March 5, 2018

CIRCLE TRIGLAV, SEMINAR OF POUSSIGNOL, 7-9 JULY 2017

RURALITY TODAY: LOCAL AND GLOBAL

The Triglav Circle is a Non-Governmental Organization having consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Created on the occasion of the United Nations World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in March 1995, the Circle’s mission is to deepen and promote the ethical and spiritual dimensions of development.

With a branch in the United States and a branch in France, the Circle organizes regular seminars. In 2014, in Neufchatel, Switzerland, the concept of harmony with nature and its relations with environmental policies was discussed. In 2016, at Domain de La Garde, near Bourg en Bresse, the debates focused on the enrichment of the United Nations Objectives for 2030 by the Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis Laudato SI ‘.

The last one, the subject of this report and devoted to rurality, was held in July 2017, at the Château de Poussignol, Blismes, Nièvre, 58120.Participated in this meeting members and friends of the Circle as well as people engaged directly and various titles in local life.

The Triglav Circle has a site, www.triglavcircleonline.org.

REPORT

The first objective of this seminar was to understand what rurality means today, as a reality of a territory and as a political project. The understanding was aided by the testimonies of people living and working in the Nièvre, the department in the center of  France with a marked rural character.

The second goal, related to the origins of the Triglav Circle, was to situate such rural areas in the national and global environments. In summary, to what extent are local ideas and actions being helped, supported or, on the contrary, thwarted by national and international policies?

The third objective, also linked to the vocation of the Triglav Circle, was to grasp the meaning of rurality, as perceived today, in the evolution of ideas concerning in particular globalization, development, progress and the place of humanity in nature.

Much of the short time available was devoted to the testimonies of people directly involved in local life. Their presentations form the first part of this report. The ensuing discussions, which included agriculture and rural issues in other countries are summarized in the second part.

At the end of the seminar, a document prepared by one of the participants was presented and, for lack of time, not discussed. This document, titled The Transformation of Rural Territories in France: A Century of History, is remarkable for rigor, clarity and wealth of information. Its Table of Contents is given in an appendix to this report. It will be available on the Triglav Circle website, as will this report and other documents related to the Poussignol seminar.

I. Presentations by people living and working in Nièvre

The preparatory documents for this seminar noted that in France, leaving aside the futuristic scenarios where recreational parks replace farmland, there is no territory that can be described as rural without agriculture. But, still in France, some institutions and organizations develop and implement policies and projects to support rural areas as such, and other institutions and organizations are directly concerned with agriculture. For example, Nièvre has a Chamber of Trades and Crafts and a Chamber of Agriculture; farmers have their own unions; and at the national level, rurality comes under the Ministry of Planning and Equality of Territories and Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture. Given the short duration of this seminar, it may have been desirable to concentrate the debate either on rurality or on agriculture. Nevertheless, it was not the choice that was made. Farmers and people engaged in various other professions in the local life made presentations in Poussignol, 

First presentation

One of the presenters engaged in the management of a municipality of Morvan-Nièvre with 1300 inhabitants and also a leader in an association called “Foundation Morvan: Terre de Vie in Burgundy,” pointed out that we are witnessing a merging of two entities, the “local” and the “urban.” The local, or the rural, is no longer simply all that is not urban. The rural has its own identity. And, in recent years, it is the object of specific policies based on the objective of equality of territories. For example, there are “rurality contracts” concluded between the state and local authorities. 2  In another example, a bill tabled in 2016 calls for the establishment of a National Agency for Rural Revitalization, modeled on the National Agency for Urban Renewal, created in 2003/2004. And, the countryside and the cities are no longer isolates. They are part of a global system dominated by the question of “living together.”3 Moreover, this rapprochement is part of a sociological and cultural change of great magnitude and importance: according to surveys, about 65% of French people want to live in the countryside. Some talk of an “urban exodus”, to mark the contrast between this recent trend and the rural exodus that has transformed Western countries since the industrial revolution of the 19th century.4

Indeed, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), since the late 1970s net migration has become positive in the French countryside, and since 2000 the same goes for the natural balance. The department of Nièvre, which is very strongly rural, however, remains deficient on both counts, so that its population continues to decline and age.5 Nevertheless, the Morvan, which extends over four departments and occupies the eastern part of the Nièvre, has today, according to the most recent INSEE figures, a positive migration balance of 0.3%. Confirmed, and extended to the whole of Nièvre, this change would represent the overthrow of a secular movement of depopulation. Newcomers to the region are not only retirees – the “return to the country” is not a new phenomenon – but active persons including people using today’s manageable dissociation between workplace and place of residence.

This sign of a demographic renewal of the region is part of a situation that remains difficult and whose characteristics include a fragile economic fabric, widely dispersed services, mobility problems and, for some village’s loss of residents. Based on some guiding ideas, such as diversity is a richness, the Morvan is really a “land of life”; the speaker mentioned the actions undertaken, with notable success, to improve the attractiveness of this village of a little more than 1000 inhabitants with several hamlets relatively isolated, it wants to become a “village of the future”6.

The first actions concern the reception of newcomers. In the context of the now widely shared goal of reclaiming village centers, examples of measures taken include local town planning plans and the allocation of housing to social landlords. Local associations are very involved and have a major role in these host efforts.

A second type of action deals directly with activities and jobs. The slogan is “another life is invented here”. Rich in possibilities is the wood sector which remains very little exploited in this region yet very wooded. A promising initiative is the “Bois Morvan House”. Also rich in new possibilities is the very old tradition of “Morvan ham”. Here again, initiatives and successes are underway. And it is the same in the cultural field and in the tourist field. In all, in this Morvan commune, twenty new projects, carrying eighty jobs, have been implemented in recent years, with no increase in local taxes and with a reduction in the level of borrowing.

The third line of actions relates to the offer of services and the improvement of the living environment. A rural hospital has been created. Support for the elderly, particularly for mobility issues, has been put in place. A “territorialized scene” has emerged. Efforts have been made to realize the full potential of an environment of great natural beauty.

This example, concludes the speaker, shows that rurality policies are a chance for France. In the context of a search for territorial equality, local initiatives, supported by the State and by the European Union, create new communities of life. 

Second presentation

The second statement given by a person involved in community life and in the agricultural economy, described the recent revival of a rural village. There were just over 600 inhabitants, who also wanted to become a “village of the future”. At the instigation of an association called The Colibri’s Share, 7 and with the Mayor’s active support, many initiatives have been taken. A market brings together local producers and artisans once a month. Local products are now available at the school canteen. A restaurant / inn has opened. Various animations are regularly offered to the inhabitants. A collective orchard with fruit tree plantations has been established. A paramedical service has been set up. While there are only two places in France where sheep wool is washed, an initiative in this area has been taken locally. The speaker strongly emphasized the decisive role of the associations, of all those who devote themselves for the accomplishment of tasks often very humble and very obscure, but  nevertheless essential to the renewal of the towns and villages.

Third presentation

The shortcomings of the politico-administrative system in which entrepreneurs, tradesmen, artisans of the Nièvre operate, whether in rural communes or in urban communes, 8, were the subject of a denunciation by a third speaker. First, there is the multiplicity of decision-making bodies. State representatives include prefects of the region – now Bourgogne-Franche-Comte – and of the department, sub-prefects and regional and departmental branches of the public administrations; then are the elected representatives to the national assembly’s – two deputies and two senators for the Nièvre; next are the seven elected representatives of Nievreto the Regional Council:; next are the 34 members of the council for Nievre, each of the 17 cantons electing two representatives; finally, the 312 municipalities of Nievre have elected members – from nine in the villages with less than 100 habitants to 39 for the city of Nevers – who elect the mayors10.

But that is not all. There are also communities of communes – nine in the Nièvre – and communities of agglomeration – one in the Nièvre, around Nevers – with their community councils and their presidents who, however, are chosen among the elected and mayors of the member communes. And, another form of intercommunal cooperation is the “Pays”, or Pole of Territorial and Rural Balance (PETR). In the Nièvre, it is Pays Nivernais-Morvan.11Further, it is necessary to mention the consular chambers of the Department – Chamber of Trades and Crafts and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry – which are public administrative institutions of the State, subject to the administrative and financial supervision of the latter, but led by elected officials12.

Such a large number of actors and levels of the political and administrative apparatus inevitably lead to overlapping, duplication and confusion on the part of citizens. Many people have a sense of alienation from a system that is perceived as complex and distant. The mayor of the commune remains the one to whom one primarily addresses for information, problems and grievances. But, especially in small towns, the mayor has less room for maneuver. Whether you are a simple citizen, craftsman or entrepreneur, you often need a lot of patience and interpersonal skills to assert your rights or find your way through the many regulations in which private initiative must fit. According to the speaker, the political and administrative environment suffers from a “culture of meeting”, an excessive appetite for prior studies and expensive and often useless consultancy services, and, in short, a lack of knowledge and empathy for the difficulties faced by “ordinary” citizens. Moreover, the Nièvre, for many decades and until the elections of 2017, was dominated by a single political party. This monopoly situation has been a source of abuse and sclerosis.

 Fourth presentation 

With regard to agriculture, it is also a quasi-monopoly situation enjoyed by the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA), whether in national bodies or in the development of agricultural policy at the regional and the local level; especially in the highly influential Chambers of Agriculture, which are public institutions run by elected representatives of farmers. Indeed, from its origins at the end of the 19th century agricultural syndicalism has been dominated by the idea of ​​the unity of the peasant world in a hierarchical agrarian society – from the big owner to the agricultural worker – but unified around common objectives.13   This idea was never unanimous in the agricultural world and organizations parallel to the “official” union and the state’s sole interlocutor were created throughout the 20th century. But it was only from the 1980s that trade union pluralism began and was recognized by law and effectively enforced. Today, in addition to the FNSEA and its ally the National Center of Young Farmers (CNJA), which became in 2002 Young Farmers (JA), there are in France three other agricultural unions: the Rural Coordination, the Confédération Paysanne and the Mouvement de Défense of Family Farmers14.

One of the speakers on the subject of agriculture is a peasant farmer owning a small farm in a town that is part of  Greater Nevers and is elected from the Confédération Paysanne to the Chamber of Agriculture of Nièvre;15 The farm has 70 hectares, 40 cows, 120 ewes, and 1500 chickens; four / five hectares are dedicated to wheat (only for human consumption, and the wheat that goes into chicken feed is bought in a cooperative), one hectare to potatoes and one hectare to other vegetables and pumpkins. Since 2015, when a son joined the farm, one hectare is used for the production of medicinal plants. Most of the production is sold locally, including on the farm itself. The worker and his wife have formed an Agricultural Farming Association (GAEC) 16 and are members of an Association for the Maintenance of a Farming Agriculture (AMAP). 17

Not being a farmer’s son, the speaker had at first some difficulties to be accepted in the neighborhood and in the profession. These difficulties have been solved and the choice is certainly not regretted.  This life of hard work provides many real satisfactions while demanding many sacrifices. At the beginning this household managed to survive financially through the sale of chickens, while its income was at the level of the minimum wage (SMIC) 18.  They asked would it be possible to do better?  Diversification helped –  first there were chickens, then a little market gardening and, recently, then recently they introduced medicinal plants.

 A few more hectares would be welcome for this family with three active persons, but, beyond a certain threshold, expansion of farms is not a good solution. Many farmers whose holdings are 200, 300, 400 hectares or more, and who by necessity given the  type of production, have adopted highly mechanized production methods. These farmers are highly dependent on industrial inputs and essentially work to repay their loans. Suicides among farmers are extremely frequent and the causes of this tragic phenomenon are hidden. The policy pursued for decades by France and the European Authorities is responsible for the gradual disappearance of the peasantry and the family farm.19  The present situation of agriculture in France suggests that the government’s policy has generally failed.

It is against this policy, one that projects a productivity vision of agriculture open to world markets, that promotes mechanization and heavy consumption of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that the Confederation Paysanne opposes. Its project is establishing peasant agriculture with the following objectives: food sovereignty, control of distribution, the right to a decent income,and respect for the environment.20 This form of peasant agriculture has three functions: first, to produce  healthy and quality food for all; secondly, to  help increase the number of small farms and to continue to support many peasants through improving their work conditions. In so doing they are fighting against the rural exodus and promoting campaigns favoring small farms.  Their third function is to protect the environment by discouraging production methods that include the use of nitrates, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and GMOs. At the same time they aim to preserve natural resources, the landscapes and the terroir,  biodiversity and farmer know-how for future generations .

Many initiatives in France and other countries, as well as in the Nièvre go in this direction. Permaculture, organic farming, “reasoned” farming that limits inputs, as well as producer to consumer direct sales, pooling of machines and various forms of other pooling have more and more followers. Unfortunately this work is still insufficient to put French agriculture on a sound and sustainable basis. The whole system of thinking must be profoundly changed. We need to build peasant agriculture to replace today’s industrial or modern conventional farming that is based on competition and profit. The world is not a commodity. This peasant agriculture project promotes a model society are living harmoniously together, with healthy life styles well, and with a spirit of solidarity. For this peasant-unionist and his wife, the decision of their son to join them has settled the issue of the transmission of their farm.21  

 Fifth presentation

Another couple and their son, who are livestock breeders presented their story.at Poussinol.  Their 20-year-old son explained how he was preparing to join his parents’ farm. Having obtained his degree [option sciences and technology in agronomy] and the living on the farm he could at the age of 17 started to working immediately, But he decided to pursue three years training to obtain a Brevet as a Higher Agricultural Technician (BTS ), option animal productions. 22 This training now successfully completed, focused on  different types of farming techniques, e.g. on forage crops used to feed livestock, on farm management methods, and on general culture. Models of alternative agricultural production including the dominant model of industrial agriculture and organic farming, are taught in the school where this young man was trained. There students are encouraged to make their own choices when they will practice their profession. The vast majority of these students are sons or daughters of farmers. For those who are not, the acquisition of a farm and installation present considerable difficulties, including but not only financial. In this case, this son of breeders knew from his childhood that he would embrace this tough life with its joys and sorrows but also rich in meaning for him. It was unthinkable to consider another profession.

His parents, themselves sons and daughters of farmers, also in the Bazois, have, on an area of ​​212 hectares, a herd of 160 Charolais cows, and some 60 sheep.23          A few hectares are devoted to forage crops. In winter, around 300 animals are fed and housed in newly constructed stables, which meet European standards. All the old buildings, including the house, were recently purchased from the owner, but the latter still owns most of the land.24. Rents 25, and, especially the repayment of loans, for good but not extravagant machinery represent a heavy burden. At first, the wife had an outside job, also in the agricultural field. When it was decided that she should join the farm, the loss of her salary added to the difficult economic situation of the family and challenging years followed. Today, however, and for the last few years, thanks to a series of fortunate business decisions, this farm, which is a GAEC, provides this couple with a decent income even though cattle farming is still low-paying,26. Subsidies from the European Union under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) account for about a quarter of this income. 27  

Prospects for the future are certainly a source of uncertainty and concern. In addition to the question marks concerning the CAP and the agricultural policy of the EU and France, meat consumption seems likely to continue to decline in economically developed countries. But this couple and their son, who have already shown their ability to work and adapt to changing conditions love their trade. They do it diligently, and without much hope that the great social importance of their work will improve.

Sixth presentation

The love of the job of farmer or peasant is also what animates this presenter who being unable to attend this seminar sent a Note which was distributed to the participants. His farm has 100 hectares, of which 30 are in cereals and 70 in meadows for breeding 500 ewes and about twenty pigs. These are raised outdoors and organically. Seven hectares of land is used to produces organic cereals for the farm and wheat for sale. As for the ewes, in the medium term the idea is to become organic and decrease its size. Indeed, when this man’s father in 2000 converted the the whole farm into an organic one, he realized that there were not enough outlets for his lamb production and he was forced to return to the conventional system for his flock of ewes. Today, the overall project, achievable in the medium term, is to transform his methods by converting to biodynamic farming. 28  Thereby he would be acquiring autonomy in producing food for the animals and commercial autonomy by the direct sale of his animals.

The pigs are sold exclusively direct to the consumer, in boxes of 5kg of fresh meat and processed products (sausages, sausage, sausage with garlic, fritons …) by the care of the breeder himself who uses an accredited laboratory located in the city of Autun to do this processing. There is local demand for quality organic products, even if they are more expensive. Customers come from a perimeter of about 30 kms. To quote him: “I wanted to do direct sales because after 15 years working in organic networks I realized that consumers were looking to restore confidence in their diet, and that it was through knowing the breeder at home. who bought these products. A huge chasm has been created between consumers and peasants who only meet each other at folkloric meetings such as the agricultural show, but neither side understands the other. Through direct sales, we reestablish this contact, we value his work at the height of what seems right, and we stop fattening the middlemen who live on the backs of peasants. “

Regarding rurality, here are the views of this young farmer: “For me rurality is a place for living, the countryside from which a quality of life flows, but this should not mean isolating oneself from the rest of the world. The Nièvre is a great laboratory of rurality because many different groups of people interact – active peasants, retired people, Parisian or Dutch in their secondary residences – and many cultural actions are put in place if we take the trouble to look for them. The problem is that not all of these audiences are getting mixed in and many tend to stick to what they know. “

 Seventh presentation 

The seminar heard the testimony of a beekeeper who, having  200 beehives sells his products mainly on the local market. His honey is raw and of high quality, the result from scrupulous respect for natural processes, both in the management of swarms and in the method of making honey. In particular, this beekeeper does not intervene in the renewal of the queens; he does not practice “selection” to artificially improve the “productivity” of his hives. He also does not practice the “transhumance” of swarms. In winter, bees feed with their own honey, or, if necessary, with a natural supplement. No chemical, antibiotic or synthetic pesticide is used during honey production.29 Honey is extracted cold to preserve its enzymes and its nutritional and healing virtues. These are characteristics of organic honey. 30  The requirement for receiving the right to use the organic label is a minimum distance of 3 kilometers of your hives from any source of pollution, such as motorways, industrial areas, landfills and incinerators. And in this radius of 3kms, bees must be able to forage only wild flowers or from organic crops, usually sunflower or rapeseed. This last requirement is, according to this beekeeper, very difficult to satisfy, at least in the Nièvre, where pesticides are still frequently used in agriculture. These pesticides, the development of monoculture and the frequent presence of predators, especially Varroa and the Asian hornet, are among the main recognized causes of problems that beekeepers face, in the Nièvre as elsewhere. It is estimated that 30 to 40% of colonies have been decimated in Europe in less than 10 years. However, 80% of plant species depend directly on pollination by insects. 31 The situation of beekeeping is one of the most telling signs of the bankruptcy of a development model based on competition, productivity and profit.

 Eighth presentation 

Dedicated to the testimonials of people involved in local life, Saturday, July 8 ended with the presentation of a film on an organic winegrower of Burgundy. Organic viticulture implies the complete abandonment of the use of synthetic products, such as fungicides, insecticides and fertilizers. It also implies a return of tillage, including in some cases a return to grass, especially to promote soil microbial activity and prevent erosion. The objective of organic viticulture is to “perpetuate the vine in its environment by seeking good soil / plant / and climate balance and by protecting its environment (erosion, water quality, biological diversity …) In practice it is to: promote and preserve the biological activity of the soil; plant material suitable for the environment and respect the balance of the strain (vegetation / harvest / roots); and, respect the auxiliary fauna by preserving grassed areas, hedges etc. The management of an organic vineyard  implies  respect for a list of authorized inputs and the optimization of the techniques of prophylaxis and management of the soil. The success of a project requires a good mastery of the vineyard, equipment and manpower.32

There are about 1500 organic wine growers in France; 10 to 15% of them follow the precepts of biodynamics. 16,500 hectares, or 14% of French vineyards are certified authentic organic viticulture; the areas being converted into organic cover nearly 4000 hectares. The region most concerned by organic viticulture is Languedoc-Roussillon, with 5030 hectares, or 31% of the French organic viticultural area; then comes the region of Provence-Côte d’Azur, with 22% of this area.33 Burgundy is behind, with only 2577 hectares, or 8% of its vineyard area, organic. But since 2015, conversions are relatively numerous. Inside Burgundy, it is very clearly the Côte d’Or which is the department most committed to organic viticulture, with 16% of the surface of its vineyards being organic ; then comes the Yonne, with 7%, then the Saone and Loire, a little over 4%, and the Nièvre, 4%. 34 The vineyard, traditional and organic, is nonetheless a significant wealth of the Nièvre. 35  Its three main vineyards are Cotes de la Charité, Pouilly-sur-Loire and Coteaux du Giennois. In addition, wines with the Vins de Pays appellation have been revived in recent decades, especially on the hillsides overlooking the Yonne.

Another richness of the Nièvre, the forest, was mentioned by one of the participants. The forest occupies 225,000 hectares, a third of the area of ​​the department. Hardwoods occupy 180,000 hectares, of which 66% are oaks, and softwoods, especially Douglas and mainly in the Morvan, 45,000 hectares. With an annual increase of 1.8 million m3 of wood, the Nièvre is one of the first French deposits for these two species: oak and Douglas. The Morvan is the largest national producer of Christmas trees. The Nivernais forest is predominantly private, 169,500 hectares, and very fragmented. It is also communal, 31,500 hectares, and domanial, 24,000 hectares, with in particular the forest of Bertranges which, with its 7,600 hectares, is the second largest oak producer of France, the first being the forest of Troncay located in the department of the Allier. The Nièvre is the largest producer of barrel staves. The highest quality oaks are used to make barrels. But Nièvre is more often exporting than transforming its woods. What is known as its wood industry is not developed enough. There are some large processing plants, but most of the added value is upstream on the value chain, as indicated by the department’s foreign trade balance. The weight of exports of raw wood (for a value of 3,200,000 Euros in 2012) and sawn and planed wood (9,500,000 Euros) dominate at the expense of processed wood.36. For the speaker, very familiar with this field of activity, one of the reasons for this situation is that in the Nievre it is often preferred to acquire, in this case more hectares of forests, than to invest.

II. Other points raised by the participants

The situation of agriculture in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States was mentioned.

Germany has vastly expanded its agricultural production during the last decades. Second producer of the European Union after France, it is now the second largest exporter in Europe and the third in the world, after the United States and the Netherlands and ahead of France. Nevertheless, Germany remains a net importer of agricultural products. Production is, in value, roughly equivalent for cereals and livestock. It is the production of pigs and poultry that has seen the most spectacular increase. With 5.5 million tonnes annually Germany is the largest producer of pig meat in Europe. These results are commonly attributed to a concentration and specialization in German agriculture. There are 46% of farms with less than 20 hectares, mainly in the South and West of the country, but the 10% of farms with more than 100 hectares, mainly in the East, occupy 57%. of the agricultural area used. 37  And, the total number of farms decreases by 5% per year. 37  Specialization,  is illustrated by the production of pigs and poultry. 

These successes of German agriculture are part of the productivity model that has dominated the world economy since the middle of the 20th century. In France and Germany this approach is more and more in question. The environmental movement is very powerful, especially with the “green” party, and the other political parties have adopted several of its methods and objectives. 38

Regional products are becoming increasingly popular – for example, there is a very large market for these products in Berlin. It is now “fashionable” to consume “seasonal” products. The demand for organic farm products is increasing very rapidly. The turnover of these products reached 8.6 billion euros in 2015. But, the number of farms converting into organic farms is not increasing at the same rate – 4% per year – and abandonment is frequent. As a result, the area organically cultivated remains around 6.5% of German agricultural land. The result is strong growth in imports of organic products. The German government has set a target of 20% increase in organic agricultural production in the coming years.39

In spite of its small territory and very high density of population, the Netherlands succeeds in having an agriculture and agro-food industry so powerful that they make  this small country, the second largest exporter of agri-food products of the world. Its exports are mainly horticultural products, meat, dairy products and fruits and vegetables, in particular greenhouse crops. Its  agricultural methods are   intensive and highly mechanized. The average farm size is 28 hectares. A third of these farms have disappeared since 2000. The authorities emphasize quality, competitiveness and innovation. Support is targeted, including paying for the services that farmers render to society, mainly for ecological balances and landscape aesthetics. Ultimately, the intention is to discontinue direct income support. In this context there widespread concern for the protection of the environment and growing concern to ensure animal welfare. Organic agriculture is developing very slowly: 1,400 farms, i.e.2.2% of the total and 2.7% of the agricultural area used.40 The Netherlands, with 26% of its territory below sea level, is acutely aware of the need to respect nature.

The prominent place of agriculture in Switzerland was emphasized. In particular, the Federal Council has a Federal Office of Agriculture and, following popular vote in June 1996, the Constitution includes an article on agriculture. According to Article 104: “The Confederation shall ensure that agriculture, by producing both the requirements of sustainable development and those of the market, contributes substantially: (a) to the security of the population’s supply (b) the conservation of natural resources and the maintenance of the rural landscape, (c) the decentralized occupation of the territory.”  The measures taken by the Confederation for agriculture to respond to its multiple functions “follow.” In particular, it “complements the farmer’s income with direct payments.” it “encourages, by means of economic incentives, “forms of exploitation particularly in harmony with nature and respectful of the environment and animals,” and it “protects the environment against attacks related to the misuse of fertilizers, chemicals … “, and it “can legislate on the consolidation of rural property.”41 Direct payments amounted to 3 billion francs in 2016, which represents an amount of subsidies per hectare ten times higher than that practiced on average in France. A small part of this aid, about 45 million francs, is to encourage organic farming. It remains modest: just over 6,000 farms or 13% of the total agricultural area and a market share of 8%.42  It should be noted that the “Coop” and “Migros”, the two retail giants in Switzerland, together account for 75% of the organic market. Still, part of the population considers that Swiss agriculture remains too intensive, too industrial and too destructive of the environment. A popular petition entitled “Clean drinking water and healthy food” with 114,420 signatures was submitted to the Federal Chancellery on 25 January 2018. The text provides that after a transitional period of 8 years, only farms that do not use pesticides or antibiotics for prophylaxis and raise livestock fed exclusively on forage produced on the farm will receive federal financial assistance. Article 104 of the Constitution would therefore be radically modified.43 No date for voting has yet been announced.

The diversity of American agriculture was evoked. If the average farm size in the United States is about 200 hectares, it is because there are still many small farms, especially in the eastern and southern parts of the country.  Many are owned by financially poor farmers established alongside gigantic agricultural enterprises covering thousands of hectares. These “agro businesses”, dominate the center and west, from the “plains” to the valleys of California. The owners of these farm businesses sometimes run their farms from an urban center. Often their “business” is vertically integrated, combining the production of corn, soya, wheat and/or meat, the suppling of inputs necessary for production, and the marketing of these products. Hence there is the notion of the agro-industrial complex, which evokes the military-industrial complex denounced by President Eisenhower in the 1950s. Here corn is produced – which accounts for 20% of the American agricultural area – as well as 20 million heads of cattle. Americans are by far the largest consumers of meat in the world. This intensive and industrialized agriculture has for decades been in a recurring situation of surplus. For the USA, exporting is a vital necessity.44 This same industrial agriculture uses, of course, huge amounts of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, including the famous “Roundup” produced by the equally famous Monsanto firm, which has a virtual monopoly over the chemicals used in agriculture and the production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). 

Around 90% of maize and soybean production is based GMO seeds and GMO seeds are also allowed for other crops including cotton and rapeseed.45 The multiple problems associated with these practices are becoming more evident and it is partly as a reaction that nature-friendly forms of agriculture are developing vigorously in the United States. These include those of religious or philosophical origin, such as the very old Amish farms and biodynamic farms inspired by Rudolph Steiner’s Anthroposophy. 46 There are also farmers who reject conventional modern farming for organic models for strictly rational reasons being able to afford a particular organic type label. And there is organic farming that is growing very rapidly. In 2002, a federal law established the framework of the “National Organic Program” and created the certification “USDA organic.”47 Today, nearly 5% of the US food market is organic, compared to 1.3% in 2001 and demand is growing. However, this market remains very capitalistic: in addition to chain of stores specializing in the sales of organic products, 75% of supermarkets sell organic products, so that direct sales or in the local markets by the producers represent only 7% of the marketing of organic products.48 It should be noted that the 2014 Farm Bill contains many provisions favorable to non-industrial agriculture. This law expires in the fall of 2018.49

Is rurality, in other countries than France, at once a situation of a territory and a policy? Some remarks, made during the seminar and concerning a limited number of European countries, suggest some partial answers, hypotheses demanding verification.

It seems that even the word of rurality, meaning the situation of a territory, resonates negatively as a problem to French ears, whereas the term is much more neutral in neighboring countries. “Paris and the French desert” is a statement that is certainly not really relevant today but has left negative traces in the national culture.” 50  We do not imagine such a negative reaction in  Berlin, Rome, Madrid, Brussels , the Hague or Bern. In France, the very old tradition of centralization remains alive, 51 and so-called “deep” or “fragile” rural areas, stagnating or in demographic and economic decline are relatively numerous. Elsewhere in Europe, Germany, for example, was mentioned; the maintenance of peasant agriculture and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)  in rural areas means that many of these areas have a level of prosperity comparable to that of the urban centers.52  

In France, non-agricultural economic activity is highly concentrated both in the relative weight of large companies and in terms of geographical distribution: five regions account for 54% of jobs. 53 The micro-enterprises and SMEs, which together account for 47% of jobs, are concentrated in the economically dynamic parts of the territory.54   In the Nièvre, for example, it is the eastern part of the department, along the Loire Valley, which offers the most job opportunities. In addition, in France, the independent shops in city centers and town centers are difficult to maintain and are disappearing in large numbers except in major cities and tourist areas. 55 Another factor to take into account to explain the precarious situation of many rural areas in France is its low population density compared to its European neighbors with a comparable level of economic development.56

These characteristics of its rural territory explain, at least in part, that France has a national policy of rurality, 57 whereas this does not seem to be the case in the few European countries mentioned, nor in the United States. But this observation needs to be considerably nuanced. First, a policy, especially if it is national, with a certain visibility, is judged by its coherence and its fruits. Reviving depressed rural areas is not separable from supporting peasant agriculture. But French agricultural policy has not broken with the productivity and free-trade model which is the major cause of the decline of many rural areas. 

As for the French government’s intentions to revitalize villages and towns, they are contradicted by a number of measures, including the abolition or reduction of public services and establishments that are more or less privatized and subject to the criteria of competitiveness and profitability. Secondly, for the other countries mentioned, the absence of the word “rurality” in governmental organization charts and its weak presence in official speeches obviously does not mean the absence of a policy concerning rural areas, especially in federal and very decentralized political systems, for example in Germany or Switzerland, or in the United States.

Third, today, at least in Western democracies, actions that can be labelled political because they contribute to the common good are no longer the exclusive privilege of governments and their administrations. With regard to issues of rurality, the state at best offers an overall vision of spatial planning and the place of rural spaces in this vision. At worst it ignores the rural or leads in other areas with policies that go against its stated objectives. 

As illustrated by the testimonies received during this seminar, and, there is no reason to think that the situation is different in Creuse, Gers, Lozère or Finistère.  In France initiatives and concrete actions rejuvenating rural spaces that have been declining for decades are the work of local elected representatives, various associations and ordinary citizens. In the case of Germany, it was pointed out that, especially in what was West Germany before reunification, many municipalities were suppressed as part of a regional restructuring policy. 58  In reaction, the inhabitants of these villages and small town formed civic associations to replace the councils of elected officials and to perform a number of tasks essential to the life of the community. And the perception of what is “indispensable” to living together often extends to the maintenance and restoration of more or less abandoned temples and churches. “Believers” and “non-believers” give resources and energy to save those places that represent the part of themselves and to defeat the urban planners’ scientific calculations justifying a form of rationality reduced to strict utility. The same is true in France. In the Nièvre, the local newspaper reported about a dozen initiatives of this kind in 2017. Perhaps the same phenomenon is observed in other European countries and beyond.

Food sovereignty and food shortage

Issues of food sovereignty and food shortage were discussed. First, it was argued that food scarcity, as a reality in some regions and as a serious risk to humanity in the future, is both the result of agricultural policies since World War II and a widespread ideological construction by the beneficiaries of these policies, first and foremost the multinational firms, the most visible of which is Monsanto. In many countries, particularly in Africa, traditional local products have been reduced or eliminated and replaced by cereals imported from countries whose industrial agriculture produced considerable surpluses, primarily the US. These surpluses were, and still are, the mainstay of the “aid” granted to “poor” countries, notably through the United Nations World Food Program. Then periodical and localized famines, population growth, desertification, one of the causes of which is global warming, became so many arguments to “demonstrate” that the only way to ensure food for humanity was to pursue the global agricultural model with its industrial farms, sprawling agro-industries, genetically modified organisms, pesticides, herbicides and other growth hormone.  This strategy despite its attendant negative impacts on nature, including the rapid decline of biodiversity, the damage to agriculture itself, with, in particular, the loss of seed varieties, and the decllning health of human beings, [all of these consequences being negated by “scientific studies” conducted by “researchers” funded by the responsible corporations.]

This model has lost much of its credibility, but it still dominates most national policies and the various public and private institutions that shape the contours of today’s globalization. The alternative, and the answer to the fear of food shortage, is food sovereignty based on forms of agriculture ranging from peasant farms to communal  gardens in the middle of cities, adapted to local characteristics and knowledge, and the building on multiple innovations, often the rediscovery of old practices reviewed and made more efficient with the introduction of modern techniques and instruments. The key to the viability of this alternative is, of course, that the farming profession is recognized as essential to any society, and that those who practice this profession derive an income in accordance with the social importance of their work. To fulfill this condition implies a change in the scale of values ​​of modern societies, a cultural change which also means the adoption of simpler modes of consumption and lifestyles, with neither wastage nor programmed obsolescence of the tools and things necessary for daily life, nor artificial creation of “needs” by advertising. Far from being utopian in the sense of unrealistic, this cultural change is under way in a number of places, but it remains marginal. Nevertheless, every action and decision that contributes to this realization counts.

This position has elicited some comments:

– The economic and environmental misdeeds of industrial agriculture – and they are huge, knowing for example that a ton of grain harvested in Iowa represents a ton of erosion for the planet – we must add the social harms: a lot of farmers are isolated (the example cited was in the United States) and some communities lack public services;

-The revival of interest in small, family, multipurpose and low mechanized farms is noticeable not only in Europe and the United States but also on the African continent, particularly in Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi and Nigeria; food sovereignty depends on the generalization of this movement;

-The notion of food sovereignty is totally absent from political discourse, at least in France;

-It is necessary to consider the issue of global food security, including in terms of balance between regions and world peace, and we must not think only about the land

-Meat production requires a lot of resources – one also has to consider  the limitations of the oceans as a source of food;

-We live an age of “genetic revolution” and we must not reject the aspects of this revolution that can be, and are already very beneficial to the food security of humanity. Photosynthesis also opens up interesting possibilities;

-Agriculture must be seen as an essential aspect of the common good of humanity and not as an industry subject to the “laws of the global market.” But this approach to protecting agriculture will be difficult because it confronts not only individualism but also the interests of corporations that frequently control access to water and energy sources;

– It will be necessary to find a way to harmonize the need for global exchanges with localized and nature-friendly agriculture, but this does not mean that global markets as they exist today must be maintained;

– International trade in agricultural and food products cannot be suppressed, but it is the responsibility of States – be it China, African countries or France – to convince their consumer citizens that it is important to feed on what is produced locally; food sovereignty depends on the education of consumers;

-Food sovereignty?  Very well, but by what rationality should I sacrifice my personal tastes? I happen to like mangos; to my knowledge, mangoes do not grow in the Morvan – too much granite, too many mists and frosts. And I love my Japanese watch, and the Japanese, they like Burgundy very much. Why not dream of a world where the Chinese eat Charolais, the Japanese drink Burgundy, and the French eat mangoes, coming if possible from Brazil?

– No doubt the good health of agriculture is inseparable from the good health of rural territories, but the later should not be totally dependent on agriculture. In the Nièvre, a lot could be done to augment the dynamism and prosperity of towns and cities that have tourist attractions and other assets but which seem unable to make their assets flourish. Why? For example, why is the spa town of Saint-Honoré les Bains in this situation? Why are there so few hotels in the beautiful Morvan?  The answers may be in a change of mentality and judicious investment;

– The problems of agriculture and rurality cannot be seen outside their national economic and political context; For example, the culture of large corporations must be analyzed and taken into account, the balance between what is called “flexibility” and the protection of employees, the characteristics of education and training structures, particularly training. so-called “continuous”, and, of course, taxation and redistribution systems. Perhaps particularly on this last point, international comparisons raise interesting questions. Relative to gross domestic product (GDP), the tax burden, including social security contributions, was, in 2015, higher in France than in Sweden. However, no one would conclude that the Swedes benefit from fewer public services – including for education and health – and fewer benefits and protections than the French. 59

Notes

Report prepared by Jacques Baudot, Secretary of the Triglav Circle

2.  The rurality contracts, concluded between the State (the Prefect) and the local authorities (especially the communities of communes) concern a territorial project and have the function of coordinating the sources of financing and the various public and private initiatives; launched in 2016, around 200 of these contracts are now operational in France. Nièvre signed a rurality contract in March 2017; it covers the center and the east of the department, with four communities of communes, 140 communes, 50,900 inhabitants, for a density of 14 inhabitants per km2.

3.   For these points, the speaker referred to the work of Laurent Rieutort, geographer, professor at Clermont Auvergne University, author of French geography and the rural question, in the book Dynamic of rural areas in the world, Armand Collin, 2011. Laurent Rieutortest, for his research, attached to the Center for Studies and Applied Research in the Massif Central, the middle mountain, and fragile areas (CERAMAC).

 4. He also referred to a Senate report entitled The future of the countryside, presented by two senators on 22 January 2013 on behalf of the Senate Delegation for Foresight (Report No. 271). This report, very complete and very rich in facts and ideas, is also very pleasant to read.

5.  As of January 1, 2017 the population of Nièvre was estimated at 221,048 inhabitants, which places this department in the 88th rank of the 102 departments of France .. Between the last two censuses -2009 and 2014- the decline was 3.1%, while during the same period the population of France increased by 2.4%.

 6. In 2010, the Regional Council of Burgundy created within it a cell for innovation called “La Transfo” and charged with starting its work with a practical example, the future of Burgundy villages. After several years of work focused on five villages the team published its findings and advice in a book entitled Villages of the Future, in 2016, Documentation Française. A number of villages in the Nièvre region have embarked on this path, for example Lormes and its township. Under the title Villages of the future in Nivernais Morvan, “Guide” to “good” practices for rural communities, this example is available on the Internet. 

7.  The Hummingbird’s share is the title of a book by Pierre Rabhi published in 2011 that includes a Native American legend. A terrible fire ravaged a forest. All the animals were fleeing. A hummingbird, however, took drops of water in its beak and poured them on the flames. The other animals mocked at this derisory effort: “Why are you doing this? It’s ridiculous. You will not extinguish this fire! “. And the hummingbird replied, “I know it, but I’m doing my part. “.

8.  The Nièvre has a low population density – 32 inhabitants per km2 while the whole of France has 116 inhabitants per km2 – and out of its 312 communes, only two have more than 10,000 inhabitants: Cosne, 10,500 and Nevers, 37,000. Nevers had 45,000 inhabitants in 1975. However, the two boroughs of Nevers and Cosne, corresponding to the Loire Valley to the east of the department, account for more than 75% of the Nivernais population. The other two districts, Clamecy and Château-Chinon respectively have about 26,000 inhabitants.

 9. According to INSEE statistics, Nièvre had 41 communes with less than 100 inhabitants as of January 1, 2017.

 10. Communities of municipalities and Agglomeration communities  are public institutions of intercommunal cooperation having their own fiscal resources. Created by a law of 1992, these communities were reorganized by successive laws, the last one, of August 7, 2015, “bearing new organization of the territory of the Republic”, fixed at 15.000 inhabitants the minimum threshold of an intercommunality. The exceptions, however, are numerous. Several of the communities of communes of Nièvre are below this threshold.

11.  The Pays Nivernais-Morvan covers the eastern part of the department, with 140 communes and four communities of communes, and about 51,000 inhabitants. This pays also covers most of the Regional Park of Morvan which has its own administration.

12.  Unlike the “PETR”, consular chambers are very old: several centuries for Chambers of Commerce and Industry (first chamber of commerce in Marseille in 1599) and soon a century for chambers of crafts and crafts ( law of 1925).

13.  For a summary of the history of agricultural unionism in France, see the article by Lisa Gauvrit on the website of the Association to help improve the governance of the land, water and natural resources (AGTER ).

 14. The FNSEA, which has more 210,000 members, or about half of the farmers, together with JA, gather about 55% of the votes cast in the Chambers of Agriculture elections; Rural Coordination, 15,000 members and 22% of the vote; the peasant Confederation, 10,000 members and a little less than 20% of the vote; and the Family Farmers’ Defense Movement (MODEF), members and 3% of the vote.

15. For the Chamber of Agriculture of Nièvre, the last elections gave the following distribution of votes: FNSEA / JA: 59.86%; Rural Coordination: 23.46%; Peasant  Confederation: 16.48% (two elected);Modef has no organization in the Nièvre.

16.The GAEC, created in 1962, is a form of civil agricultural society of people through which 2 to 10 associates pool existing farms, materials and flocks as well as skills; In addition to the separation of personal and professional assets, one of the main advantages of GAEC is that it allows each partnerto be a manager of exploitation as a self-employed worker with the status of farmer, with the advantages that this status entails. In 2013 there were 38,000 GAECs in France for a total of 450,000 holdings; in the Nièvre, in 2010, 250 GAECs for 3200 farms. And in France and the Nièvre, individual exploitation remains clearly in the majority and the Agricultural Limited Company (EARL) is also more widespread than the GAEC. Nièvre: 2450 individual farms, 550 EARLs; however, EARLs and GAECs, which accounted for only 29% of farms in Nièvre in 2010, accounted for 56% of the total production. 

17. Through one AMAP, one or more producers and a group of neighboring consumers are bound by a contract providing the producer with an outlet for his products and the consumer with healthy and quality food. Thus, according to the AMAP website, producers and consumers “take part in the fight against the pollution and risks of industrial agriculture and promote a responsible and shared management of the commons. In addition, the AMAP “helps to raise awareness of the relationship between diet and health”, stimulates and satisfies “the desire to reconnect with nature”, and develops “the feeling of belonging to a group and perceiving the farm like a second house. The AMAC, in which the stakeholder participates is “The Solidarity Baskets” created in 2004 by the Association Solidaire with the Peasants; another AMAC was created in Nièvre in 2015: the AMAP of Luzyet Compagnie.

18. The SMIC, minimum salary for growth, by a decree of January 2, 1970 replaced the SMIG, Guaranteed minimum wage, which had been created by a law of 1950. As of January 1, 2017, the SMIC was fixed at an hourly rate of 9,76 Euros, which corresponds, for 35 hours of work per week, to a monthly amount of 1480,27 Euros and an annual amount of 17,763,20 Euros. Any employee over the age of 18 must be paid at least at this level. It is not necessary to point out that a farmer, especially if he does not practice an industrial type of agriculture, works much more than 35 hours a week. 

19. Today, in metropolitan France, there are about 490,000 farms; this represents a decrease of more than half of the farms during the last two decades. Also, during the same period, the number of farms under 50 hectares fell by two-thirds, and the number of farms of 100 hectares and more increased by more than double, which means that medium and large farms , about 312,000 in France, represent nearly two-thirds of the total farms and 93% of the Useful Agricultural Area, or 25.1 million hectares. In the Nièvre, according to the Chamber of Agriculture, a farm disappears every two days. In 1970, a  farmer operated on average 15/17 hectares, and cared for 22/24 cattle; today, this same active person exploits on average more than 40 hectares and deals with about 130 cattle. 

20. To achieve the goal of an agriculture with relocated production systems, more autonomous than today and adapted to the needs of the people, one of the measures that advocates the Confédération paysanne is the establishment of mechanisms of distribution of the productions between regions and between producers.

21. Transmission and installation are two major problems of French agriculture.The agricultural population continues to shrink and more than half of the farm managers are expected to retire in the next ten years. Today every two farmers out of ten seeshis or her the farm disappear or be absorbed in another farm. To facilitate the transmission and make the choice easier and more attractive, including to those who are not from the agricultural sector, the Confédération Paysanne offers a series of very concrete measures grouped under eight headings, ranging from a better accessibility of the installation aids by the removal of the restrictive criteria, to the setting up of a “career endowment” to avoid indebtedness.

22.  This training took place at the High School of General Education and Agricultural Technology of Nevers-Cosne, site of Challuy. In addition to agricultural education, Nièvre is fairly well equipped in institutions offering various training. She is second in the Academy of Dijon, after the Côte d’Or, for the technological sector. The number of courses offered, especially at the level of the Higher Technician Certificate, is very high. In number of students, at least for the 2012-2013 school year, Nevers was the second university city in the Burgundy region, after Dijon. Source: site of the Departmental Council of Nièvre.

 23.  Cattle are the most important livestock in France. Here are the figures in 2016: bovine species: 19,359,392; porcine species: 12,734,386, sheep species: 7,036,809; goat species: 1,258,944; horse species: 407,469 on the farms; 159,559 off farms; Gallus species (hens, chickens): 240,859; then come in much smaller numbers ducks, turkeys, geese, guinea fowl, breeding quails, breeding rabbits. For all species, these figures for 2016 represent a slight decrease in comparison with 2015. Source: Agreste site, Ministry of Agriculture and Food. For the Nièvre, the Chamber of Agriculture presents the “farm Nièvre”: “141,000 cows, mainly Charolais, 65,000 ewes, 3,600 goats, 1650 mares, not counting the poultry, snails and other bees …”

24.  The average market value per hectare for arable land and natural meadows free for sale is in the Nièvre of 3082 Euros in 2017. This average value is the lowest in the Morvan Nivernais, 2170 Euros – and is very close in the others parts of the department: from 3430 Euros in the central Nièvre to 3350 Euros in the Burgundy NivernaisePuisaye. In the whole of metropolitan France, these average values ​​of land per hectare of Nièvre and the Burgundy region are among the lowest. Source: Le Figaro / Private, September 5, 2017.

25.  On a 100 basis in 2009, the national rent index is 106.28 in 2017, which represents a decrease of 3.02% compared to 2016, which was already down compared to 2015; after declining in 2010, this index increased over the next five years, from + 1.52% in 2011 to + 2.92% in 2015, to decline again in the last two years. This national index of rents is calculated at 60% on the evolution of the gross income per hectare of the agricultural enterprise for the last five years (index 106.02 in 2017 and 111.81 in 2016, always on a base 100 in 2009) and up to 40% on the evolution of the general price level, or index of gross domestic price, of the previous year (index has 106.67 in 2017 and 106.26 in 2016) .Source : La France Agricole website commenting the decree published in the Official Journal of 28 July 2017.

26.  In this respect, several participants remarked that the profession of agricultural worker in France is experiencing a certain renewal. The big difference from the past is that the demand is mostly for people who have received training. In March 2018, the site Indeed.fr contained 342 job offers of agricultural worker.

27.  The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), created by the Treaty of Rome in 1957, is the oldest common policy of the European Union. Its budget, about 50 billion Euros, represents just under 40% of the EU budget (more than half only ten years ago), but only 1% of all public expenditure of this Union. France, with around 9 billion Euros, is the first beneficiary of the CAP. As the European Union has welcomed 18 new members in the last 30 years, the expense for each European farmer is muchlowernow than at the time of the Europe of the Six. The CAP must be renegotiated in 2020. For various reasons, including Brexit, all the scenarios prepared by the Commission foresee, for the moment, a significant reduction in the CAP budget.

28.  In 2015, Nièvre had 139 organic farms (+ 20% in one year), or 11,242 hectares (+ 18% in one year). These are essentially conversions from conventional farms to organic farming. In 2013, the distribution of 9,120 hectares in organic was as follows: surfaces still grass: 4,627 hectares; forage crops: 2,268 hectares; cereals: 1,561 hectares; protein crop: 172 hectares; oilseeds: 118 hectares; vineyards: 76 hectares; fresh vegetables: 35 hectares; aromatic and medicinal plants: 15 hectares; dried vegetables: 5 hectares. In 2013, the number of animals in organic farming was as follows: suckler cows: 3,140; dairy cows: 234; sheep for meat: 714; dairy ewes:?goats: 112; sows:? broilers:? laying hens: 1760; hives: 1825. Source: Chamber of Agriculture of Nièvre.

29.  There were 50131 beekeepers in metropolitan France in 2016; 91.7% of them, classified as family beekeepers, had from 1 to 49 hives; 5%, multi-skilled beekeepers, had between 50 and 199 hives, and, 3.3%, professional beekeepers, had 200 hives and more. The total number of hives was about 1.3 million. Honey production, which has been declining for several years, was around 10,000 tonnes. As demand grows, imports reached 30,000 tonnes in 2014. It is estimated that at least 10% of the imported honey (honey imports come mainly from China, Ukraine, Argentina, Hungary, Spain and Italy) is fraudulent, especially by addition of sugar or sugar syrup. Source: Site of the National Union of Beekeepers.

30.  At the end of 2015 there were 600 organic beekeepers, twice as many as in 2008; more than 100,000 hives were worked in organic, or 14% of the French bee population; the production of organic honey mainly concerns beekeepers with 50 hives and more; this production was estimated at 1200/1500 tons, or more than 10% of total production. In addition, 45% of members of the Royal Jelly Producers Group (GPGR) are certified organic. . In the European Union, still in 2015, the number of organic hives was 791,000, mainly in Italy, Bulgaria, France and Romania. Source: Website of the National Federation of Organic Apiculture (FNAB). 

31. Source: site of the National Union of Beekeepers.

32. Source: Agriculture and Territorieswebsite, Chamber of Agriculture Provence Cote d’Azur.

 33. Source: La Revue des Vins de France website. 34. Source: Bio portal site in Burgundy

35.  The market value of vineyards has been increasing in France for several years. In 2015, the latest statistics available to date, the average price of a one hectare  vineyard was 248,600 Euros in Burgundy / Franche Comte. In Côte d’Or, this average price was 594,400 Euros, a tripling since 2000. For a Grand Cru, still in Côte d’Or, 4,785,000 Euros was the average, with a maximum of 11,000,000 Euros. Far from these prices, which, in part, reflect speculative purchases, the Nièvre was still in eighth place in 2015 for the average price of its vineyards, thanks to Pouilly-Fumé whose average value was 150,000 Euros per hectare, with a maximum of 170,000 Euros. The vineyards of CoteauxGiennois were worth 16,000 Euros per hectare. For comparison, it is interesting to note that in the Nièvre the average value per hectare of free land and meadows was between 2220 Euros in the Morvan and 3450 Euros in the central part of the department. In Burgundy, this average price was 3160 Euros, one of the lowest in France or, still in 2015, the average reached 6010 Euros. In 2000, these average prices were 2410 Euros in Burgundy and 3480 Euros in France. Source: Agreste Bourgogne / Franche Comte website, Ministry of Agriculture, Agro-Food and Forestry.

 36. Source: Site of the Departmental House of Employment and Training of Nièvre, the Wood Sector in the Nièvre.

37 In former East Germany, farms that were collective and of the “kolkhoz” type are for the most part now owned by the agro-food industries.

38.  These figures are taken from the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Food Watch, Panorama of German Agriculture (2016) and the site Geopolis-France info, Germany Agricultural Giant (2015).

39.  Source: USINE NOUVELLE website, Organic Market, the German Paradox, 21/02/2017.

40 The source of the figures is the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Food Supply, Production and Supply Chain, The Netherlands, August 2016

 41. To this Article 104 was added, following a popular vote of September 24, 2017, Article 104a which deals with Food Security; are mentioned, in particular, the “preservation of agricultural land” and “cross-border trade relations that contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture and the agro-food sector.”

 42. Source: Organic Agriculture site, AGRIDEA and Naturaplan site, Coop.

43.  Source: Euractiv.fr website, article from the Journal of the Environment, January 25, 2018.

44.  Agriculture is the only sector of the US economy that regularly has a positive trade balance.

 45. In addition, a transgenic bovine growth hormone is used by breeders.

46.  The example was quoted from an Amish farm in Ohio who, respectful of its traditions and listening to the growing demand for natural products, earns a very substantial income from its dairy herd fed only ‘grass. It also happens that the head of this Amish farm and family, David Kline, has published a remarkable little book entitled Great Possessions, The Journal of an Amish Farmer. The example was also cited by the same person from a biodynamic farm in New Hampshire, the Wilton Community Farm, which is the oldest of its kind in the United States, and whose success, both human and economic, is exemplary. The Demeter label is for products from biodynamic agriculture and includes 5000 producers, wholesalers and processors, covering an area of ​​150,000 hectares in 45 countries, the main ones being Germany and Switzerland.

47.  In 2012, the United States and the European Union signed an equivalence agreement between their respective logos: green logo and USDA.

48.  Source: various sites on organic agriculture in the United States, including that of the Cornucopia Institute.

49. On April 25, 2017 the Trump administration issued a “Presidential Executive Order” entitled “Promoting Rural Prosperity in America” ​​and creating a “task force” whose mandate is in particular as follows: “… to ensure that regulatory burdens do not unnecessarily encumber agricultural production. »

50.  Title of the work of Jean-Francois Gravier, geographer, published in 1947, which had a huge success and resonance.

51.  The Ile de France accounts for almost 20% of the French population and nearly 30% of GDP (in Germany, for example, Berlin accounts for 4% of the German population and 3% of GDP.) Source: INSEE, 2012.

52.  In Germany, 99% of companies are SMEs (in German, Mittlestand) defined as those with less than 500 employees (in France, less than 250 employees); they account for 39% of the total turnover of companies and employ 14 million employees, i.e. 61% of the active population, and 1,500,000 apprentices; 95% of them are family companies. Here is the judgment made on these companies by a researcher at the Center for Information and Research on Contemporary Germany (CIRAC): “Impossible to quantify, the notion of Mittlestand then comes down to a system of values ​​particularly vivid and whose small and medium-sized enterprises are the carrier par excellence: entrepreneurial autonomy, sense of individual and collective responsibility, taste of performance, love of work well done, respect for the word given, commitment in the present and the future (…) active in the prosperity of their “terroir” or in organizations representing their interests vis-à-vis the political world, but their primary concern remains the development of their employees, the latter being called collaborators.” It should also be noted that in Germany any company with more than 5 employees is required to practice an elaborate form of co-management; the “collaborators” are co-responsible for the running of the business. Source: German SMEs: the keys to performance, Introduction of the book under the direction of Isabelle Bourgeois (2010), quoted on the website Les Echos, Fr, Archives, 28/1/2011. The source of the figures given at the beginning of this note is the website of the Express Enterprise, Germany: the 10 keys to the success of family businesses, 19/2/2014.

 53.  These five régions are Ile de France (26% of jobs), Rhône-Alpes (10%), Provence Côte d’Azur (7%), Pays de la Loire (6%), and Nord-Pas de Calais (6%). Source: INSEE website, Geographical distribution of companies, 2016.

54.  In France, since 2008, INSEE distinguishes four categories of companies: (1) large companies (GE): at least 5,000 people, annual turnover of at least 1.5 billion Euros per year; they number 274 and employ 4.3 million people, or 29% of employees; (2) medium-sized enterprises (ETI): less than 5,000 people, turnover less than 1.5 billion Euros; there are 5,300 and they employ 24% of the employees, (3) small and medium businesses (SMEs): less than 250 people, turnover less than 50 million Euros; they are 138,000 and employ 28% of the employees; and (4) micro enterprises (MIC): less than 10 people, turnover less than 2 million Euros; their number is 3.61 million, for 19% of employees. Source: INSEE website, Tables of the French Economy, Edition 2017, Categories of Companies. 

55. Source: INSEE website, Companies in France, 2016. 

56. The number of inhabitants per square kilometer is 117 in France, 226 in Germany, 200 in Switzerland, 206 in Italy, 266 in the United Kingdom, 376 in Belgium, 411 in the Netherlands. Source: IndexMundi website, Population density by country, 2017. 

57. The last government of the previous five years, before the presidential elections of May 2017, had a Ministry of Spatial Planning, Rurality and Territorial Communities, The current government (March 2018) to a Ministry of Territorial Cohesion. The term “rurality” does not appear in the decree which fixed its attributions. But we can read in this decree that the Minister “develops and implements the policy of the Government in matters of development and balanced development of the entire national territory and solidarity between the territories”. Its action is based on “equality between citizens and between territories (…) In particular it defines and implements with all the competent ministers the policy of the Government for the development and development of territories and rural, mountain and coastal areas. Particular emphasis is placed on “digital access”.

58. First encouraged from 1968, the merger of small localities or their association in intercommunal administrations was made compulsory in 1974, so that the number of municipalities in West Germany was reduced by 65% ​​between 1968 and 1980 from 24,417 to 8500 communes. Source: The definition of rural space in the framework of spatial planning policies in Germany, by Samuel Depraz, in the collective work entitled Reinventing the German Countryside, under the direction of Guillaume Lacquement, Karl Martin Born and Beatrice von Hirshhausen; site ENS editions, ENS Lyon. 

59.  France: 45.5% of GDP; Sweden: 43.3% of GDP; and between 2005 and 2015, France went from 42.8% to 45.5% while Sweden experienced the opposite trend, from 46.6% to 43.3%. Source: All Europe website, Understanding Europe, Taxes in Europe.

Annex 1

List of participants 

Peter Baas

Amélie Baudot                                                        

Barbara Baudot 

Jacques Baudot                                                     

Jean-Marie de Bourgoing 

Jean-Michel Collette 

Arthur Dahl

Steve Gorman

Marie-Aimée Latournerie

Elizabeth Raiser                                                      

Konrad Raiser

Dirck Stryker

List of invited Speakers

1. Jean-Pierrre Lacroix 

2.  Christine Delbove

3.  Pierre Chevrier

4.  Dennis Sanchez

5. The Durand : Jean Baptiste, Sophie, Michel

6.  Samuel Delobbe

7.  Pascal Collignon

8. Thomas Chevrier

Annex 2

List of  documents prepared for this seminar

Ordre du Jour et Programme de Travail

Note 1 : Département de la Nièvre: population, territoire et organisation administrative

Note 2 : L’Economie de la Nièvre :quelques données

Note 3 : Rural, ruralité, ruralisme, agriculture, paysannerie…Quelques définitions, remarques, programmes…

Note 4 : L’Agriculture biologique et autres modes de production similaires

Note 5 : Résumé du Chapitre 4, Une Ecologie Intégrale, de la Lettre Encyclique du pape François Loué sois-Tu (Laudato Si’), Sur la Sauvegarde de la maison commune

La Transformation des Territoires Ruraux en France : Un Siècle d’Histoire (seeannex 3)

Annex 3

La Transformation des Territoires Ruraux en France : Un Siècle d’Histoire 

par Jean-Michel Collette

  Table des Matières

Introduction………………………………………………………………………….2

1 Les populations……………………………………………………………………3

1. 1.1 Population urbaine/population rurale……………………………………  .3
2. 1.2 L’évolution des densités………………………………………………………4
3. 1.3 La concentration des populations…………………………………………..4

1. 2 Les collectivités territoriales………………………………………………  .7

1. 2.1 Le maillage communal…………………………………………………………7
2. 2.2 Le département’…………………………………………………………………9
3. 2.3 Les régions……………………………………………………………………  .9

1. 3 L’usage des sols……………………………………………………………….11

1. 3.1 Les terres agricoles……………………………………………………………11
2. 3.2 Les forets……………………………………………………………………… 12
3. 3.3 Les espaces naturels et semi-naturels…………………………………….13

1. 4 La mise en valeur des territoires…………………………………………  .15

1. 4.1 Les exploitations agricoles…………………………………………………  15
2. 4.2 L’exploitation des forets………………………………………………………18
3. 4.3 La protection des espaces naturels………………………………………  21                 
4. 4.4 La gestion des ressources en eau…………………………………………..24

Notes…………………………………………………………………………………..29