Participatory methods, guidelines and good practice guidance to be applied throughout the project to enhance problem definition, co-learning, synthesis and dissemination

Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

An Institutional Analysis of European Systems for Impact Assessment

Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

Specification of complementary participatory methods for SEAMLESS-IF

Environmental Economics and Policy,

L'évolution de la réflexion stratégique des agriculteurs comme outil de caractérisation des changements à travers une relation de conseil

Cette communication propose un cadre d'analyse original de la gestion stratégique des exploitations agricoles et de son évolution. Après avoir dressé un état des lieux des travaux sur la gestion stratégique des exploitations agricoles, nous en proposons une approche cognitive et dynamique. En nous inspirant de la littérature en science de gestion portant sur la stratégie en PME, nous caractérisons la construction de la réflexion stratégique dans l'exploitation agricole en tant que processus d'apprentissage. Nous analysons ensuite l'évolution de la réflexion stratégique à travers une relation de conseil, dans notre cas dans le Conseil à l'Exploitation Familiale (CEF) au Bénin. L'évolution de la réflexion stratégique est caractérisée par l'évolution de son caractère proactif, intégrant vision stratégique anticipée, source perçue du changement et mise en oeuvre d'actions stratégiques. Nous montrons que l'étendue des ressources de l'exploitation n'a pas d'incidence sur le caractère proactif ou non de la réflexion stratégique des producteurs. Après un an de CEF, la réflexion stratégique évolue pour une majorité de producteurs, mais de manière différenciée suivant le niveau de réflexion stratégique initial des producteurs. Le caractère proactif de la réflexion stratégique avant le CEF est le facteur majeur expliquant les évolutions ultérieures de la réflexion stratégique. Ces résultats sont utiles pour analyser et améliorer les dispositifs de conseil dans différents contextes, au-delà du Bénin. (Résumé d'auteur

Fruits and vegetables supply chains specificities and stakes as element of discussion on Social-LCA

International audienceAgri-food supply chains are at the heart of sustainable development concerns. In order to comprehend whole complex parameters and their global impacts, it appeared necessary to adopt a systemic approach, justifying a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), not only from an environmental point of view but from a social and economic one too. Taking into account specificities and stakes of fruits and vegetables (F&V) supply chains in developing countries this paper focus on absences, deficiencies and methodological limits that LCA meets integrating social and economic aspects. The elements presented lead to an in-depth conceptual and theoretical discussion and suggest placing LCA in the perspective of development theory. The proposition is to endow LCA with an approach by capitals, which seems particularly adapted to express sustainable development and well-being

Reporting the social indicators to the functional unit for food product. Theoretical contribution regarding the collection of relevant data

International audienceSeveral conceptions of social LCA lend on two often implicit hypothesis i)the source of impacts, the stressor would be either from technical origin, either from social one. It stems from it that relating the quantity of impacts to the quantity of functional unit has to be done through the unit processes, as it is done in ELCA. ii) companies are singly and freely choosing their practice, and even imposing social behaviour. We expect pointing out that we may build another representation. The values of the social indicators may be related proportionally to the functional units, if we handle them at the relevant level. Suggestions about the potential levels for picking up the data will conclude this proposal

Social impacts and life cycle assessment: proposals for methodological development for SMEs in the European food and drink sector

Purpose: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for 99 % of companies operating in the European food and drink industry and, often, are part of highly fragmented and complex food chains. The article focuses on the development of a social impact assessment methodology for SMEs in selected food and drink products as part of the EU-FP7 SENSE research project. The proposed methodology employs a top-down and bottom-up approach and focuses on labour rights/working conditions along the product supply chain as the key social impact indicator, limiting key stakeholder classification to workers/employees and local communities impacted by the production process. Problems related to this emerging field are discussed, and questions for further research are expounded. Methods: The article reviews both academic and 'grey' literature on life cycle assessment (LCA) and its relationship to social LCA (S-LCA) and SMEs at the beginning of 2013 and includes case study evidence from the food sector. A pilot questionnaire survey sent to European food and drink sector SMEs and trade associations (as partners in the research project) about their knowledge, experience and engagement with social impacts is presented. Proposals are elaborated for a social impact assessment methodology that identifies the key data for SMEs to collect. Results and discussion: The literature reveals the complexity of the S-LCA approach as it aims to unite disparate and often conflicting interests. Findings from the pilot questionnaire are discussed. Using a top-down and bottom-up approach, the proposed methodology assesses data from SMEs along the supply chain in order to gauge social improvements in the management of labour-related issues for different product sectors. Issues relating to the 'attributional' choice of a social impact indicator and key stakeholder categories are discussed. How 'scoring' is interpreted and reported and what the intended effect of its use will be are also elaborated upon. Conclusions: Whilst recognising the difficulty of devising a robust social impact assessment for SMEs in the food and drink sector, it is argued that the proposed methodology makes a useful contribution in this fast-emerging field