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AbstractIn order to better design more sustainable farming systems, and prepare for the development of multi‐criteria farm decision model, we investigate how farmers rank their main goals when making decisions. First, we identified the main goals used by farmers through in‐depth interviews with randomly selected farmers in which we used small games to elicit the main goals they are using to make farm‐level decisions. Then, we developed a best–worst scaling (BWS) experiment, in which farmers have to declare the "most" and the least "important" goals they use when making decisions. The experiment was conducted with 120 farmers. We first derive a ranking of the goals according to the population average, which showed the importance of rice self‐sufficiency and transmission of farm capital. We then use a scale‐adjusted latent class analysis. We identified four groups of homogenous preferences among farmers. The use of differentiated scale, a measure of choice inconsistencies, suggested different levels of certainty about the ranking, and the presence of more inconsistencies when asking the least important goal. While a large group focuses only on rice self‐sufficiency, and farm transmission, we also identified a group of optimizers, and risk‐averse farmers. Farmers of each group are likely to behave differently with regard to sustainable innovations. We also showed that some socio‐economic variables describing the farms and the households influenced the probabilities for farmers to belong to one of the four classes. Overall, we showed that BWS scaling experiments provide a rich set of information about the diversity of rankings. It also provides the set of tools to evaluate the consistency and quality of respondents' choices.

N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5 ; International audience ; From a set of 3 actual case-studies involving bioeconomic farm modelling, the objective of the paper is to draw lessons regarding the challenge of interdisciplinarity between biophysical and social science. The results of the case studies illustrate the benefit that can be expected from these bioeconomic studies. The paper then builds on these experiences in order to discuss issues arising from interdisciplinarity. Some of these issues can be overcome relatively simply by paying attention to the construction of mutual respect and trust within the team of scientists, or more generally by recognizing that if it is more difficult, then more means and more time should be devoted the job. But interdisciplinarity may bring issues of power that are more subtle to handle, although theoretical frameworks are available for doing so. Anyway, pretending to achieve interdisciplinary studies seamlessly, just thanks to the use of the right tools and human resources would most probably result in numerous scars at least in the memories of the participants.

N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5 ; International audience ; From a set of 3 actual case-studies involving bioeconomic farm modelling, the objective of the paper is to draw lessons regarding the challenge of interdisciplinarity between biophysical and social science. The results of the case studies illustrate the benefit that can be expected from these bioeconomic studies. The paper then builds on these experiences in order to discuss issues arising from interdisciplinarity. Some of these issues can be overcome relatively simply by paying attention to the construction of mutual respect and trust within the team of scientists, or more generally by recognizing that if it is more difficult, then more means and more time should be devoted the job. But interdisciplinarity may bring issues of power that are more subtle to handle, although theoretical frameworks are available for doing so. Anyway, pretending to achieve interdisciplinary studies seamlessly, just thanks to the use of the right tools and human resources would most probably result in numerous scars at least in the memories of the participants.

N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5 ; International audience ; From a set of 3 actual case-studies involving bioeconomic farm modelling, the objective of the paper is to draw lessons regarding the challenge of interdisciplinarity between biophysical and social science. The results of the case studies illustrate the benefit that can be expected from these bioeconomic studies. The paper then builds on these experiences in order to discuss issues arising from interdisciplinarity. Some of these issues can be overcome relatively simply by paying attention to the construction of mutual respect and trust within the team of scientists, or more generally by recognizing that if it is more difficult, then more means and more time should be devoted the job. But interdisciplinarity may bring issues of power that are more subtle to handle, although theoretical frameworks are available for doing so. Anyway, pretending to achieve interdisciplinary studies seamlessly, just thanks to the use of the right tools and human resources would most probably result in numerous scars at least in the memories of the participants.

Ce rapport analyse les inégalités de revenu dans le bassin arachidier sénégalais, une des principales régions de production agricole pluviale du pays, qui concentre la plus une grande partie de la population rurale. Les données utilisées proviennent d'une enquête menée par le Projet d'Appui aux Politiques Agricoles (PAPA) auprès des producteurs de céréales et légumineuses. L'échantillon des producteurs du bassin arachidier compte 1770 ménages (dont 103 dirigés par des femmes). Le calcul du coefficient de Gini, l'analyse de sa décomposition par source de revenus et la caractérisation des sources de revenus ont permis de faire un état des lieux des inégalités. De façon globale, les résultats montrent un taux de pauvreté très élevé (90% des ménages en dessous du seuil de 598 FCFA (0,91€/équivalent adulte/jour) et des inégalités importantes : - En termes de revenus pour tout l'échantillon : le coefficient de Gini est de 0,44 (légèrement supérieur à celui du Sénégal qui était de 0,4 en 2011). Les revenus totaux annuels des 20% des ménages les plus riches sont dix fois plus élevés que ceux des 20% les plus pauvres. - Selon le genre du chef de ménage : un revenu médian par ménage significativement inférieur (407 500 FCFA/an contre 550 000) et un taux de pauvreté plus élevé (94% contre 89%) chez les ménages dirigés par des femmes (seulement 6% de l'échantillon). - Spatiale : il existe une hétérogénéité de revenu marquée entre département (3 fois plus élevés à Nioro qu'à Diourbel), mais ces inégalités inter-département sont plus faibles que les inégalités intra-département. Les inégalités sont également légèrement plus élevées dans les zones bénéficiant d'une pluviométrie moyenne plus forte. - En fonction de la qualité pluviométrique de l'année : on montre ici que les exploitations ayant connu en 2016 une pluviométrie meilleure par rapport à la moyenne connaissent un revenu médian et des inégalités de revenu plus élevés (+42% de revenu médian par rapport aux exploitations avec une année 2016 sèche et +17% d'écart relatif interquartile). Cet effet est encore plus fort si on s'intéresse uniquement aux revenus agricoles. Conformément à l'approche par les moyens d'existence, les inégalités de revenus se retrouvent également dans les principaux facteurs de production. Ainsi, les 20% des exploitations les plus riches ont une superficie 3 fois supérieure aux 20% les plus pauvres, elles ont également des meilleurs rendements agricoles dus notamment à une plus grande utilisation des intrants chimiques et du matériel agricole. Les plus riches ont également des revenus plus diversifiés même si les revenus agricoles restent dans tous les cas très majoritaires (part de 90% pour les plus pauvres contre 76% pour les plus riches) par rapport aux autres types de revenus (transferts, revenus non agricoles, revenus de l'élevage). Par ailleurs, l'analyse des élasticités Gini montre que seule une augmentation des revenus agricoles (en maintenant les autres types de revenus constants) permet de réduire les inégalités de revenus. La diversification des sources de revenus permet quant à elle de réduire les différences de revenus entre les zones de faible et de forte pluviométrie moyenne : on passe ainsi d'un ratio (revenu médian zone humide/revenu médian zone sèche) de 1,62 avec seulement les revenus agricoles à 1,14 en prenant en compte les autres sources de revenus.

Durant plus de dix ans, de 1985 à 1998, les chercheurs d'un projet de recherche/développement franco-brésilien (Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement, Cirad/Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Embrapa) ont pu observer et participer à une mini-révolution agricole dans la commune de Silvânia au Brésil. Partant d'une synthèse des travaux menés dans le cadre de ce projet, cet article présente les principaux facteurs permettant d'expliquer cette success story. Au début de la période considérée, dans un environnement économique hyperinflationniste, les exploitations familiales de la commune mènent des activités hautement diversifiées et sont peu intégrées au marché. Puis, alors que l'hyperinflation prend fin, les exploitations s'engagent dans une spécialisation laitière à travers l'adoption rapide de nouvelles techniques, cela malgré un contexte économique qui reste peu favorable mais que les institutions mises en place par les acteurs locaux (associations, coopératives) permettent de surmonter. Cet article montre le poids du contexte économique et institutionnel dans le développement rural. Il souligne également l'extraordinaire capacité d'évolution des exploitations familiales. Cette capacité devrait être valorisée et encouragée par les projets de développement et les interventions de réduction de la pauvreté.

In West African countries, agricultural production per capita has decreased over the past half century. With continued population growth and the diminishing availability of marginal arable land, pressure on land is rapidly increasing and there is now a common view that crop yield must be increased in this region, especially as there is a wide gap between actual and potential yields. Although there are several factors which may explain this yield gap, the fact that agricultural production takes place in resource-constrained farm households exposed to risk is widely recognized as being important. Indeed, risk discourages the adoption of high-risk, high-return agricultural technologies, which in turn impedes the improvement of yields. In order to assess how climatic risk constrains intensification strategy in West Africa, we built and calibrated a bioeconomic farm simulation model predicting the choice to intensify crops or livestock as depending on the availability of key policies in the economic environment of farms, for typical cases in the groundnut basin of Senegal. These cases include two regions contrasted in terms of rainfall (Sine and Saloum) and in each region two typical farms, representing poor and less poor farmers. The model features uncertainty in weather (hence yields) and crop prices, farmer's risk aversion, nine cropping systems representing millet, maize and groundnut with various intensification levels, and the main interactions between crop and livestock: draught animal power, the feeding of animals with suitable crop products (groundnut haulms, cereal straw) and the production of farm manure. Farmers are constraint by land, labour, cash and credit availability. 180 households were surveyed to build the socio-demographic and economic dataset used by the model, and agronomic data were collected from 206 fields. These key policies analysed are (i) weather index insurances against drought impact on crop yields, either subsidised or not, (ii) subsidies to short term credit for purchasing farm inputs, (iii) subsidies to fertilizer, and (iv) direct payments to farmers. In our simulations, under the current climate and prices of agricultural products and inputs, all these policies appear favourable to the increase of farmers' expected utility for typical farms representing the vast majority of farms in the groundnut basin. Apart for insurance, all of them appear also favourable to intensification of coupled crop and livestock activities for those typical farms. Insurance appears favourable to this intensification strategy only for farms located in the northern part of the region studied, where climatic risk is higher. Among the scenario tested, for most typical farms, combining unsubsidized insurance with subsidized credit appeared as the best use of a given amount of public funds in support of crop intensification: subsidized credit allows the farmers to buy costly inputs while insurance reduces the risk that a drought prevents them from reimbursing the credit. Direct payments also rank high in this respect, because they efficiently mitigate the cash constraint. The amount of subsidies required to obtain a given increase of the value of farm production varies across farm types and subzones in the region, but is relatively reasonable. These results suggest that crop intensification is currently relatively close to becoming a relevant option for farmers and that public policies may favour it by improving the economic environment of farms. (Texte intégral)

AbstractAdaptation of the agricultural sector to climate change is crucial to avoid food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. Farmers' perception of climate change is a crucial element in adaptation process. The aim of this study was (i) to compare farmers' perception of climate change with actual weather data recorded in central Mali, (ii) to identify changes in agricultural practices implemented by farmers to adapt to climate change, and (iii) to investigate the link between farmers' perception of climate change and implementation of adaptation practices. Focus group discussions and individual surveys were conducted to identify climate-related changes perceived by farmers and agricultural adaptation strategies they consider relevant to cope with these changes. A majority (>50%) of farmers perceived an increase in temperature, decrease in rainfall, shortening of growing season, early cessation of rainfall, and increase in the frequency of dry spells at the beginning of the growing season. In line with farmers' perception, analysis of climate data indicated (i) an increase in mean annual temperature and minimum growing season temperature and (ii) a decrease in total rainfall. Farmers' perception of early cessation of rainfall and more-frequent drought periods were not detected by climate data analysis. To cope with the decrease in rainfall and late start of the growing season, farmers used drought-tolerant cultivars and implemented water-saving technologies. Despite a perceived warming, no specific adaptation to heat stress was mentioned by farmers. We found evidence of a link between farmers' perception of climate change and the implementation of some adaptation options. Our study highlights the need for a dialogue between farmers and researchers to develop new strategies to compensate for the expected negative impacts of heat stress on agricultural productivity.

Correspondance: ; National audience ; This paper recalls the principal stages of a French-Brazilian research program on the management of farmers' production risks due to water stress in the Brazilian Cerrados. The objective was to make recommendations to lower the production risks, in terms of both agricultural management practices and insurance policies. An agro-climatic classification at a regional scale allowed for the creation of more efficient credit systems and agricultural insurance coverage, which were mostly beneficial to the large agro-industrial farmers of the region. Subsequently, the case of the smallholder farms was studied by using cropping systems and farm models. The application of these models showed that the risks with which small-scale farmers are confronted are very variable according to the environmental conditions and that they are a limiting factor for a possible intensification of the production. These models, which take into account the constraints specific to the various types of small-scale farms, might be used as a tool for improving existing agricultural insurance systems, particularly in order to better integrate the constraints specific to small-scale farms ; Cet article retrace les principales étapes d'une recherche franco-brésilienne portant sur la caractérisation des risques de stress hydrique dans les Cerrados brésiliens, avec l'objectif de faire des recommandations pour les réduire, à la fois en termes de pratiques culturales et en termes de politique d'assurance agricole. Un zonage agroclimatique à l'échelle régionale a permis d'améliorer le système de crédit de campagne et d'assurance agricole dont bénéficient les grandes exploitations agro-industrielles de la région. Le cas des exploitations familiales a été ensuite étudié en ayant recours à la modélisation des systèmes de culture et des exploitations. L'emploi de ces modèles a montré que les risques auxquels les exploitants sont confrontés sont très variables selon les milieux et peuvent ...

Article en libre accès : http://revues.cirad.fr/index.php/cahiers-agricultures/article/view/30603 ; International audience ; This paper recalls the principal stages of a French-Brazilian research program on the management of farmers' production risks due to water stress in the Brazilian Cerrados. The objective was to make recommendations to lower the production risks, in terms of both agricultural management practices and insurance policies. An agro-climatic classification at a regional scale allowed for the creation of more efficient credit systems and agricultural insurance coverage, which were mostly beneficial to the large agro-industrial farmers of the region. Subsequently, the case of the smallholder farms was studied by using cropping systems and farm models. The application of these models showed that the risks with which small-scale farmers are confronted are very variable according to the environmental conditions and that they are a limiting factor for a possible intensification of the production. These models, which take into account the constraints specific to the various types of small-scale farms, might be used as a tool for improving existing agricultural insurance systems, particularly in order to better integrate the constraints specific to small-scale farms. ; Cet article retrace les principales étapes d'une recherche franco-brésilienne portant sur la caractérisation des risques de stress hydrique dans les Cerrados brésiliens, avec l'objectif de faire des recommandations pour les réduire, à la fois en termes de pratiques culturales et en termes de politique d'assurance agricole. Un zonage agroclimatique à l'échelle régionale a permis d'améliorer le système de crédit de campagne et d'assurance agricole dont bénéficient les grandes exploitations agro-industrielles de la région. Le cas des exploitations familiales a été ensuite étudié en ayant recours à la modélisation des systèmes de culture et des exploitations. L'emploi de ces modèles a montré que les risques auxquels les exploitants sont ...

Cet article retrace les principales étapes d'une recherche franco-brésilienne portant sur la caractérisation des risques de stress hydrique dans les Cerrados brésiliens, avec l'objectif de faire des recommandations pour les réduire, à la fois en termes de pratiques culturales et en termes de politique d'assurance agricole. Un zonage agroclimatique à l'échelle régionale a permis d'améliorer le système de crédit de campagne et d'assurance agricole dont bénéficient les grandes exploitations agro-industrielles de la région. Le cas des exploitations familiales a été ensuite étudié en ayant recours à la modélisation des systèmes de culture et des exploitations. L'emploi de ces modèles a montré que les risques auxquels les exploitants sont confrontés sont très variables selon les milieux et peuvent limiter les possibilités d'intensification. Ces modèles pourraient être utilisés pour améliorer le système d'assurance existant et en particulier pour mieux tenir compte des contraintes propres aux divers types d'exploitations familiales.

Correspondance: ; National audience ; This paper recalls the principal stages of a French-Brazilian research program on the management of farmers' production risks due to water stress in the Brazilian Cerrados. The objective was to make recommendations to lower the production risks, in terms of both agricultural management practices and insurance policies. An agro-climatic classification at a regional scale allowed for the creation of more efficient credit systems and agricultural insurance coverage, which were mostly beneficial to the large agro-industrial farmers of the region. Subsequently, the case of the smallholder farms was studied by using cropping systems and farm models. The application of these models showed that the risks with which small-scale farmers are confronted are very variable according to the environmental conditions and that they are a limiting factor for a possible intensification of the production. These models, which take into account the constraints specific to the various types of small-scale farms, might be used as a tool for improving existing agricultural insurance systems, particularly in order to better integrate the constraints specific to small-scale farms ; Cet article retrace les principales étapes d'une recherche franco-brésilienne portant sur la caractérisation des risques de stress hydrique dans les Cerrados brésiliens, avec l'objectif de faire des recommandations pour les réduire, à la fois en termes de pratiques culturales et en termes de politique d'assurance agricole. Un zonage agroclimatique à l'échelle régionale a permis d'améliorer le système de crédit de campagne et d'assurance agricole dont bénéficient les grandes exploitations agro-industrielles de la région. Le cas des exploitations familiales a été ensuite étudié en ayant recours à la modélisation des systèmes de culture et des exploitations. L'emploi de ces modèles a montré que les risques auxquels les exploitants sont confrontés sont très variables selon les milieux et peuvent limiter les possibilités d'intensification. Ces modèles pourraient être utilisés pour améliorer le système d'assurance existant et en particulier pour mieux tenir compte des contraintes propres aux divers types d'exploitations familiales.

Article en libre accès : http://revues.cirad.fr/index.php/cahiers-agricultures/article/view/30603 ; International audience ; This paper recalls the principal stages of a French-Brazilian research program on the management of farmers' production risks due to water stress in the Brazilian Cerrados. The objective was to make recommendations to lower the production risks, in terms of both agricultural management practices and insurance policies. An agro-climatic classification at a regional scale allowed for the creation of more efficient credit systems and agricultural insurance coverage, which were mostly beneficial to the large agro-industrial farmers of the region. Subsequently, the case of the smallholder farms was studied by using cropping systems and farm models. The application of these models showed that the risks with which small-scale farmers are confronted are very variable according to the environmental conditions and that they are a limiting factor for a possible intensification of the production. These models, which take into account the constraints specific to the various types of small-scale farms, might be used as a tool for improving existing agricultural insurance systems, particularly in order to better integrate the constraints specific to small-scale farms. ; Cet article retrace les principales étapes d'une recherche franco-brésilienne portant sur la caractérisation des risques de stress hydrique dans les Cerrados brésiliens, avec l'objectif de faire des recommandations pour les réduire, à la fois en termes de pratiques culturales et en termes de politique d'assurance agricole. Un zonage agroclimatique à l'échelle régionale a permis d'améliorer le système de crédit de campagne et d'assurance agricole dont bénéficient les grandes exploitations agro-industrielles de la région. Le cas des exploitations familiales a été ensuite étudié en ayant recours à la modélisation des systèmes de culture et des exploitations. L'emploi de ces modèles a montré que les risques auxquels les exploitants sont confrontés sont très variables selon les milieux et peuvent limiter les possibilités d'intensification. Ces modèles pourraient être utilisés pour améliorer le système d'assurance existant et en particulier pour mieux tenir compte des contraintes propres aux divers types d'exploitations familiales.

Cet article retrace les principales étapes d'une recherche franco-brésilienne portant sur la caractérisation des risques de stress hydrique dans les Cerrados brésiliens, avec l'objectif de faire des recommandations pour les réduire, à la fois en termes de pratiques culturales et en termes de politique d'assurance agricole. Un zonage agroclimatique à l'échelle régionale a permis d'améliorer le système de crédit de campagne et d'assurance agricole dont bénéficient les grandes exploitations agro-industrielles de la région. Le cas des exploitations familiales a été ensuite étudié en ayant recours à la modélisation des systèmes de culture et des exploitations. L'emploi de ces modèles a montré que les risques auxquels les exploitants sont confrontés sont très variables selon les milieux et peuvent limiter les possibilités d'intensification. Ces modèles pourraient être utilisés pour améliorer le système d'assurance existant et en particulier pour mieux tenir compte des contraintes propres aux divers types d'exploitations familiales. ; This paper recalls the principal stages of a French-Brazilian research program on the management of farmers' production risks due to water stress in the Brazilian Cerrados. The objective was to make recommendations to lower the production risks, in terms of both agricultural management practices and insurance policies. An agro-climatic classification at a regional scale allowed for the creation of more efficient credit systems and agricultural insurance coverage, which were mostly beneficial to the large agro-industrial farmers of the region. Subsequently, the case of the smallholder farms was studied by using cropping systems and farm models. The application of these models showed that the risks with which small-scale farmers are confronted are very variable according to the environmental conditions and that they are a limiting factor for a possible intensification of the production. These models, which take into account the constraints specific to the various types of small-scale farms, might be used as a tool for improving existing agricultural insurance systems, particularly in order to better integrate the constraints specific to small-scale farms