Local inter-farm cooperation: A hidden potential for the agroecological transition in northern agricultures

ABSTRACT In the Global North, local inter-farm cooperation offers opportunities for farmers to better access and manage equipment, labor and material resources. Yet, its potential to pave the way to organize the local collaborations needed for the agroecological transition remains hidden. This paper, based on the experience of French farm machinery cooperatives (CUMA), shows how local inter-farm cooperation can help make farming systems more agroecological. We conclude by arguing that local inter-farm cooperation warrants more attention, both to help strengthen its development and to expand its potential for contributing to the agroecological transition.

• Publication year

  2018

• Venue

  Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems

• Publication date

  2018-09-21

• Fields of study

  Agricultural and Food Sciences, Business, Economics

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1080/21683565.2018.1509168
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Coopération agricole de production : quand l’activité agricole se distribue entre exploitation et action collective de proximité

  2020influential reference
• The production and circulation of agricultural knowledge as interrogated by agroecology

  2018cited by this paper
• Chapitre 12 - Les démarches ComMod et Gerdal d’accompagnement de collectifs multi-acteurs pour faciliter l’innovation dans les agro-écosystèmes

  2018cited by this paper
• Critical factors for crop-livestock integration beyond the farm level: A cross-analysis of worldwide case studies

  2018influential reference
• Will farmers work together for conservation? The potential limits of farmers’ cooperation in agri-environment measures

  2018cited by this paper
• Le secteur laitier français est-il compétitif face à la concurrence européenne et mondiale ?

  2018cited by this paper
• L'agriculture en commun : Gagner en autonomie grâce à la coopération de proximité : Expériences d'agriculteurs français en CUMA à l'ère de l'agroécologie

  2018influential reference
• Écologie et économie des interactions entre filières agricoles et territoire : quels concepts et cadre d'analyse ?

  2017cited by this paper
• Chapitre 18 - Régime de connaissances et régulation sectorielle en agriculture

  2017cited by this paper
• The more-than-economic dimensions of cooperation in food production

  2017cited by this paper
• Impact of farming systems on agricultural landscapes and biodiversity: From plot to farm and landscape scales

  2017cited by this paper
• Understanding Farmer Co-operation: Exploring practices of social relatedness and emergent affects.

  2017cited by this paper
• Agroecology territories: places for sustainable agricultural and food systems and biodiversity conservation

  2016cited by this paper
• Farming Systems Facing Global Challenges:Capacities and Strategies. Volume 1

  2016cited by this paper
• Agroecology: Principles for the Conversion and Redesign of Farming Systems

  2016cited by this paper
• China's Peasant Agriculture and Rural Society : Changing paradigms of farming

  2016cited by this paper
• Blind spots in agri-environmental governance: some reflections and suggestions from Switzerland

  2016cited by this paper
• A social-ecological framework for analyzing and designing integrated crop–livestock systems from farm to territory levels

  2016cited by this paper
• Crop–livestock integration beyond the farm level: a review

  2016cited by this paper
• L'innovation à l'épreuve d'un climat et d'un monde changeant rapidement : intérêt de la co-conception dans le domaine des semences

  2016cited by this paper
• Conception et évaluation de systèmes de production intégrant culture et élevage à l'échelle du territoire

  2015cited by this paper
• University of Birmingham Independence and individualism: Conflated values in farmer cooperation?

  2015cited by this paper
• How to implement biodiversity-based agriculture to enhance ecosystem services: a review

  2015cited by this paper
• Réseaux d'action publique et accès aux connaissances pour la "transition écologique"

  2015influential reference
• Agri-environmental collaboratives for landscape management in Europe

  2015cited by this paper
• Nutrient recycling in organic farming is related to diversity in farm types at the local level

  2015cited by this paper
• Toward a systemic analysis of city-agriculture interactions in West Africa: A geography of arrangements between actors

  2015cited by this paper
• Projets agro-énergétiques de territoire dans l’Ouest français : le rôle des agriculteurs-moteurs

  2015cited by this paper
• Farmers' Professional Dialogue Networks and Dynamics of Change: The Case of ICP and No‐Tillage Adoption in Burgundy (France)

  2015cited by this paper
• Energy autonomy in Le Mené: A French case of grassroots innovation

  2014cited by this paper
• How to break out the lock-in on crop diversification in France?

  2014cited by this paper
• Le lent dévoilement du travail des agricultrices

  2014cited by this paper
• Responding to environmental regulations through collaborative arrangements: Social aspects of manure partnerships in Denmark

  2014cited by this paper
• Le terroir, un concept pour l’action dans le développement des territoires

  2014cited by this paper
• Freins et leviers à la diversification des cultures : étude au niveau des exploitations agricoles et des filières

  2013cited by this paper
• Campesinos, mercados y políticas públicas : Una lectura por la reciprocidad

  2012influential reference
• L'agriculture à l'épreuve de l'écologisation : éléments pour une sociologie des transitions

  2012cited by this paper
• Agroecology as a Transdisciplinary, Participatory, and Action-Oriented Approach

  2012cited by this paper
• Collective Innovation Boosts Biodiversity in French Vineyards

  2012influential reference
• Le Système énergétique agri-territorial : les bioénergies comme outil de développement local

  2012cited by this paper
• Co-producing Transition: Innovation Processes in Farms Adhering to Solidarity-based Purchase Groups (GAS) in Tuscany, Italy

  2011cited by this paper
• Organising Collective Action for Effective Environmental Management and Social Learning in Wales

  2011cited by this paper
• Les dimensions territoriales de la restructuration laitière

  2010cited by this paper
• The agroecological matrix as alternative to the land-sparing/agriculture intensification model

  2010cited by this paper
• A Return of the Threshing Ring? A Case Study of Machinery and Labor-Sharing in Midwestern Farms

  2010cited by this paper
• Social Theory and the De/Reconstruction of Agricultural Science: Local Knowledge for an Alternative Agriculture1

  2010cited by this paper
• Polycentricity, reciprocity, and farmer adoption of conservation practices under community-based governance

  2009cited by this paper
• From Politics to Co-operation: The Dynamics of Embeddedness in Alternative Food Supply Chains

  2009cited by this paper
• The biodiesel produced by farmers at a local scale using a traditional procedure: what kind of territorial construction for an agro-environmental project in social economy?

  2009cited by this paper
• ow agricultural research systems shape a technological regime that develops enetic engineering but locks out agroecological innovations

  2009cited by this paper
• Potential food production from forage legume-based-systems in Europe: an overview.

  2009cited by this paper
• Agroecology as a science, a movement and a practice. A review

  2009cited by this paper
• Review: Agroecology in Action: Extending Alternative Agriculture through Social Networks by Keith Douglass Warner

  2008cited by this paper
• Principles of integrated agricultural systems: Introduction to processes and definition

  2008cited by this paper
• Participation, Incentives and Social Norms in Partnership Arrangements Among Farms in Sweden

  2007cited by this paper
• Reconsidering Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems in North America

  2007cited by this paper
• Farming for Us All: Practical Agriculture and the Cultivation of Sustainability . By Michael Mayerfeld Bell, Susan Jarnagin, Gregory Peter, and Donna Bauer. 2004. Pennsylvania State University Press, PA, USA. 299 p. US$22.50, ISBN 0271023872, paperback.

  2007cited by this paper
• Une co-construction territoriale des règles du travail d’éleveur ?

  2006cited by this paper
• Réseaux d'apprentissage et innovation dans une organisation productive. L'exemple d'un projet qualité en coopérative viticole : Connaissance et relations sociales

  2004cited by this paper
• Culture et élevage : quelles relations, quelles synergies ?

  2004cited by this paper
• Learning about innovation through networks: the development of environment-friendly viticulture

  2004cited by this paper
• Social Capital and the Collective Management of Resources

  2003cited by this paper
• Agroecology: The Ecology of Food Systems

  2003cited by this paper
• Le travail en agriculture: nouvelles demandes, nouveaux enjeux

  1998cited by this paper
• Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action

  1993cited by this paper
• Changement technique et structure professionnelle locale en agriculture

  1989influential reference

• English farmers’ views on agroforestry and agroforestry scheme characteristics: a qualitative analysis of drivers and facilitators of engagement

  2026cites this paper
• From soil to society: A transdisciplinary assessment of farmers' adoption of agroecology through the social-ecological systems framework in Algeria

  2026cites this paper
• How can digitalisation support transformation towards sustainable agri-food systems? Scenario development in Lower Austria

  2025cites this paper
• Ecuador y México: historias entretejidas de controversias en las políticas de agricultura y mercados campesinos

  2025cites this paper
• A critical political economy approach to agroecological transitions: A social multi-criteria evaluation of agricultural policies in Senegal

  2025cites this paper
• Spatial Spillover Effect of Green Industrial Agglomeration on Carbon Productivity

  2025cites this paper
• Short food supply chains, an alternative economy for sustainable food systems: a mixed approach over time

  2025cites this paper
• An interdisciplinary framework for managing communities in sustainability transitions: insights from agroecological transitions

  2025cites this paper
• Assessment of the Agroecological Transition of Farms in Central Tunisia Using the TAPE Framework

  2025influential citation
• Protecting crops with plant diversity: Agroecological promises, socioeconomic lock-in, and political levers

  2025cites this paper
• Relational autonomy highlights how interdependencies shift in the transformation of food provisioning

  2025cites this paper
• Work in agriculture: A blind spot in reducing pesticide use on dairy farms?

  2025cites this paper
• The environmental benefits of grassroots cooperatives in agriculture

  2025cites this paper
• Shared digital agricultural technology on farms in Southern Germany-analysing farm and socio-demographic characteristics in an inter-farm context

  2025cites this paper
• Exploring pathways to sustainable agriculture: Understanding institutional lock-in in Tunisia through analysis of stakeholders’ discourse

  2025cites this paper
• Learning from farmers on potentials and limits for an agroecological transition: a participatory action research in Western Sicily

  2024cites this paper
• Assessing Farm Income and Input Efficiency Under Zero-budget Natural Farming in India

  2024cites this paper
• Le territoire au secours des transitions ? Une approche territoriale des transitions comme changements systémiques

  2024cites this paper
• Digitalisation strategies in the agri-food system: The case of PDO Parmigiano Reggiano

  2024cites this paper
• Landscape regeneration and place-based development in marginal areas: learning from an Integrated Project in Southern Salento

  2024cites this paper
• Biodiversity as an Asset for the Social and Solidarity Economy: Case of Bouhachem Natural Park, Northern Morocco

  2024cites this paper
• Conceptual framework on the continuum of change in governance structures from the perspective of member control and the life cycle of agricultural cooperatives

  2023cites this paper
• The impact of collaborative agglomeration of manufacturing and producer services on carbon emission intensity: Influence mechanism and spatial effect

  2023cites this paper
• Conditions for Coopetition of Farms in the Agri-Food Sector on the Example of the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province

  2023cites this paper
• The human being at the heart of agroecological transitions: insights from cognitive mapping of actors’ vision of change in Roquefort area

  2023cites this paper
• How Can Collective Action Support the Agroecological Transition in Geographical Indication Vineyards? Insights from the Loire Valley Wine Area

  2023cites this paper
• Contributions of a feminist perspective to the analysis of farm viability: the livelihoods reproduction framework

  2023cites this paper
• Social differentiation of the peasantry (Chayanovian)

  2023cites this paper
• Family farmers' strategies to develop autonomy through agroecological and solidarity economy practices: The case of BioVida in the Ecuadorian Andes

  2023cites this paper
• How access and dynamics in the use of territorial resources shape agroecological transitions in crop-livestock systems: Learnings and perspectives

  2023cites this paper
• Longitudinal Network Analysis on a Farmers’ Community of Practice and Their Changes in Agricultural Systems Management

  2022cites this paper
• Tracking down coupled innovations supporting agroecological vegetable crop protection to foster sustainability transition of agrifood systems

  2022cites this paper
• Autonomy as a politico‐economic concept: Peasant practices and nested markets

  2022cites this paper
• A Participatory Approach Based on the Serious Game Dynamix to Co-Design Scenarios of Crop-Livestock Integration Among Farms

  2022cites this paper
• Use of the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) model to examine sustainable agriculture in Thailand

  2022cites this paper
• Producer organizations as transition intermediaries? Insights from organic and conventional vegetable systems in Uruguay

  2022cites this paper
• Co-producing better land management? An ethnographic study of partnership working in the context of agricultural diffuse pollution

  2022cites this paper
• Diversity and drivers of crop diversification pathways of European farms

  2022cites this paper
• Human and social values in agroecology

  2022cites this paper
• Formal and informal governance mechanisms of machinery cooperatives: The case of Quebec

  2022cites this paper
• An intensive and collective style of farm work that enables the agroecological transition: A case study of six French farm machinery cooperatives

  2022cites this paper
• A “silent” agroecology: the significance of unrecognized sociotechnical changes made by French farmers

  2021cites this paper
• Exchanges among farmers’ collectives in support of sustainable agriculture: From review to reconceptualization

  2021cites this paper
• Opening the organisational black box to grasp the difficulties of agroecological transition. An empirical analysis of tensions in agroecological production cooperatives

  2021cites this paper
• Food Systems Summit Brief

  2021cites this paper
• Low-Input Farming and Territories – Integrating knowledge for improving ecosystem based farming

  2021influential citation
• LIFT Deliverable template

  2021cites this paper
• Bridging the gap between the agroecological ideal and its implementation into practice. A review

  2021cites this paper
• Overcoming challenges and contributing to sustainable food systems transformation

  2021cites this paper
• Governing Common-Property Assets: Theory and Evidence from Agriculture

  2020cites this paper
• The political economy of agroecology

  2020cites this paper
• The economic potential of agroecology: Empirical evidence from Europe

  2019cites this paper
• Transversal views on work in agriculture

  2019cites this paper
• The economic potential of agroecology:: Empirical evidence from Europe

  2019cites this paper
• Improving Yield Effi ciency through Pre-monsoon Dry Sowing in Andhra Pradesh

  year unknowncites this paper