Agricultural cooperatives in the ecological transition of farmers: Tools for proving economic interest

Abstract

L'Agriculture écologiquement intensive (AEI) est développée par les coopératives de l'Ouest de la France comme une démarche agroécologique. Cependant, la mobilisation des agriculteurs dans la démarche reste faible. Cet article propose une analyse des facteurs d'engagement et des actions menées pour les mobiliser dans l'AEI. Il propose une articulation d'analyses quantitatives et qualitatives et mobilise des enquêtes réalisées auprès de coopérateurs et de technicocommerciaux. Les résultats montrent : que l'adoption des pratiques AEI est motivée par la nécessité de preuves économiques ; que le réseau professionnel des agriculteurs est aussi important que les caractéristiques de leurs exploitations et que les coopératives peuvent contribuer à l'engagement des agriculteurs dans la transition écologique. MOTS-CLÉS : innovation, changement technique, transition agroécologique, AEI, adoption Agricultural cooperatives in the ecological transition of farmers: Tools for proving economic interestEcologically Intensive Agriculture (EIA) has been adopted by the agricultural cooperatives of the west of France as an agroecological approach. However, the inclusion of farmers in this approach remains weak. This paper proposes an analysis of the factors of adoption by farmers and the actions taken by cooperatives to include them in the EIA. It proposes a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses and uses surveys carried out with farmers and technical-sales specialists. The results show that the adoption of EIA practices is motivated by the need for economic evidence; that farmers' professional networks are as important as the characteristics of their farms; and that cooperatives can contribute to farmers' commitment to ecological transition. (JEL : Q13, Q55).

Analysis of factors that influence adoption of agroecological practices in viticulture

“…Some focused more on the analysis methods than on the phenomena analyzed (Knowler & Bradshaw, 2007). Results depend strongly on the context of the region in which adoption is analyzed and on how the analyzed innovation or practice is defined (Di Bianco et al, 2019).…”

“…Some studies classify these factors as either economic (e.g., income, production, taxes, subsidies, costs-benefits of AEP) or non-economic (e.g., personal motivations and preferences, labor, awareness and sensitivity about the environment, social norms) (Lozano-Vita et al, 2018), while others distinguish objective (e.g., observable, such as technical traits, economic attributes, age, location) or subjective factors (unobservable, such as individual attitudes and preferences) (Blazy, et al, 2011;Di Bianco et al, 2019;Mignouna et al, 2011;Roussy et al, 2017); Nonetheless, empirical adoption studies rarely include such "subjective" drivers of adoption because they are difficult to construct from surveys or due to difficulty in making model predictions based on unobserved drivers (Blazy et al, 2011).…”

“…Di Bianco et al, (2019) and Kuhfuss et al, (2014) noted that a practice's "triability" (i.e., ability to try a practice out before adopting it) and observability allows farmers to have economic and technical evidence that it functions, and thus positively influences its adoption rate. Farmers can acquire new information and learn by implementing the adoption process itself, or by communicating with other farmers, researchers, and extension agents (Chatzimichael et al, 2014).…”

“…Thus, by encouraging winegrowers to try out new practices and take more risks, the presence of partners may favor adoption of AEP. Di Bianco et al, (2019) found that the presence of a partner influenced early adoption of ecological intensification practices. In the present study, off-farm activity had no significant influence, unlike in the study of Kallas et al, (2010), who reported the presence of off-farm income or an off-farm activity as factors that increased adoption of organic farming in viticulture in Catalonia.…”