Plumecocq, G., T. Debril, M. Duru, M.-B. Magrini, J. Sarthou, and O. Therond. 2018. The plurality of values in sustainable agriculture models: diverse lock-in and coevolution patterns. Ecology and Society 23(1):21. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09881-230121

Crop diversification can improve the sustainability of Western agriculture. In particular, pulses are crops that can help both agriculture and the food industry more ecological, as they reduce greenhouse gas emissions and offer opportunities to reduce animal-based food consumption. However, the development of those crops in Europe remains locked-in by major crops that have been co-developed to a greater extent both in farming and food systems. After recalling the major mechanisms that lead to this lock-in, this article proposes to adopt a co-evolution framework to tackle with a dual transition of both agriculture and food systems. We question how the current societal trends in the agrifood system offer new opportunities for pulses, and how simultaneous changes both in production and consumption can occur to facilitate this dual transition. Based on various insights from the literature, and some points of views from stakeholders in France - taken here as examples - we argue that to develop pulses, strong support is required from public institutions to coordinate and guide the multiple actors involved in the same direction.

Agroecological transition corresponds to a systemic transformation consisting in the ecologisation of agriculture and food. It concerns multiple stakeholders (farmers, supply chains, natural resource managers, etc.) and is characterised by a deliberate political intention to bring about change. This chapter highlights a set of determinants of agroecological transition at play in transforming the techniques and the values underpinning both agricultural production and food consumption choices – both of which can lead to various new agri-food systems. Based on the literature on transition studies, we focus on several considerations that could help stakeholders to better engage in such a process: (i) transition takes place over time intervals that vary, depending on the analysis scale (the farm or the agri-food system as a whole); (ii) transition is complex, systemic and requires changes of the whole sociotechnical regime; (iii) transition implies strong connections between niche-innovations and the dominant sociotechnical regime; and (iv) changes in values and individuals’ abilities are fundamental drivers. Hence, by focusing on the plurality of factors and stakeholders at work, we unpack the complexity of this transition, and in this way help the stakeholders to design and execute it. To conclude, we examine specific issues around the governance of agroecological transition.

Les différentes analyses des transitions vers des agricultures durables distinguent souvent deux voies concurrentes, renvoyant aux paradigmes de la durabilité faible ou forte. En dépassant cette opposition polaire, ce travail interdisciplinaire propose une caractérisation socio-agronomique de différentes formes d’agriculture coexistant à des degrés divers dans nos économies occidentales. Les auteurs s’appuient sur une typologie agronomique de sept formes d’agriculture caractérisant les systèmes de production agricole plus ou moins durables, suivant la manière dont intrants exogènes et services écosystémiques endogènes à l’écosystème sont utilisés, et leur mode d’insertion dans les systèmes alimentaires. Ils expliquent les principes qui organisent ces formes, ainsi que les valeurs qui les justifient socialement. Cette analyse permet de discuter les conditions d’efficacité des outils de politiques agricoles.

Grain-legume crops are important for ensuring the sustainability of agrofood systems. Among them, pulse production is subject to strong lock-in compared to soya, the leading worldwide crop. To unlock the situation and foster more grain-legume crop diversity, scientific research is essential for providing new knowledge that may lead to new development. Our study aimed to evaluate whether research activity on grain-legumes is also locked in favor of soya. Considering more than 80 names grouped into 19 main grain-legume species, we built a dataset of 107,823 scholarly publications (articles, book, and book chapters) between 1980 and 2018 retrieved from the Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics) reflecting the research activity on grain-legumes. We delineated 10 scientific themes of interest running the gamut of agrofood research (e.g., genetics, agronomy, and nutrition). We indexed grain-legume species, calculated the percentage of records for each one, and conducted several analyses longitudinally and by country. Globally, we found an unbalanced research output: soya remains the main crop studied, even in the promising field of food sciences advanced by FAO as the “future of pulses”. Our results raise questions about how to align research priorities with societal demand for more crop diversity.