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Co-Design and Experimentation of a Prototype of Agroecological Micro-Farm Meeting the Objectives Set by Climate-Smart Agriculture

Author

Listed:
  • Stan Selbonne

    (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Research Unit ASTRO, F-97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, France)

  • Loïc Guindé

    (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Research Unit ASTRO, F-97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, France)

  • François Causeret

    (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Research Unit ASTRO, F-97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, France)

  • Thierry Bajazet

    (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Research Unit ASTRO, F-97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, France)

  • Lucienne Desfontaines

    (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Research Unit ASTRO, F-97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, France)

  • Mathieu Duval

    (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Research Unit ASTRO, F-97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, France)

  • Jorge Sierra

    (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Research Unit ASTRO, F-97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, France)

  • Franck Solvar

    (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Research Unit ASTRO, F-97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, France)

  • Régis Tournebize

    (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Research Unit ASTRO, F-97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, France)

  • Jean-Marc Blazy

    (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Research Unit ASTRO, F-97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, France)

Abstract

Developing climate-smart agriculture is an urgent necessity to ensure the food security of a growing global population, to improve the adaptation of agricultural systems to climatic hazards, and to reach a negative carbon balance. Different approaches are being explored to achieve those objectives, including the development of new technologies for efficiency improvements to current systems and substitution of chemical inputs by bio-inputs, but the urgency of the climatic, social, and environmental context calls for more disruptive actions to be taken. We propose an approach to the design of climate-smart production systems structured in four steps: (1) diagnosis of the study region on the basis of the three pillars of climate-smart agriculture, (2) co-design of a disruptive system only based on agroecological and bioeconomic principles, (3) long-term experimentation of this system, and (4) in itinere adjustment of the system based on collected data and on-field evaluations with agricultural stakeholders. The outcome of this approach is the agroecological microfarm named KARUSMART, settled in 2018 on one hectare in the North Basse-Terre region of Guadeloupe (F.W.I.). This study presents its co-design and experimentation stages as well as the first performance results. At the end of the first two years, this microfarm showed a clear improvement in 15 of the 19 indicators used to evaluate the performance of the actual farming systems in the study region. Among the most striking results are a clear superiority in nutritional performance from 3 pers.ha −1 to 8 pers.ha −1 and a reduction in GHG balance from +2.4 tCO 2eq .ha −1 to −1.1 tCO 2eq .ha −1 for the study area and the microfarm, respectively. These results are promising for developing climate-smart agricultural systems and need to be consolidated further through longer-term monitoring data, the implementation of more similar systems in the study area, and the implementation of the design principles in other contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Stan Selbonne & Loïc Guindé & François Causeret & Thierry Bajazet & Lucienne Desfontaines & Mathieu Duval & Jorge Sierra & Franck Solvar & Régis Tournebize & Jean-Marc Blazy, 2023. "Co-Design and Experimentation of a Prototype of Agroecological Micro-Farm Meeting the Objectives Set by Climate-Smart Agriculture," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:1:p:159-:d:1028854
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Deaconu, Ana & Berti, Peter R. & Cole, Donald C. & Mercille, Geneviève & Batal, Malek, 2021. "Agroecology and nutritional health: A comparison of agroecological farmers and their neighbors in the Ecuadorian highlands," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
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    3. Brown, Mark T. & Campbell, Daniel E. & De Vilbiss, Christopher & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2016. "The geobiosphere emergy baseline: A synthesis," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 339(C), pages 92-95.
    4. Jha, Dayanatha, 2001. "Agricultural Research and Small Farms," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 56(1), March.
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    1. Tarsiguel, Laura & Dorey, Elodie & Dorel, Marc & Andrieu, Nadine, 2023. "Alternative practices to pesticide use in the Guadeloupe banana belt: Do biophysical constraints limit agroecological transitions?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).

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