Extension services and multifunctional agriculture. Lessons learnt from the French and Dutch contexts and approaches

• Published in: Journal of environmental management Vol. 90; no. Supp.2; pp. S193 - S202
• Main Author: Labarthe, Pierre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2009; Academic Press Ltd; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agricultural extension; Agricultural knowledge and information system; Agricultural management; Agricultural policy; Agriculture - economics; Agriculture - history; Agriculture - legislation & jurisprudence; Commercialization; Conservation of Natural Resources - economics; Conservation of Natural Resources - history; Conservation of Natural Resources - legislation & jurisprudence; Farming; Food Industry - economics; Food Industry - history; Food Industry - legislation & jurisprudence; Food Supply - economics; Food Supply - history; Food Supply - legislation & jurisprudence; France; Functional analysis; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Information systems; Innovation; Institutional analysis; Institutions; Knowledge; Life Sciences; Multifunctional agriculture; Netherlands; Privatisation; Privatization; Privatization - economics; Privatization - history; Privatization - legislation & jurisprudence; Public Policy; R&D; Research & development; France; Netherlands; Multifunctional agriculture; Agricultural knowledge and information system; Privatisation; Agricultural extension; Institutional analysis; AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION; PRIVATISATION; MULTIFUNCTIONAL AGRICULTURE; INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS; NETHERLANDS; INFORMATION SYSTEM; FRANCE; AGRICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE
• ISSN: 0301-4797; 1095-8630
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.11.021

Today's acknowledgement of the multifunctionality of agriculture (MFA) implies the production of new knowledge to integrate different functions at farm level (primary production, environmental protection, food safety, etc.). At the same time, agricultural sectors of European countries have recently faced changes in the organisation of their R&D activities, including a trend of commercialisation and privatisation of advisory services for farmers. To assess the consequences of these changes on support for innovations related to MFA, this paper explores the potential of combining two analytical frameworks: an institutional economic approach (IEA) and a sociological network approach (SNA). This potential is illustrated by a historical analysis of advisory services in France and the Netherlands from 1945 until now. This analysis stresses the importance of collective procedures for the accumulation of technical knowledge in agriculture. It also shows that these procedures could not be analysed from a strictly technical perspective. They are the expression of institutional arrangements involving social groups of farmers and the state, and are grounded in national contexts. A historical perspective also enables us to understand better why the privatisation of extension services cannot meet the requirements of support for farm innovations in the MFA context.