Cet article tente de répondre à la question suivante : au-delà des caractéristiques de l’exploitation agricole, quels sont les autres facteurs qui influencent les différents types d’innovation dans les filières stratégiques de l’agriculture algérienne ? En effet, la politique algérienne actuelle ambitionne de moderniser les filières stratégiques pour accroître la production, substituer la production nationale à l’importation et augmenter le volume des exportations. Ce travail de recherche porte sur l’innovation agricole adoptée par les producteurs de blé dur et les producteurs de pomme de terre. Pour cela, nous avons réalisé une enquête auprès d’une centaine d’agriculteurs et des entretiens qualitatifs auprès d’acteurs locaux du développement et de l’accompagnement agricoles. Les résultats obtenus montrent que le niveau d’innovation dans les techniques agricoles conventionnelles est appréciable : adoption de la rotation des cultures, introduction de nouveaux produits phytosanitaires, de désherbants et de fertilisants pour le blé dur ; adoption de nouvelles variétés, introduction de nouvelles machines et techniques de plantation pour la pomme de terre. Par contre, les innovations en matière de marketing, de commercialisation ou de techniques durables sont inexistantes pour le blé dur, alors que certaines innovations en matière d’organisation et de marketing sont observées chez les producteurs de pomme de terre. Globalement, ces derniers présentent une autonomie financière, sont plus jeunes, plus instruits et exploitent de plus grandes superficies que les producteurs de blé dur, ce qui semble expliquer leur propension à innover davantage. Enfin, les résultats suggèrent que les politiques de subvention et de garantie de la commercialisation pour les producteurs de blé dur freineraient l’innovation dans cette filière, alors que la forte concurrence entre régions nord et sud stimulerait l’innovation chez les producteurs de pomme de terre. À l’inverse, le statut non sécurisé du foncier dans cette dernière filière agirait comme un frein à l’innovation et aux investissements de long terme.

In recent years, despite its hostile environment and harsh climate, the wilaya of Ghardaïa has emerged as a leader in dairy production in southern Algeria. This article sought to analyze how the innovation system in the dairy sector has, positively or negatively, influenced the development of the sector in this region and identify the socio-economic factors and institutions that have contributed to it. To do so, a functional-structural approach was taken. The data used were collected from semi-directive interviews and focus groups with different stakeholders involved in the dairy milk sector. Market restructuring, but also the collective organization, which is very common in the region, were found to be the main factors positively affecting the dairy sector. In addition, lobbying by the dairies and the asymmetry of power between dairy farmers and agri-food industrialists, a lack of collaboration and interaction between actors, a lack of coordination in knowledge development, and a lack of formal financing mechanisms to invest in livestock, turned out to be the factors hindering the innovation system. Finally, although the dairy sector in Ghardaïa attracts investors from the North of Algeria, and is thus a pronounced success in economic and organizational terms, the question of its sustainability is not being considered in these southern territories.

Background The impacts of climate change on crop and livestock sectors are well-documented. Climate change and its related events (e.g., high temperatures, extreme events, disease outbreaks) affect livestock production in various ways (e.g., nutrition, housing, health, welfare), and tend to compromise the physical productivity and the economic performances. Understanding animal responses to climate change may help planning strategies to cope with the adverse climatic conditions and also to reduce polluting emissions. Through an interdisciplinary approach, we develop a conceptual framework to assess and develop new organisational models for Mediterranean small-scale farming systems so as to mitigate the impacts of climate change, to improve farm management and farming technologies, and to achieve an effective adaptation to the climate changes. The conceptual framework consists of four phases: (i) community engagement, (ii) strategies development, (iii) data collection and analysis, (iv) business model generation and sustainability assessment. We assess strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the eco-solutions by mean of a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis technique. Results The proposed eco-solutions are expected to increase the sustainability of agriculture and food production systems by introducing new and efficient uses of natural resources. The proposed models are expected to have an impact not only on the environment (in terms of mitigation), but also on the economic and social performances, as they are expected to foster the responses of small-scale farms to the increasingly frequent effects of climate change (adaptation solutions). Among the positive impacts, we emphasise the importance of more stable revenues, a tendency that would help farmers to raise their revenues. Last but not least, we found that the proposed models are likely to increase the social resilience of the farming systems to the challenges imposed by the climate change. Conclusions The eco-solutions can support stakeholders involved in Mediterranean small-scale farming systems by suggesting novel land, crop, and livestock management approaches to optimise revenue flows, business models and climate change mitigation strategies thanks to the adoption of a systemic approach, that is not only focused on specific components of the system but instead based on the linkages between environmental, social, and economic aspects.

No abstract

No abstract