“ Agro-food production for a sustainable territorial development”

I. C R O C location

The Hérault department context is characterized by:

- territorial imbalance with a prevalence of the vine growing

- high unemployment

- several difficulties met for transmission and takeover of farms among them: weak identification of quality products; devalued image and weakness of the profession

Among these difficulties, the maintaining of food micro-enterprises is determined by the trade function. Within the trade scope, new entrepreneurs can encounter different difficulties such as crisis of traditional channels organisation; weak integration in local and institutional networks; lack of self-confidence in their capacity to create a business and to plan future development.

II. C R O C aims

To respond to these stakes, a development strategy can be based on the following assets:

• strong demographic growth (INSEE: 8.9% per annum), consequence of the department attraction due to good quality of life

• raise of the demand for quality food and higher frequentation of rural zones by urban people

• strong multi-activity of farmers (RGA: in 2000, 85% of the managers)

The common objective of participants is to support collective organization associating actors from upstream to downstream in the trade circuit, in order to maintain and create jobs in durable agriculture and food production, while answering to new expectations of producers and local consumers.

In order to enable farmers and business creators who are starting a durable and quality production to better live out of their activities, we proposed to set up a research/action targeted on the 3 following components:

a) to sensitize the economic, political and social environment with the utility of durable agriculture for development of the "quality" of life on the territory

b) to reinforce competences of producers, business creators and support agents, by enhancing know-how

c) to support specific collective forms of organisation allowing this public to improve production and marketing, and reinforce identity and image of farmer profession.

and to encourage integration of weakened public, such as women.

III. C R O C structure

The project is structured in 4 operational components:

I A socio-economic observatory

with several aims:

1. identification of factors and mechanisms of exclusion of standard markets and integration in markets of "quality"

2. study and follow-up of creation of activities and experiments of commercial diversification; analysis of the coaching system

3. study and follow-up of the demand for food and services of "quality" in Hérault

4. capitalization of the experiments and the experience of the PDD

II Development of competences:

1. Coaching to business creation:

   • training/ "From the idea to the project"

   • - individual coaching to farmers installation and follow-up post-creation

2. Reinforcement of producers’competences in marketing:

   • - agriculture and food entrepreneurs

   • - socio-institutional environment

III Direct support to initiatives

carried by:

1. producers:

• collective equipment for: food processing;

• collective organisation for marketing through short circuits)

2. consumers

• groupings to facilitate food shopping

• community supported agriculture

3. producers and downstream actors

• "ethical" relationship between producers, processors and distributors

IV Educational and cultural actions

likely to support:

• education on the environmental and social "quality" of agriculture and its products

• - recognition, transmission and evolution of know-how (agriculture; processing; food consumption)