ACTINA – Action to innovate and transform agricultural technical systems

Agriculture faces a major challenge: feeding a growing population while preserving natural resources and biodiversity and this in an increasingly uncertain context arising mainly from climate change. We have to reinvent agricultural systems to make them more sustainable and to ensure that they can provide ecosystem services essential to human welfare. Agro-ecology can help confront this challenge by offering to rebuild technical systems by mobilizing ecological processes in agricultural systems.

Objectives

The Actina group’s research aims to analyze and support innovation processes at the farm and territories level, with a particular emphasis on transitions from conventional to more agroecological systems. It works on a wide variety of technical systems, both in the North and the South (organic or low-input agriculture, agroforestry, conservation agriculture, mixed crop/livestock systems, etc.).

The group studies agroecological innovations linked to agricultural development and develops methods and tools needed to support this innovation process.

Research questions

What is agroecological innovations? Using various methods and based on our field results, we are able to take a critical look and produce generic knowledge on agroecological innovations: What are the concepts put into use and specific knowledge produced? How do – or do not – agents of change (farmers, advisors, cooperatives, etc.) adopt and implement the innovations?

How can actors redesign technical systems? To do so, we have to understand the evolution of farming practices by taking into account the functioning of farms and territorial dynamics, the generation and hybridization of knowledge, and agricultural support mechanisms and policies.

How to support actors in an agroecological transitions? There is no standard solution to do so; we have to help actors innovate for themselves and assist them in evaluating the feasibility, sustainability and impact of a variety of agricultural systems that result from agroecological innovations. To this end, we develop methods, tools and mechanisms for the co-design and participatory assessment of technical systems.

Disciplines

Actina is composed of agronomists who develop different approaches at the farm and territory levels while working in interdisciplinary contexts (especially with the social and economic sciences).

Terrains

Actina is involved in research in partnership in France, Africa (Morocco, Cameroon, Madagascar, etc.), South America (Colombia, Peru, etc.) and Southeast Asia (Thailand, etc.).

Partenaires

Scientific associations: International Farming System Association (IFSA), Farming System Design (FSD), European Society of Agronomy (ESA).

Development partnerships: Producer organizations, Research and development organizations.