Research projects

TAI-OC (2022-2027)

The objective of the TAI-OC project is to co-instruct, with different partners, the question of irrigation in the perspective of an agroecological transition of agriculture in the Occitanie region in France. More specifically, the project aims to characterize the irrigated agro-ecological systems of this Southern French region, to understand the factors of the agro-ecological transition of these irrigated systems and to accompany this transition by actions intended for farmers and actors of the territories.

IrrigSust (2023-2024)

This project aspires to tackle the links between agroecology and irrigation, by questioning the role of irrigation in the agroecological transition of agriculture and food systems. This is a major scientific challenge that needs to be addressed in order to assess how agroecological transitions of food systems would impact water resources while adapting to climate change.

ManTea (2021-2024)

The lens of agroecology has, to date, seldomly been used to study farming systems and cropping systems in North Africa, even the more in irrigated zones. Yet, agroecological practices are common within small-scale irrigated farming systems, although often undertaken in combination with more conventional practices. In particular, one innovation that has spread with the use of drip-irrigation and fertigation strategies, is the use of manure-based teas, applied to various fruit and green market products. This bottom-up innovation remains mostly invisible to decision makers and researchers, while questions arise concerning its composition, agronomic effects as well as its interactions with the soil, and in the case of fertigation applications, its role on pipe and drip emitter clogging.

This project aims to conduct original research bridging irrigation science - agronomy- soil science and participatory processes, within the framework of a collaboration between the two research units Eco&Sols and Geau. The team has initiated a PhD-level research work, aimed at improving fertigation practices of farmers, by characterizing and co- experimenting with farmers improvement pathways of this locally existing innovative agroecological practice of artisanal manure-based tea extracts in irrigated agriculture in North Africa.

Three specific questions, in particular, underlie this goal:

- What are the major physico-chemical and biological properties of artisanal manure teas?

- What are the impacts on soil physicochemical and biological properties, on crop growth and on the irrigation system?

- How, and in which conditions, can the implementation of participatory processes in co-learning lead to improved fertigation strategies of farmers, and in fine to more virtuous uses of organic liquid fertilizers?

ANzAR (2022-2023)

The agroecological transition of agricultural production systems is often seen as the pathway forward to develop sustainable food systems. There however still exist numerous cognitive and technical lock-ins of different orders in order to achieve this, in particular in the Southern Mediterranean. To strengthen agroecology, Wezel et al. (2018) recommend key actions that include knowledge exchange, strengthening communication, alliances and skills.

The objective of this project is to organize a multi-actor colloquium on agroecology in Tunisia in 2022, pertaining to “Responsible Production in Irrigated Agriculture in North Africa”. The aims of the encounter are first to start building a network at a regional scale of actors interested in alternative forms of irrigated agriculture; second - on a more cognitive basis – evaluate how such an encounter can impact stakeholders’ perceptions of agroecology, networks and praxis. The Forum will offer multiple activities based on co-learning processes that will favor active participation, and small group exchanges to allow network constitutions, through collective diagnoses of main stakes and issues within a “world café” workshop, sharing upon practical and accomplished transitions of farms through narratives, co-designing cropping and farming systems using serious games, and by presenting sets of innovations by stakeholders, in the field or through videos or experimentations.

To achieve this, the Forum will bring together, for a three day encounter, approximately 50 stakeholders, including farmers, NGOs and local associations’ leaders, local administration, students, researchers and post-production chain value actors from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in 2022. The project is led by a team of researchers from RU Geau and Innovation, in partnership with CREAD (Algeria) and INAT (Tunisia), and is built upon a set of research projects already undertaken on this theme. Expected impacts of this multi-stakeholder and participatory Forum engaged in innovative, inter-sectoral and cross-disciplinary co-learning are numerous, including enhancing mutual learning on locally adapted on adapted agroecological practices, student training in monitoring and evaluation methods, and dissemination of knowledge and experience acquired during the Forum to a larger community of both scientists, developers and practitioners

FADMA (2021-2024)

In a context of climatic, economic and health crises, questions are emerging concerning the fragility and resilience of food systems, particularly in the southern Mediterranean. As a result, consumers organized in associations or collectives in the large cities of the North African region are increasingly expressing strong expectations in relation to "consuming locally" and "eating healthy". At the same time, we find farmers who wish to adopt agricultural practices that are respectful of the environment and human health, but who are faced with a lack of outlets that allow them to be well paid. There is therefore a lack of coordination within the actors of the sectors allowing a meeting between consumers and producers. The main objective of the FADMA project is to work towards a better articulation between the two actors. This work will eventually lead to the development of a more sustainable agriculture that can be based on diversified farms and meet local food and nutritional needs. The interest in making this transition in Maghreb agriculture is all the more crucial if we consider the context of scarcity of productive resources (water and land) on which the population's food supply depends. Added to this scarcity is the degradation of these resources due to certain agricultural practices.