Socio-economic impacts of alternative GIN control practices. Project deliverable 11 (WP4)

This report is a deliverable (WP4) from the EU-funded PrOPara project. The PrOPara project aspires to i) assess existing knowledge from research, development and benchmarking studies on alternatives to parasite control on organic ruminant farms, ii) collecting novel data on disease prevalence, risk assessment analysis and parasite control measures, through monitoring (farm surveys and stakeholder participation studies), iii) performing cost-benefit analysis on alternative parasite control measures and iv) developing and delivering technical innovation to facilitate implementation of sustainable parasite control strategies. A combined approach of modelling and focus groups for feedback was employed to assess the economic impacts of alternative GIN control strategies in South West France and North East Scotland. This two step method allowed results from the survey and farm modelling to be used during workshops, which also addressed social factors explaining the uptake and acceptance of GIN practices to control parasites. An existing excel based farm model was adapted in order to estimate the economic impacts of a range of alternative GIN practices. The model was adapted using data from a typical farm for organic goat system in France (Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions) and two organic sheep systems (lowland and upland) in Scotland. A structured workshop approach was utilised to address both the social and economic factors related to adoption of alternative GIN practices by farmers. To this purpose, we adapted the Structured Decision Making (SDM) approach commonly used for decisions taking (Gregory and Keeney 1994, Conroy, Barker et al. 2008, Ogden and Innes 2009, Gregory 2012, Johnson, Eaton et al. 2015, Fatorić and Seekamp 2017). Overall, the modelling and farmer feedback showed that control of GIN needs to be farm specific, to suit the individual characteristics of both the farm but also the beliefs of the farmer. The extension of withdrawal periods combined with resistance issues in France have led to the adoption of TST by some farmers, but others are less convinced of its efficiency. The farmers in Scotland seem to have adopted multiple strategies such as use of arable land and mixed grazing to keep GIN levels from severely affecting their profits. However, the diversity of opinions and calls by the French farmers in particular for more trials, shows there is still further work to understand this problem and develop more effective, sustainable solutions

Influence of heat and drought stress on economic efficiency and resilience of EU dairy farms

This presentation is on the influence of the heat and drought stress on the technical efficiency and economic resilience of dairy cow systems across the EU. The study indicates a significant negative effect of drought and heat stress on both technical efficiency and economic resilience in most climatic classes. Results suggest that climatic stress related issues should be more carefully considered and that adaptation strategies should be developed to maintain the economic performance of the dairy sector

PrOPara project workshop Focus Group Manual: Step-wise Approach (Project deliverable 10.(WP4))

This handbook is a deliverable (WP4) from the EU-funded PrOPara project. The PrOPara project aspires to i) assess existing knowledge from research, development and benchmarking studies on alternatives to parasite control on organic ruminant farms, ii) collecting novel data on disease prevalence, risk assessment analysis and parasite control measures, through monitoring (farm surveys and stakeholder participation studies), iii) performing cost-benefit analysis on alternative parasite control measures and iv) developing and delivering technical innovation to facilitate implementation of sustainable parasite control strategies. This handbook serves as a baseline to conduct workshops with stakeholders in France and Scotland. It provides the organisers with a structured approach on 8 steps. The implementation of this approach will allow identification of main alternative GIN practices according to stakeholders’ views, as well as analysing economic impacts and reasons for adopting them or not

Contribution of Social Network Analysis for evaluating Impacts of Science-Based Research and Innovation Program: The example of the farmers’ conversion to organic crop production in Camargue

This contribution is a methodological research paper that aims to demonstrate the relevance of undertaking a Social Network Analysis (SNA) for ex-post evaluating Impacts of Science-Based Research and Innovation Program (ISRIP) in the agricultural sector. Our study is based on the ISRIP Method, which is derived from the Participatory Impact Pathway Analysis (PIPA). The ISRIP Method is characterized by the organization of stakeholders’ workshops; and SNA is part of the evaluation process. In this paper, we substantially re-question the rationale of undertaking a SNA to help evaluate the impacts, role and contribution of the research through the example of farmers’ conversion to organic crop production in the French Camargue. Our analysis shows the interest of SNA for confirming or contradicting stakeholders’ statements on relationships issues as well as investigating the accuracy of possible alternative explanations. Particularly, SNA was greatly useful for exploring the presence of underlying mechanisms to the hypothesized pathway links, e.g. for identifying how a research activity X could lead to the availability of a new technic Y. We also demonstrate the importance of considering impacts of research on the survival capacity of the network: we show that the organic network presents a better resilience and robustness than the conventional one

Assessing the role of the research in the transition to organic farming by using the Actor Network Theory: lessons from two case studies in France and Bulgaria

This paper explores the potential of Actor Network Theory (ANT) in understanding how the process of interaction and translation between human and non-human actors contribute to the development, adoption and diffusion of science-based innovations linked to the transition to organic farming. The study relies on two case studies, the French Camargue case covering a range of technical and social innovations, and the case from Bulgaria focusing on the development of a technical and product innovation, i.e. a veterinary product for organic beekeeping. The paper shows the limitations of classical approaches in studying innovations since they underestimate the role of heterogeneous actors, their status, and how they interact with each other. We argue that focusing on actors’ interactions helps to better understand the so-called “uncertainties” and “turning points” in the innovation development, as well as to interpret them as natural elements. Moreover we argue that challenges to tackle should be problematized to increase the success of research programs. We also stress the importance of opinion leaders during the implementation and diffusion phase of the innovation

Durabilité systémique de la filière du riz Camarguais: comparatif et interaction entre la sous-filière bio et conventionnelle

La durabilité de la filière du riz camarguais se pose avec une acuité particulière. Il est surtout question de la suppression récente de l’aide couplée Riz de même que de la future réforme de la PAC. Et la durabilité de la filière se pose en des termes singuliers quant à la « conservation » du territoire camarguais, étant donné le rôle du riz pour la désalinisation des terres. Nous proposons dans cette étude de rendre compte de la durabilité systémique de la filière du riz camarguais en s’attachant spécifiquement au rôle de l’IGP pour le mode de production conventionnel de même qu’à l’émergence de la sous-filière Bio. L’hypothèse de fond était que la sous-filière Bio soit plus solide que son homologue en conventionnel et qu’elle confère une plus grande résilience de l’ensemble. Egalement, une sous-hypothèse était que l’IGP permette au conventionnel de mieux assurer sa viabilité. Les résultats suggèrent effectivement une plus grande durabilité systémique de la sous-filière Bio vis-à-vis du conventionnel. Ceci est principalement la conséquence du cluster « Thomas-BioSud-Sud Céréales » et de l’avantage concurrentiel “Hors Prix” du riz Bio camarguais. Néanmoins, nous pouvons relever une certaine dépendance du Bio envers l’existence en pointillé du conventionnel

Der Lebensyzklus eines Kleidungsstücks aus Baumwolle

Der Lebensyzklus eines Kleidungsstücks aus Baumwolle

Using social network analysis to evaluate the impacts of the research: on the transition to organic farming in the Camargue

This paper evaluates the relevance of undertaking a Social Network Analysis (SNA) to better understand the role played by the network of actors during innovation processes as well as validate stakeholders’ views on actors’ relationships in a case study on the transition to organic farming in the Camargue territory (South of France). The SNA method is part of a set of methods that forms an approach that was developed to evaluate ex-post the impacts of agronomic research in the framework of the European research project IMPRESA. The analysis particularly confirms, through the indicator of Betweenness, the growing role played by INRA (French National Institute of Agronomic Research) in the network and its contribution to the transition to organic agriculture. This is due in particular to closer relationships between farmers and INRA. The results also indicate a growing role played by CIRAD (Agricultural Research Center for International Development) through the lens of increased relationships with farmers. Additionally, the analysis confirms the great influence of the creation of the firm Biosud in 2003 on the transition to organic farming. SNA proved to be an excellent research tool for confirming stakeholders’ statements about impact pathway, the events described in it, and the intensity of links between events. The reconstruction of the actor network over 5 different periods allows a significant deepening of the analysis. This method could be more largely used in evaluating impacts of research

Transition to organic production

We present the main characteristics and results of the Camargue case study. The case study was about the evaluation of a research program focusing on the transition to organic farming (the research program was launched in 2000)

IMPRESA WP3: Case Study Report - Transition towards organic farming in the Camargue

In this report we assess the contribution, role, and impacts of the Science-Based Research and Innovation Program (ISRIP) on farmers’ transition to organic production in the Camargue. We have applied a qualitative method based on the Participatory Impact Pathway Analysis (PIPA) and complemented by other methods to adapt it to the requirements of an-ex-post evaluation (with Outcome Harvesting), to identify the role played by the different actors along the innovation pathway (with the Social Network Analysis), to validate the pathway links (with the Process tracing) and to identify the crucial components in the pathway (by asking counterfactual questions to stakeholders). We demonstrate that the research has played a limited role to support farmers’ transition to organic farming in the Camargue. Three main evidences were identified: (1) informal testing made by farmers on crop rotation were very important to help them to convert to organic farming; (2) economic factors were also important and even indispensable; and (3) the institutionalization of the supply chain for organic rice was seen as a crucial factor in the pathway