Le patrimoine au secours des agricultures familiales ? Éclairages méditerranéens

Small-scale, family-based agricultural systems in the Mediterranean region currently face serious challenges. In spite of obvious weaknesses, these systems are presented as major assets for disadvantaged rural areas. Specific strategies have been developed to support their economy. These strategies rely on the valorization of local specialties (from agricultural products to landscapes), either through territorial qualification, labelling, and the commercial development of local food products, or through the promotion of alternative forms of tourism based on the promotion of these products and of local agrarian cultures. All these approaches refer to local heritage or ?patrimony?. Public policies, development projects, and local initiatives related to local specialties have sometimes increased the competitiveness of family farms and territories. However, they have not always met the expected results and significant abuses can be observed. Drawing on examples of the patrimonial development of local specialties from Morocco and Corsica, we analyze the various dimensions of this new trend. We also discuss the conditions that allow ? or not ? the patrimonial valorization of local specialties to boost and consolidate family-based agricultural systems sustainably.