Designing Innovative Management for Cultivated Biodiversity: Lessons from a Pioneering Collaboration between French Farmers, Facilitators and Researchers around Participatory Bread Wheat Breeding

Elsa T. Berthet, Sara Bosshardt, Lise Malicet-Chebbah, Gaëlle van Frank, Benoit Weil, Blanche Segrestin, Pierre Rivière, Léa Bernard, Elodie Baritaux and Isabelle Goldringer
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Elsa T. Berthet: Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, UMR SADAPT, F-75231 Paris, France
Sara Bosshardt: Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, UMR GQE—Le Moulon, F-91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Lise Malicet-Chebbah: Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, UMR GQE—Le Moulon, F-91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Gaëlle van Frank: Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, UMR GQE—Le Moulon, F-91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Benoit Weil: Center for Management Science, i3 UMR CNRS 9217, Mines ParisTech, PSL ResearchUniversity, F-75272 Paris, France
Blanche Segrestin: Center for Management Science, i3 UMR CNRS 9217, Mines ParisTech, PSL ResearchUniversity, F-75272 Paris, France
Pierre Rivière: Réseau Semences Paysannes, F-47190 Aiguillon, France
Léa Bernard: Réseau Semences Paysannes, F-47190 Aiguillon, France
Elodie Baritaux: Réseau Semences Paysannes, F-47190 Aiguillon, France
Isabelle Goldringer: Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, UMR GQE—Le Moulon, F-91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: The industrialization of farming has significantly threatened cultivated biodiversity. Participatory breeding endeavours to overcome this issue by enabling farmers to select a wide range of crop varieties in different conditions, and to foster genetic mixing through seed exchanges, crosses or mixtures. This necessitates the design of new forms of coordination and organization for the farmers and partners involved. This article reports on an ongoing initiative, aiming to facilitate the participatory design of such forms of coordination and organization. It first outlines the method used (Knowledge–Concept–Proposals or KCP), and how it has been tailored to this highly decentralized context involving politically engaged actors on a quest for autonomy. It then presents the exploratory results of the first two workshops: these include group consolidation, the sharing of heterogeneous knowledge, the generation of innovative ideas, and the elaboration of preliminary projects. Finally, this empirical case is compared with other initiatives supporting the participatory design of natural resource management strategies and tools. Its key original dimensions and benefits are that the workshop protocol is replicable, the data produced can be easily exploited, and it allows for testing hypotheses in the field of design science.

Keywords: participatory plant breeding; farmers’ population-varieties; innovative design; dynamic on-farm management; agrobiodiversity; design workshops; participatory research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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