Table Of ContentHubert Cochet
Comparative
Agriculture
Éditions Cirad, Ifremer, Inra, Irstea
www.quae.com
Comparative Agriculture
Hubert Cochet
Comparative Agriculture
Translation from French: Laurent Chauvet
123
HubertCochet
AgroParisTech
Paris,France
ISBN978-94-017-9827-3 ISBN978-94-017-9828-0 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-94-017-9828-0
SpringerDordrechtHeidelbergNewYorkLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2015934462
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©ÉditionsQuæ2015
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Contents
PartI TheoreticalApproachtoComparativeAgriculture
1 ComparativeAgriculture,ObjectandIssues............................ 3
1.1 AgriculturalDevelopment:ObjectofComparativeAgriculture... 3
1.2 IssuesConcerningComparativeAgriculture........................ 6
2 The Origins of Comparative Agriculture and René
Dumont’sLegacy........................................................... 9
2.1 OriginsofComparativeAgriculture................................. 9
2.2 ComparinginOrdertoImprove..................................... 10
2.3 DecisiveRenewalforAgronomyandAgriculturalEconomics.... 12
2.4 Returning to the Field as an Antidote Against
TheorisingDrifts..................................................... 14
3 “AgrarianSystem”,IntegratingConceptofComparative
Agriculture.................................................................. 19
3.1 OriginandDevelopmentoftheAgrarianSystemConcept......... 19
AgrarianStructuresorAgrarianSystems?TheFrench
Geographers’Input................................................... 19
The“AgrarianSystem”ofFrenchAgriculturalEconomists....... 22
3.2 ScalesandBoundaries ............................................... 28
FromAgriculturalDistricttoCountry,WhatScale
ShouldBePrivileged?................................................ 28
SpatialBursting,TemporalTelescoping ............................ 31
TheAgrarianSystemGoesBeyondandEncompasses
theSphereofPrimaryProduction................................... 35
3.3 ProductionSystem,CroppingSystemandLivestock
FarmingSystem...................................................... 38
TheConceptofProductionSystem ................................. 38
TechnicalChoicesEmbeddedinSocialRelations.................. 40
v
vi Contents
ProductionSystemVersusActivitySystem:ABadly
FormulatedQuestion................................................. 43
TheCroppingSystemandLivestockSystemConcepts............ 45
3.4 Combinationof Scales of Observation,Analysis
andComprehension.................................................. 47
3.5 BetweenLifeSciencesandSocialSciences,aDelicate
Positioningofthe“AgrarianSystem”............................... 49
4 DiachronicApproachtoAgrarianSystems.............................. 53
4.1 Whatisan“AgriculturalRevolution”?.............................. 54
TheConceptof“AgriculturalRevolution”.......................... 54
TheFourEuropeanAgriculturalRevolutions....................... 55
AgriculturalRevolutionsinSub-SaharanAfrica ................... 56
GreenRevolutions.................................................... 61
EveryAgriculturalDisruptionIsNotAutomatically
an“AgriculturalRevolution”........................................ 62
4.2 AgriculturalCrisis,AgrarianSystemCrisis ........................ 63
Crises Reflected in the IrreversibleDegradation
oftheEnvironment................................................... 63
EndogenousCrises................................................... 64
ExternalCrises ....................................................... 64
PoliticalCrises? ...................................................... 65
Many-SidedCrises?.................................................. 66
4.3 Comparative Agriculture,Agricultural“Crises”
and“Revolutions”.................................................... 67
4.4 UnderstandingChangeintheLongTermtoBetter
IdentifytheProcesstoBePromoted ................................ 68
5 ComparingProductiveProcesses......................................... 71
5.1 DifferencesinProductivityona WorldwideScale
andConsequencesonDevelopment................................. 71
5.2 WhichFormsofAgricultureShouldBePromoted?................ 74
PartII MethodsandExpertiseofComparativeAgriculture
6 Micro-RegionalApproachtoAgrarianIssues........................... 89
6.1 AgriculturalDistrict:PrivilegedObjectofAnalysis
inTermsofAgrarianSystem ........................................ 89
6.2 ReadingtheLandscape............................................... 90
7 TerrainandSurveys........................................................ 93
7.1 ConductingSurveysOneselfandGatheringQualitative
aswellasRigorouslyQuantifiedData .............................. 93
7.2 Knowledge from the Top and Knowledge
fromtheBottom:BreakingImplicitHierarchies ................... 95
7.3 Tools,MachinesandSkills:AgriculturalTechnology
andInnovationProblematics......................................... 97
Contents vii
8 MakingHistoryinComparativeAgriculture ........................... 101
8.1 AProblemofSources................................................ 101
8.2 HistoricalSurveysinComparativeAgriculture..................... 103
9 HowtoBuildFarmTypologies? .......................................... 109
9.1 BriefSurveyofTypologicalMethods............................... 109
9.2 PriorIdentificationofProductionSystems.......................... 110
9.3 TakingintoAccounttheConditionsofAccesstoLand
andResources ........................................................ 112
9.4 ExplainingDiversity ................................................. 113
10 EconomyofAgriculturalProductionProcess........................... 115
10.1 LinkingEconomicApproachandTechnicalProcesses ............ 115
10.2 Economy of Agricultural Production Applied
attheProductionSystemLevel...................................... 116
ValueAddedandProductivity....................................... 116
DistributionofVAandFarmIncome................................ 120
ComparedEconomicResults:TheUkrainianExample............ 123
10.3 TheFarmerasHomo-Oeconomicus................................. 126
Homo-Oeconomicus................................................. 126
CulturalFactorandTradition........................................ 128
11 ComparativeAgricultureandEvaluation ............................... 131
11.1 SystemicImpactAssessment........................................ 132
11.2 EconomicAssessment ofDevelopmentProjects,
fromtheGeneralInterestPointofView ............................ 134
Conclusion ........................................................................ 141
References......................................................................... 145
Introduction
Some of the major issues with which humanity is and will be confronted in the
comingdecadesaretheglobalagriculturalandfoodissue.Howtofeedtheplanet?
Howshouldpeoplefeedthemselvesontheplanet?Andwhatproductiveprocesses
shouldbepromotedinmovingprogressivelytowardfarmingtypesthatcanensure
abundant and quality food production, preserving exploited ecosystems and their
inhabitants,creatingjobsandincomes,andcontributingtoreducingthegapinliving
standardsthathasbeenwideningsomuchinthelastdecades?Intryingtoanswer
these questions and to light the way for decision makers as far as possible, it has
become necessary to compare the many forms of farming found in each region
or country of the world. But this comparison must not be seen through only by
means of structural criteria made accessible to researchers through the statistical
machinery.Itmustconcerncurrentprocesses,pastandcurrenttrajectoriesaswellas
theirmethodsofdifferentiation.Itmustbeabletoexplaintheseevolutionsandgive
themmeaning.Finally,itmustalsoconcerntheirresultsasregardsquantitativeand
qualitativeproduction,thecreationofwealthandincomeaswellasthepreservation
orcreationofjobs,andfromthepointofviewofformsofecosystemartificialization
andtheirconsequences.
Thisisthejobofcomparativeagriculturewhich,asadiscipline,wasintroduced
at the Institut National Agronomique of Paris by René Dumont in particular,
just after the Second World War, as a global and multidisciplinary approach to
agriculture.Dumontwas alreadypointingoutthe importancethatshouldbegiven
totheeconomic,social,andpoliticalconditionsofagriculturaldevelopment.From
its very beginnings, and on the basis of this renewed approach to agriculture,
comparativeagriculturewas graduallyequippedwith originalconceptsadaptedto
itspurpose.Itformeditselfprogressivelyintoafullyfledgedscientificapproach.
Within the Social Science, Economics, and Management Department of
AgroParisTech,todaytheComparativeAgricultureandAgriculturalDevelopment
Unit trains agricultural economists to apprehend the historical and contemporary
transformations of world agriculture so that they can formulate, manage, and
assess agricultural development projects, programmes, and policies adapted to
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