PTL2 – Agroecology and Food Systems

• Stéphane de TOURDONNET (ABSys, Institut Agro Montpellier)
• Daniel FONCEKA (AGAP, CIRAD)
• Julien DEMENOIS + Edward GERARDEAUX / Sandrine AUZOUX (AIDA, CIRAD)
• Laurent COURNAC (Eco&Sols, IRD)
• Eric MALEZIEUX (HortSys, CIRAD)
• Valérie LULLIEN-PELLERIN (IATE, INRAE)
• HOSSARD (Innovation) Laure HOSSARD(Innovation, INRAE)
• Arnaud HÉLIAS (ITAP, INRAE)
• Eric TRABLY (LBE, INRAE)
• Caroline MÉJEAN and Olivier Lepiller (MoISA, INRAE)
• Renaud BOULANGER (Qualisud, CIRAD
• Christian CORNIAUX (Selmet, CIRAD)
• Agnès AGEORGES (SPO, INRAE)
• Thierry BONAUDO and Agnès BÉGUÉ (TETIS, AgroParisTech)
• Karen LAMBERT-CORDILLAC (UM Biology-Health Division, UM)
• Elodie VALETTE (ArtDev – SOC Division, CIRAD)
• Nadine ANDRIEU (CIRAD CTS Food Systems, CIRAD)

Main:

• ABSYS
• AGAP Institute
• AIDA
• Eco&Sols
• MOISA
• Hortsys
• IATE
• QUALISUD
• SELMET
• SPO
• TETIS
• ITAP
• LBE
• INNOVATION

Secondary:

• ASTRE
• Biowooeb
• CBGP
• DGIMI
• DIADE
• G-EAU
• GECO
• IPSIM
• ISEM
• LEPSE
• LISAH
• Recycling and Risk
• MEANING

Call for Expressions of Interest
CRISTAL Internship Grants

Crises and the Agroecological Transformation of Food Systems
Intended for members of Montpellier-based UMRs involved in PTL 2 “Agroecology and Food Systems” of the AEB cluster at the University of Montpellier

The CRISTAL project is set against the backdrop of the multiple crises affecting agriculture and food systems in the Mediterranean. It aims to analyze, design, evaluate, and support agroecological transformation processes at the regional level, closely linking agricultural and food issues.

Its originality lies in this dual approach. On the one hand, the project takes the crises affecting agricultural and food systems seriously; on the other, it draws on agroecology as a framework for analysis and action. Food and nutrition are the project’s primary focus: the four dissertations currently underway or about to begin each focus on a major food group emblematic of the Mediterranean diet and the diversity of regional environments. This framework is consistent with the overarching CRISTAL project, which plans to use internships to broaden the thematic and disciplinary interfaces explored by the dissertations and postdoctoral research.

With this in mind, the CRISTAL project is issuing a call for expressions of interest for internship funding. These internships are intended to further open up the project to the Montpellier scientific community, strengthen collaborations between teams, and shed additional light on several key issues at the heart of the project: new relationships between agriculture and food, interactions between supply chains and regions, diversification of activities and changes in the nature of work, agroecological and food innovations and practices, value chains and access to local and sustainable food, new methods of observation, analysis, and support, …

Title: Food Demand and the Agroecological Transition: An Analysis of the Interactions Between Consumption and Production in West African Food Systems

Title: Food Demand and Agroecological Transition: An Analysis of the Interactions Between Consumption and Production in West African Food Systems

Abstract:

The agroecological transition of food systems in West Africa relies heavily on the transformation of production systems, while the role of food demand—particularly for fresh fruits and vegetables—remains insufficiently documented. This dissertation aims to address this gap through an empirical analysis of the interactions between consumption dynamics, agroecological approaches, and the structuring of the food supply at the regional level. The study will be conducted in Senegal across two contrasting regions: the peri-urban area of Niayes and the rural area of Lake Guiers, with operational roots in living labs. It is structured around two complementary components. The first component characterizes local demand for fruits and vegetables produced using agroecological practices by identifying consumer preferences, their socioeconomic determinants, and barriers to the sustainable consumption of these fresh and healthy fruits and vegetables, using field surveys and stated or revealed preference methods. The second component assesses the impact of existing regional agroecological initiatives on the local food supply, using quasi-experimental approaches. This research aims to generate empirical evidence that can inform the design of public policies and regional interventions to promote the agroecological transition in West Africa.

Keywords: Agroecology, food demand, consumer preferences, co-design, West Africa

Abstract:

The agroecological transition of food systems in West Africa has largely focused on transforming production systems, while the role of food demand—particularly for fresh fruits and vegetables—remains insufficiently documented. This thesis aims to address this gap through an empirical analysis of the interactions between consumption dynamics, agroecological arrangements, and the structuring of the food supply at the territorial level. The study will be conducted in Senegal across two contrasting territories: the peri-urban Niayes area and the rural Lake Guiers area, with an operational framework based on living labs. It is structured around two complementary components. The first component characterizes local demand for fruits and vegetables produced using agroecological practices by identifying consumer preferences, their socioeconomic determinants, and barriers to the sustainable consumption of these fresh and safe fruits and vegetables, based on field surveys and stated- or revealed-preference methods. The second component evaluates the impact of existing regional agroecological interventions on the local food supply, using quasi-experimental methods. This work aims to generate empirical evidence useful for the design of public policies and regional interventions supporting the agroecological transition in West Africa.

Keywords: Agroecology, food demand, consumer preferences, co-design, West Africa

Objectives

The objective of this dissertation is to provide empirical evidence on two distinct but complementary questions, in the context of the agroecological transition of food systems in West Africa:

1. Demand: Characterize the demand for fresh fruits and vegetables produced using agroecological practices by analyzing consumer preferences, procurement practices, and the economic, social, and regional determinants of food choices. This involves, in particular, identifying the barriers and drivers of consumption of agroecological products in order to inform the design of appropriate policies and interventions.

2. Supply: Assess the impact of existing regional agroecological systems on the structure of the local food supply (availability, accessibility, quality, price) using quasi-experimental methods. The starting point is the Mbane living lab (Lake Guiers area); one or two other initiatives in the Niayes area will be identified at the beginning of the dissertation.

Project Summary
The agroecological transition of food systems is a major challenge in addressing the constraints of population growth, climate change, and food insecurity. It is based on advances in fundamental knowledge about the components of agroecosystems—soils, plants, and the organisms that surround them, whether pathogenic or symbiotic. However, while the application of this knowledge has enabled the development of agroecological strategies to address challenges related to soil fertility and pest management, the consequences of these practices are primarily considered in terms of crop yield, often neglecting their impact on the nutritional and health qualities of the vegetables produced.

Producing food in sufficient quantity and quality is a major challenge in the Niayes market garden region, which supplies both local and distant markets in Senegal. This region is dominated by family farming, which faces significant constraints: low soil fertility, high disease pressure on crops, and the challenge of preserving vegetables until they reach the market. In response to these constraints, a variety of practices—such as fertilization with poultry manure, spatial and temporal crop diversification, and pesticide use—have been implemented, but their unintended effects remain poorly understood. While poultry manure can restore soil fertility by adding organic matter and nutrients, its health risks to soils and crops (heavy metals, antibiotics, diseases) and its impacts on crop storage are poorly understood. Similarly, while crop diversification and the use of pesticides can limit phytosanitary risks, their consequences for nutrient uptake by crops and for the health quality of consumed products remain to be clarified.

This dissertation aims to understand how organic fertilization, crop diversification, and pesticide use influence the quantity and quality of vegetables. It will focus on the vegetable-growing region of the Niayes area in northwestern Senegal. This area is at the heart of numerous agroecological projects (OR4FOOD, FairSahel, Santé et territoires) that have studied the cropping systems in this region. By covering a wide range of practices, these projects will help uncover the relationships between soil health, plant nutritional status, and the sanitary quality of crops under real-world farming conditions.

Funding for a doctoral dissertation on agrobiodiversity, co-funded by PTL2 (Agroecology and Food Systems) and PTL3 (Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution)

Submission deadline: Tuesday, May 20 (5:00 p.m.)

The PTL2 (Agroecology and Food Systems) and PTL3 (Biodiversity, Ecology, and Evolution in the Face of Global Change) research groups within the AEB cluster at the Montpellier I-Site share a strong interest in all aspects of agrobiodiversity, defined here as biodiversity within agricultural landscapes. This first call for projects focuses on the plant component of agrobiodiversity and, more specifically, on all plant species that are sown or planted (both annuals and perennials that constitute the target crops, as well as service plants in the broadest sense). In 2026, a second call for projects will be launched, this time incorporating all other components of agrobiodiversity (weeds and other pests, pollinators, beneficial insects, soil organisms, etc.).

This call for proposals aims to address the needs of both PTLs in terms of knowledge about agrobiodiversity. PTL3 is primarily interested in characterizing agrobiodiversity and the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that underpin it. This knowledge aims to optimize, at the plot scale or beyond, the functions provided by agroecosystems in the context of agroecological transition.

The PTL2, for its part, focuses on the practical implementation of agrobiodiversity within agricultural production systems (integration into agricultural practices and systems, diversification of production systems) as well as its impact on downstream value chains (processing, distribution, and consumption) and on the nutritional quality of products derived from these diversified systems.

Although complementary, these areas of research remain too often siloed, which limits the full utilization of agrobiodiversity as a lever to support the necessary and urgent agroecological transition. Bridging the gap between these disciplines represents a genuine scientific challenge—a frontier of science—that we believe is now ripe for enhanced interdisciplinary dialogue.

2025 Call for Proposals: PTL2 Exploratory Projects

Submission deadline: September 30, 2025

The PTL2 scientific community shares the goal of transforming agricultural and food systems to produce food in sufficient quantity and quality so that everyone can enjoy a healthy and balanced diet while minimizing environmental impacts. To achieve this, we must move beyond sector-specific research—which focuses on the production, processing, distribution, or consumption of raw or processed products—by promoting research that integrates these different sectors and takes into account the various scales of food systems, from the local to the global level.

One of the PTL2’s initiatives is to support approximately 20 interdisciplinary exploratory projects, which must align with the PTL2’s objectives. Expected characteristics of the exploratory projects:

• Understand at least two units of the AEB Division, at least one of which is affiliated with PTL2

It is possible to include more than two units and, if necessary, units outside the AEB Cluster or even outside I-Site; however, only units within I-Site will be eligible to receive a portion of the budget.

• Combine at least two different disciplines
• Last for up to 2 years
• For a total budget of up to 80 k€. The budget may cover the following expenses:
  • operating expenses, including travel expenses and internship stipends
  • equipment (based on the threshold set by the supervising authority; the UM is mandatory for units under the UM’s primary supervision)
  • staff (technicians or engineers on fixed-term contracts, but not doctoral students or postdocs)

This first Call for Projects will provide funding for approximately 7 projects, which will be evaluated by the PTL2 Steering Committee according to the following schedule and procedures:

• Submission deadline: September 30, 2025
• evaluation by the CoPil (possibly with the assistance of external reviewers)
• Period for notifying winners: mid-November 2025
• Actual start of projects: January through June 2026

• Eligibility criteria:
  • multi-unit (at least 2 AEB-affiliated units and one unit affiliated with PTL2)
  • interdisciplinary nature (at least 2 distinct disciplines)
• Evaluation criteria:
  • Scientific positioning in relation to the PTL2 scientific frontiers
  • the originality of the project, from a scientific and/or methodological perspective
  • feasibility and budget