Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
administrative requirements. In 2001 an application to extend the water protection area
created conflict between the SWM and inhabitants (including farmers) in the water
catchment. Catchment municipalities were afraid of the rising cost of public buildings and
restrictions, or even prohibition, on construction; whilst farmers were concerned about
restrictions in farming. Restrictions have already been imposed on farming in the existing
water protection areas, particularly on SWM owned fields which are leased by farmers,
who are therefore obliged to comply. Even on private land farmers often feel that their
management decisions are hampered.
The transition processes
Emergence of niches
The emergence of niches in the three case studies followed both bottom-up and top-down
trajectories. A bottom-up process in the French case, initiated by a small group of people
sharing similar views, political orientation and interest in farming went through several
phases enrolling, over time, networks and actors at different levels. In the two other cases,
hybridization of regime actors was necessary in order to instigate change. A public service
provider (SWM) in the city of Munich directly contracted individual farmers in the
Mangfall Valley in order to safeguard provision of clean potable water while in Imathia
AGROCERT, a certification organization under state management, provided farmer groups
with the means to overcome a serious obstacle and compelled existing local networks and
actors to refocus their strategy.
Three phases describing human-societal and institutional aspects have been
distinguished as having already taken place in Lannion Bay, while a fourth is expected. The
predevelopment phase took place between 1980 and 1990 when some farmers located
around the town of Corlay, leaders in grassland systems and also members of the minor
farmers' union formed a group who met regularly to exchange ideas about practices and the
economic performance of grassland systems (CETA). With the support of local and
national left-wing politicians who gained power after the socialist victory in the presidential
elections of 1981, they created an association of farmers (CEDAPA) to share information
and to extend the association over a larger area. During that phase, although membership
increased even in Lannion Bay, there was no collaboration between niche and regime actors
and relationships were rather confrontational because of divergent points of view about
agricultural development. The take-off phase took place during the 1990s. Participation was
growing and the concept spread, mainly in the west of France. The leaders of CEDAPA
formalized the specification of the farming system. At the same time, they continued to
experiment and improve their technical knowledge and developed new collaborations with
research institutes and the Ministry of Agriculture, to legitimize their systems. They also
extended their participation in networks and committees, and established links with
environmental NGOs resulting in increased influence at the regional level, although this
was not felt locally.
The acceleration phase may be divided into two stages. The first stage saw a failed
acceleration from 2003 to 2007. Although a new network was formed comprising
alternative organizations, the collaboration between niche and regime actors stagnated and
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