultural production systems into account. It is a dynamic tool which not only makes it possible to assess farm performance at the present moment but also to consider the future by putting forward possible alternative improvement scenarios and by simulating their consequences at a later stage. ESSIMAGE is based on the interaction of two elements: agro-environmental, social, and economic indicators, and the GIS (Geographic Information System) software. This tool has been tested as part of a CASDAR “Post-MAET Gimone” (agriculture.gouv.fr/ministere/mobilisation-collective-pour-lagroecologie.) project on the subject of “Collective mobilization for agroecology” by using farm data, most of the farms having been involved in an agro-environmental measure for the progressive reduction of phytosanitary treatments since 2008. It has made it possible to compare the agroecological performances of these farms with an optimal situation, as well as with each other. Considering the research objectives and the approaches discussed, this study is an original step in the development of agricultural management strategies in favor of agroecology.

International audience; Due to its high adaptability, cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is one of the world’s most cultivated andconsumed plants after maize and rice. However, there are relatively few scientific studies on this important crop. The objective of this review was therefore to summarize and discuss the available information on cassava cropping in order to promote sustainable practices in terms of production and consumption. Cassava cultivation has been expanding recently at the global scale and is widely consumed in most regions of South America, Africa, and Asia. However, it is also characterized by the presence in its roots of potentially toxic hydrocyanic acid. Furthermore, cassava can also absorb pollutants as it is currently cultivated near roads or factories and generally without consideration for potential sources of soil, water, or atmospheric pollution. Careful washing, peeling, andadequate preparation before eating are therefore crucial steps for reducing human exposure to both environmental pollutants and natural hydrocyanic acid. At present, there is not enough precise data available on this staple food crop. To improve our knowledge on the nutritive benefits versus health risks associated with cassava consumption, further research is necessary to compare cassava cultivars and precisely study the influence of preparation methods.

International audience; The processes underlying environmental, economic, and social unsustainability derive in part from the food system. Building sustainable food systems has become a predominating endeavor aiming to redirect our food systems and policies towards better-adjusted goals and improved societal welfare. Food systems are complex social-ecological systems involving multiple interactions between human and natural components. Policy needs to encourage public perception of humanity and nature as interdependent and interacting. The systemic nature of these interdependencies and interactions calls for systems approaches and integrated assessment tools. Identifying and modeling the intrinsic properties of the food system that will ensure its essential outcomes are maintained or enhanced over time and across generations, will help organizations and governmental institutions to track progress towards sustainability, and set policies that encourage positive transformations. This paper proposes a conceptual model that articulates crucial vulnerability and resilience factors to global environmental and socio-economic changes, postulating specific food and nutrition security issues as priority outcomes of food systems. By acknowledging the systemic nature of sustainability, this approach allows consideration of causal factor dynamics. In a stepwise approach, a logical application is schematized for three Mediterranean countries, namely Spain, France, and Italy.

International audience; Food and nutrition security is a persisting global issue and, in addition, food systems are now facing a new set of intersecting economic, social and environmental challenges. Recurrent socio-economic and biophysical changes put the sustainability of food systems at risk. There is an urgent need to develop knowledge-based tools to assess and monitor food sustainability and to identify pathways for food security and resource conservation. The systemic nature of these interactions calls for multidimensional approaches and integrated assessments for decision-making to guide change. This paper reviews social–ecological system frameworks with the view to conceptualize the sustainability issues that affect the food systems. It is argued that the understanding of the food systems as social–ecological systems, and inputs from the theories of vulnerability and resilience in particular, can provide the concepts necessary to understand and model the complex system dynamics involved in the multiple interactions between human and natural components.

International audience; This article presents a mixed-method approach used to analyse the impact of a complex agricultural development project, the SOGUIPAH (Guinean Oil Palms and Rubber Company) project designed to promote oil palm and rubber cultivation in Guinea. At farm level, the combination of a farming system analysis and an economic analysis with a counterfactual scenario enables us to quantify impact on the farmers' income and to account for related impact heterogeneity. These comparisons reveal a somewhat limited impact of the project as a whole, though with a considerable heterogeneity across the types of farm households it reaches. Cet article présente une méthode originale d'analyse d'impact d'un projet de développement agricole complexe, le projet SOGUIPAH (projet de palmier à huile et hévéa) en Guinée forestière. En faisant appel conjointement à l'analyse systémique à l'échelle des unités de production (systèmes de production) et à l'évaluation économique incluant un scénario contrefactuel, la démarche proposée permet de quantifier l'impact du projet sur le revenu des agriculteurs et de mettre en évidence le caractère hétérogène de cet impact. Cette comparaison révèle un impact des plus limités à l'échelle globale et de très forts contrastes selon les catégories de producteurs.

International audience; This article compares two transnational public-private partnerships against hunger and malnutrition, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and the International Alliance Against Hunger with regard to their degree of business involvement and their input and output legimacy. We examine the participation of stakeholders, the accountability and transparency of the decision-making process, and the perceived provision of a public good. We identify a link between business involvement and output legitimacy, and we discuss the implications for public and private food governance.