In the past three decades, the seed sector has experienced, and is now again experiencing, corporate concentration trends. The fallout of this consolidation is the subject of numerous concerns. However, the seed sector is rather poorly understood. Thus, it is useful to understand it better and to investigate the potential impact on the agri-food chain of the trend toward increased corporate concentration. The first part of this paper presents the main characteristics of the global seed sector, its stakeholders, and its size in the agri-food chain. Next, the corporate consolidation trends of the seed industry over the past two years are examined. The technological evolution of the seed sector is also briefly presented. In the last part of this paper, the fallout of recent mergers and acquisitions in the seed industry are analyzed. Opposing views are expressed on the impact of these mergers and acquisitions in the agri-food chain : while certain stakeholders worry about the risk of food power by the biggest companies, some others expect useful innovations.
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Article scientifique
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Corporate concentration and technological change in the global seed industry
26 octobre 2021, par Mathilde COUDRAY -
Urban governance for food security : the alternative food system in Belo Horizonte
23 novembre 2021, par Mathilde COUDRAYWith a population of 2.5 million people, the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, is a world pioneer in tackling food consumption, distribution and production as components of an integrated urban policy for food security. The paper gives a description of the main programmes and features of this policy arguing that over 15 years the city and its Municipal Secretariat for Food Policy and Supply have built a particular alternative food system. Marked by the comprehensive scope of its programmes ; its urban/rural focus ; the flexibility of the initiatives and, above all, by its commitment to social justice and equitable access to food, Belo Horizonte has developed a distinct mode of governance for food security. The unique ‘alterity’ of this food system is set further apart from those being attempted in Europe and in North America because it is government-driven. The paper discusses its strengths and current challenges.
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Avoiding the local trap : scale and food systems in planning research
3 novembre 2021, par Mathilde COUDRAYA strong current of food-systems research holds that local food systems are preferable to systems at larger scales. Many assume that eating local food is more ecologically sustainable and socially just. We term this the local trap and argue strongly against it. We draw on current scale theory in political and economic geography to argue that local food systems are no more likely to be sustainable or just than systems at other scales. The theory argues that scale is socially produced : scales (and their interrelations) are not independent entities with inherent qualities but strategies pursued by social actors with a particular agenda. It is the content of that agenda, not the scales themselves, that produces outcomes such as sustainability or justice. As planners move increasingly into food-systems research, we argue it is critical to avoid the local trap. The article’s theoretical approach to scale offers one way to do so.
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Le genre de l’ivresse. Évolution des consommations d’alcool chez les étudiant-e-s
26 octobre 2021, par Mathilde COUDRAYLe boire alcoolisé se prête particulièrement bien à une analyse en termes de genre. Cet article examine la construction sociale de la réalité concernant les modalités genrées du boire chez les jeunes, à partir d’une recherche en population étudiante. Entre le toxique et l’aliment, la « culture de l’ivresse » et la « culture du vin », le boire des jeunes et son évolution articulent différentes normes et différents rapports aux normes. L’évolution des rapports sociaux entre les sexes en matière de consommation estudiantine mérite d’être étudiée de près : contrairement aux discours récents de la prévention et de la santé publique mettant l’accent sur l’explosion des consommations chez les étudiants et la dissolution du genre, on observe avant tout le rapport étroit à l’ivresse qui évolue vers la modération et un maintien de la dissymétrie du genre tout au long des parcours de consommation.
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Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes : a multi-level perspective and a case-study
23 novembre 2021, par Mathilde COUDRAYThis paper addresses the question of how technological transitions (TT) come about ? Are there particular patterns and mechanisms in transition processes ? TT are defined as major, long-term technological changes in the way societal functions are fulfilled. TT do not only involve changes in technology, but also changes in user practices, regulation, industrial networks, infrastructure, and symbolic meaning or culture. This paper practices ‘appreciative theory’ [R.R. Nelson, S.G. Winter, An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change, Bellknap Press, Cambridge, MA, 1982] and brings together insights from evolutionary economics and technology studies. This results in a multi-level perspective on TT where two views of the evolution are combined : (i) evolution as a process of variation, selection and retention, (ii) evolution as a process of unfolding and reconfiguration. The perspective is empirically illustrated with a qualitative longitudinal case-study, the transition from sailing ships to steamships, 1780–1900. Three particular mechanisms in TT are described : niche-cumulation, technological add-on and hybridisation, riding along with market growth.
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Comparison of sociodemographic and nutritional characteristics between self-reported vegetarians, vegans, and meat-eaters from the NutriNet-Santé study
3 novembre 2021, par Mathilde COUDRAYThere is a growing trend for vegetarian and vegan diets in many Western countries. Epidemiological evidence suggesting that such diets may help in maintaining good health is rising. However, dietary and sociodemographic characteristics of vegetarians and vegans are not well known. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe sociodemographic and nutritional characteristics of self-reported, adult vegetarians and vegans, compared to meat-eaters, from the French NutriNet-Santé study.
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The rise of supermarkets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
26 octobre 2021, par Mathilde COUDRAYSupermarkets are traditionally viewed by development economists, policymakers, and practitioners as the rich world’s place to shop. The three regions discussed here have a great majority of the poor on the planet. But supermarkets are no longer just niche players for rich consumers in the capital cities of the countries in these regions. The rapid rise of supermarkets in these regions in the past five to ten years has transformed agrifood markets at different rates and depths across regions and countries. Many of those transformations present great challenges—even exclusion—for small farms, and small processing and distribution firms, but also potentially great opportunities. Development models, policies, and programs need to adapt to this radical change.
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La gestion ordinaire de la vie en deux
3 novembre 2021, par Mathilde COUDRAYA partir de données variées (entretiens, photos, films) sur la double journée de femmes en activité, l’article rend compte d’une analyse sur la gestion quotidiennedu travail salarié et du travail domestique, spécifique de la place des femmes dans les rapports sociaux de classes et de sexe. L’empiètement d’un univers sur l’autre complique la gestion des espaces-temps ; celle-ci ne peut être réduite à une addition de pratiques qui seraient isolables, stables et univoques. La charge mentale de la journée "redoublée" est lourde d’une tension constante, pour ajuster des temporalités et des espaces différents, mais non autonomes, qui interfèrent de manière multiplicative.
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Charlas culinarias : Mexican women speak from their public kitchens
3 novembre 2021, par Mathilde COUDRAYBy exploring how working-class Mexican women transform their home cooking abilities into an economic resource to support themselves and their families, this paper looks at the philosophical approach women give to their entrepreneurial efforts.
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Realizing justice in local food systems
3 novembre 2021, par Mathilde COUDRAYFor alternative agrifood social movements, food-system localization is both an ideal and a pathway to resolve environmental, social and economic issues in the food system. This article addresses the potential for equity within food-system localization in practical and conceptual terms. Historical processes have shaped regions and social relations with vast differences in wealth, power and privilege and this has implications for thinking about and enacting equity through food-system localization. If food-system localization efforts are to work toward equity, they must consider inherited material and discursive asymmetries within frameworks of economy, demography, geography and democracy.