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New models of collective agriculture have been developing in France over the past 10 years that could encourage the emergence of more diversified and sustainable systems. However, as such production systems are relatively more complex to manage, the involvement of more people may be required. This raises renewed questions concerning the collective organization of work. Our study’s main hypothesis is that the collective organization of work could encourage crop-livestock integration and underlying agroecological processes. To test this hypothesis, we implemented a participatory design approach in a case study in Camargue (France). We first used ecological network analysis to characterize flows of material between production units and assess associated biotechnical performances, namely, efficiency, resilience, productivity, and dependence. In a second step, we drew from the QuaeWork method, which we adapted to the study of collective farms, to characterize the organizational dimension. These two methods allowed us to generate quantitative indicators related to the performance of the system (expressed in kgN.ha −1 .yr −1 ) and to calculate and estimate the time spent on various types of work (h.yr −1 ). Using a participatory design approach, we then developed and assessed three scenarios with varying levels of integration between activities. The results indicate that the gradual substitution of external resources by internal resources leads to a broader range of flows within the system, generating performances that vary depending on the scenario. The design of the scenarios revealed the repercussions of the organization of work within production units. The two most integrated scenarios are more efficient and resilient than the scenario without integration between units, but they are less productive. Our research contributes novel insights into the impact of agroecological practices on the organization of work on collective farms. Our findings enable a deeper understanding of the complex link between the collective organization of production and the articulation of activities.

This article provides an overview of the current state of knowledge on pastoral systems and territories in France, focusing on the key issues that affect them. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the factors contributing to the decline of pastoralism in a context of intensified production and herd expansion, adaptation to climate change and market fluctuations, and the return of wild predators. Five priority areas for research are identified: animal selection and breeding in pastoral environments; pastoralism as a specific agroecological model, with its strengths and weaknesses; multi‐stakeholder pastoral territories, as spaces for confrontation and development of collective projects; pastoralism occupations and their attractiveness; and data derived from methods for monitoring changes in vegetation, biodiversity, and livestock systems. While not identical, many of these issues are notably similar to those in pastoral contexts in other parts of the world, particularly West Africa. Cette synthèse dresse un état des lieux des connaissances sur les systèmes et territoires pastoraux en France au prisme des principaux enjeux qui les traversent. Le repli pastoral en situation d'intensification de la production et d'agrandissement des troupeaux, l'adaptation au changement climatique et aux fluctuations des marchés, ou encore le retour de prédateurs sauvages sont particulièrement discutés. Cinq champs de recherche prioritaires ont été dégagés : l'animal en milieu pastoral ; le pastoralisme comme modèle d'agroécologie avec ses forces et ses faiblesses ; les territoires pastoraux multi‐acteurs, espaces de confrontation et de projets collectifs ; les métiers du pastoralisme et leur attractivité, les données issues des méthodes de suivi de l’évolution des végétations, de la biodiversité et des systèmes d’élevage. Bien des sujets font écho avec les situations pastorales du reste du monde, notamment en Afrique de l'Ouest, sans pour autant les recouvrir exactement.

La dégradation de la fertilité des sols est un problème majeur en Afrique subsaharienne. La forte croissance démographique, la demande locale de nourriture et la réduction des terres arables disponibles risquent d’accroître ce phénomène. Alors que les engrais minéraux sont peu utilisés, notamment à Madagascar, la gestion de la fertilité des sols est largement dépendante des matières organiques produites à la ferme. Afin d’augmenter l’efficacité du recyclage des nutriments à l’échelle de la ferme, il est nécessaire de comprendre les facteurs favorables à l’amélioration des pratiques de gestion des effluents d’élevage. Cette étude propose d’analyser les relations entre la structure d’exploitations agricoles intégrant agriculture et élevage dans la région de Vakinankaratra (Hautes Terres de Madagascar) et leurs pratiques de gestion des effluents. Des entretiens semi-directifs ont été réalisés auprès de 300 exploitations. Une typologie a été réalisée à l’aide d’une analyse en composantes principales (ACP). Sept types d’exploitation ont été retenus, permettant de distinguer des exploitations laitières d’autres exploitations d’agro-élevage (bovins de trait, porcs). Un test de Khi 2 indique un effet significatif de la structure des exploitations sur le mode de gestion des effluents. En particulier, la présence d’un élevage laitier et de porcins semble favoriser des modes de gestion améliorés. L’analyse typologique contribue à la compréhension de l’adoption de pratiques améliorées de gestion des biomasses par les agro-éleveurs. L’adoption de telles pratiques est un prérequis pour améliorer le recyclage des nutriments vers les parcelles agricoles, et donc améliorer la durabilité des exploitations agricoles des Hautes Terres du Vakinankaratra. Soil fertility degradation is a major stake in sub-Saharan Africa. Strong population growth, local demand for food and land scarcity are likely to increase this phenomenon. While mineral fertilizers are little used, particularly in Madagascar, soil fertility management is therefore largely dependent on organic fertilizers produced on the farm. In order to increase the efficiency of nutrient recycling at farm level, it is necessary to understand the factors that contribute to improved manure management practices. This study proposes to analyze the relationships between the structure of farms integrating crop and livestock in the Vakinankaratra region (Highlands of Madagascar) and their manure management practices. Semi-structured interviews were carried out on 300 farms. Then, a farm typology was built through a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Seven farm types were identified, distinguishing dairy farms from other agri-livestock farms (zebus, pigs). A Chi 2 test indicates a significant effect of farm structure on effluent management methods. In particular, the presence of dairy and pig farming within farms seems to favor improved manure management. The cluster analysis contributes to understanding the adoption of improved biomass management practices by crop-livestock farming systems. The adoption of such practices is a prerequisite for improving nutrients recycling from animals to agricultural plots, and thus improving the sustainability of farms in the Vakinankaratra Highlands.

Faced with changes related to climatic hazards or market variability, farmers deploy a variety of strategies to stabilize farm economic performances and reduce risk. One of the challenges faced by agricultural systems is how to reduce their sensitivity to these disturbances and maintain a certain level of production of goods and services. If diversity in crop and livestock activities in a farm has been shown to answer this challenge, at a higher scale, the growth of diversity and its benefits remain unclear. Using biotechnical models of existing farms within the territory of the Vallées de Duyes in the South of France, we propose to simulate various territorial configurations based on the assumption of diversity at farm and territorial scales and assess their expected sustainable properties. Based on the actual configuration of the referenced territory and composed of a set of specialized and mixed farms, two contrasted configurations are tested: from one side, a territory composed of specialized farms and, from the other side, a territory composed of mixed farms. The intrinsic diversity of individual farms impacts their performance and reveals that the resistance to economic shock varies according to the dependence on inputs and the use of rangelands. If mixed farms exhibit high values of diversity indicators for both land use and product provision, they also present high values for the majority of sustainable properties. At a higher scale, the specialized configuration shows the highest resistance to economic shock, but economic performances are lower than the referenced and specialized configurations. Here, we explore for the first time how several types of diversity indicators, both built within and between farms, could affect a set of sustainable properties of farms and territories. These new insights lead to a better understanding of how to balance performance at several scales and design sustainable Mediterranean farming systems.

AbstractNew models of collective agriculture have been developing in France over the past 10 years that could encourage the emergence of more diversified and sustainable systems. However, as such production systems are relatively more complex to manage, the involvement of more people may be required. This raises renewed questions concerning the collective organization of work. Our study’s main hypothesis is that the collective organization of work could encourage crop-livestock integration and underlying agroecological processes. To test this hypothesis, we implemented a participatory design approach in a case study in Camargue (France). We first used ecological network analysis to characterize flows of material between production units and assess associated biotechnical performances, namely, efficiency, resilience, productivity, and dependence. In a second step, we drew from the QuaeWork method, which we adapted to the study of collective farms, to characterize the organizational dimension. These two methods allowed us to generate quantitative indicators related to the performance of the system (expressed in kgN.ha−1.yr−1) and to calculate and estimate the time spent on various types of work (h.yr−1). Using a participatory design approach, we then developed and assessed three scenarios with varying levels of integration between activities. The results indicate that the gradual substitution of external resources by internal resources leads to a broader range of flows within the system, generating performances that vary depending on the scenario. The design of the scenarios revealed the repercussions of the organization of work within production units. The two most integrated scenarios are more efficient and resilient than the scenario without integration between units, but they are less productive. Our research contributes novel insights into the impact of agroecological practices on the organization of work on collective farms. Our findings enable a deeper understanding of the complex link between the collective organization of production and the articulation of activities.

Cette synthèse dresse un état des lieux des connaissances sur les systèmes et territoires pastoraux en France au prisme des principaux enjeux qui les traversent. Le repli pastoral en situation d’intensification de la production et d’agrandissement des troupeaux, l’adaptation au changement climatique et aux fluctuations des marchés, ou encore le retour de prédateurs sauvages sont particulièrement discutés. Cinq champs de recherche prioritaires ont été dégagés : l’animal en milieu pastoral ; le pastoralisme comme modèle d’agroécologie avec ses forces et ses faiblesses ; les territoires pastoraux multi-acteurs, espaces de confrontation et de projets collectifs ; les métiers du pastoralisme et leur attractivité ; les données issues des méthodes de suivi de l’évolution des végétations, de la biodiversité et des systèmes d’élevage. Bien des sujets font écho avec les situations pastorales du reste du monde, notamment en Afrique de l’Ouest, sans pour autant les recouvrir exactement.

AbstractFaced with changes related to climatic hazards or market variability, farmers deploy a variety of strategies to stabilize farm economic performances and reduce risk. One of the challenges faced by agricultural systems is how to reduce their sensitivity to these disturbances and maintain a certain level of production of goods and services. If diversity in crop and livestock activities in a farm has been shown to answer this challenge, at a higher scale, the growth of diversity and its benefits remain unclear. Using biotechnical models of existing farms within the territory of the Vallées de Duyes in the South of France, we propose to simulate various territorial configurations based on the assumption of diversity at farm and territorial scales and assess their expected sustainable properties. Based on the actual configuration of the referenced territory and composed of a set of specialized and mixed farms, two contrasted configurations are tested: from one side, a territory composed of specialized farms and, from the other side, a territory composed of mixed farms. The intrinsic diversity of individual farms impacts their performance and reveals that the resistance to economic shock varies according to the dependence on inputs and the use of rangelands. If mixed farms exhibit high values of diversity indicators for both land use and product provision, they also present high values for the majority of sustainable properties. At a higher scale, the specialized configuration shows the highest resistance to economic shock, but economic performances are lower than the referenced and specialized configurations. Here, we explore for the first time how several types of diversity indicators, both built within and between farms, could affect a set of sustainable properties of farms and territories. These new insights lead to a better understanding of how to balance performance at several scales and design sustainable Mediterranean farming systems.

In mammalian cells, DNA double-strand breaks are predominantly repaired by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). During repair, the Ku70–Ku80 heterodimer (Ku), X-ray repair cross complementing 4 (XRCC4) in complex with DNA ligase 4 (X4L4) and XRCC4-like factor (XLF) form a flexible scaffold that holds the broken DNA ends together. Insights into the architectural organization of the NHEJ scaffold and its regulation by the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) were recently obtained by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy analysis. However, several regions, especially the C-terminal regions (CTRs) of the XRCC4 and XLF scaffolding proteins, have largely remained unresolved in experimental structures, which hampers the understanding of their functions. Here we used magnetic resonance techniques and biochemical assays to comprehensively characterize the interactions and dynamics of the XRCC4 and XLF CTRs at residue resolution. We show that the CTRs of XRCC4 and XLF are intrinsically disordered and form a network of multivalent heterotypic and homotypic interactions that promotes robust cellular NHEJ activity. Importantly, we demonstrate that the multivalent interactions of these CTRs lead to the formation of XLF and X4L4 condensates in vitro, which can recruit relevant effectors and critically stimulate DNA end ligation. Our work highlights the role of disordered regions in the mechanism and dynamics of NHEJ and lays the groundwork for the investigation of NHEJ protein disorder and its associated condensates inside cells with implications in cancer biology, immunology and the development of genome-editing strategies. What is the role of disorder in non-homologous end-joining proteins? The authors use nuclear magnetic resonance to reveal that disordered regions mediate a network of multivalent interactions, promoting biomolecular condensation that accelerates DNA ligation kinetics.