This morning, the Higher Technical School of Agronomic, Food and Biosystems Engineering (ETSIAAB) of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) hosted the presentation of the book ‘An agriculture without farmers’, published by Cajamar. This is a translation into Spanish of the work ‘Une agriculture sans agriculteurs’, by agricultural sociologists Bertrand Hervieu and François Purseigle, originally published in October 2022 by the National Foundation of Political Sciences, in which they address causes and consequences of the crisis of the traditional family farming model in Franceand the economic and sociological imbalances that are being caused by the progressive transformation of the way of producing and distributing food and occupying rural territory in the neighboring country.
The Spanish version has been written by Eduardo Moyano Estrada, a retired agricultural engineer and sociologist from the Higher Center for Scientific Research (CSIC), who also signs an epilogue in which he compares the main conclusions of the authors on the French rural world with the Spanish case, highlighting similarities and differences.
At the beginning of the presentation, José Manuel Palacios, director of the ETSIAAB, and Eduardo Baamonde, president of Cajamar, welcomed the attendees, highlighting the opportunity to translate a work like this and publish it in Spain. Next, Eduardo Moyano has made a brief profile of the academic career of the authors, his professional relationship with them over the years and the translation process. Finally, professors Hervieu and Purseig have explained the reasons that led them to undertake this essay, as well as the contents of the work and its main conclusions.
After the intervention of the authors and the coordinator of the new edition in Spanish, Roberto García Torrente, director of Sustainability and Agri-Food Development at Grupo Cajamar, moderated a colloquium on the future of agriculture with specialists in agricultural economics and professionals in the sector. José María Sumpsi, professor emeritus of the ETSIAAB and former director of the Center for Studies and Research for the Management of Agrarian and Environmental Risks of the UPM (CEIGRAM), participated in the debate; the economist expert in agri-food systems Francesc Reguant; and Catalina García Reyes, president of the Federation of Rural Women’s Associations (FADEMUR) in Extremadura and of the Cooperative of Olive Growers and Winegrowers of Ribera del Fresno (Badajoz).
A profound transformation
‘An agriculture without farmers’ addresses the process of transformation of the French agrarian structure, focusing on the consequences for those mainly affected, the farmers themselves, and how society as a whole perceives their work, the strategic role of food production and the consequences of agricultural activity for the environment.
French agriculture has historically been characterized by the predominance of small and medium-sized family farms, protagonists of the great technical and productive modernization of the second half of the 20th century. However, in recent years this model has been affected by strong processes of demographic, technical, social and economic change, which are resulting in new and very diverse forms of work organization (with the drastic reduction of the population active agrarian) and capital (around agro companies of different size and specialization). Currently, We are witnessing a second great modernization, in this case revolutionary due to its intensity and the speed of the changes that it generates, within the framework of digitalization, the diversification of markets, the advances in biotechnology and the necessary transition towards a greener economy.
Likewise, the subtitle of the original work, “une revolution indicible” (‘an unspeakable revolution’), refers to the difficulties that understanding this process of change presents for the rest of society, which resists critically debating this issue and continues to see in the figure of the traditional farmer and family farming the symbols of a successful but outdated reality, which has little or nothing to do with the current situation and future prospects. These contradictions, in turn, generate a permanent feeling of crisis and a deep unrest among the farmers themselves that fuels the rural protests.
Several reference models for the future
The authors maintain that the changes currently produced in agriculture, not only in France, but also in Europe and in much of the world, open a horizon of diversity and coexistence between different agricultural and livestock models, as well as opportunity for farmers. that are capable of adapting to the current context of change. However, the authors also acknowledge that There will be less and less space for the traditional family farming model as we have known it for decades, a model based on an exploitation directed by its owner and his spouse and supported by the work of the family and/or by salaried personnel.
Thus, from their point of view, on the one hand, large technical farms will coexist, fully integrated into global markets and managed with the business criteria that are common in the industrial sector; and, on the other hand, small and medium-sized agricultural farms of varying degrees of modernization, more linked to the territories and guided according to a mixed economic, social and environmental logic, but whose survival will increasingly depend on supportive public policies.
France and Spain: different responses to similar challenges
In addition to having translated the work, Eduardo Moyano dedicates an epilogue to analyzing the differences and similarities between the French and Spanish models. In this sense, in his opinion it is essential to start from the fact that in the Spanish case The sacralization of the “family farming” model has not occurred as the main axis of structuring of the rural world nor as a guiding principle of agrarian policy. In the Spanish case, the structural adjustment of agriculture has been more the result of the functioning of the market and European agricultural policy, than the result of a specific policy aimed at promoting the family farm model. Hence, faced with similar problems, the transition is not experienced in Spain with the same emotional and political intensity as in France.
In the words of Professor Moyano: “The technological revolution that Spanish agriculture is experiencing and that touches the waterline of our small and medium-sized farms, in addition to promoting the presence of business agriculture models, is not experienced here as a revolution.” unspeakable’, which cannot be talked about. On the contrary, this process of technological innovation, and, in particular, the digitalization associated with it, is perceived as. a paradigm shift that offers opportunities to our entire agricultural sector and to which both farmers, professional organizations, and political leaders refer with pride and undisguised satisfaction, which does not mean that it does not generate concern in some sectors and social groups due to the effects that could have.”
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