# Thinking of the agroecological transition as a psychosocial transition: Example of livestock farmers in Occitania

Camille Berrier, Lorenzo Carré

► To cite this version:

Camille Berrier, Lorenzo Carré. Thinking of the agroecological transition as a psychosocial transition : Example of livestock farmers in Occitania. INRAE. 2025, 6p. hal-05247257

HAL Id: hal-05247257

https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05247257v1

Submitted on 9 Sep 2025

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Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
The agroecological transition (AET) is not limited to technical and economic transformations. It calls for a paradigm shift that involves looking ahead to new innovative ways of producing and experiencing agriculture. It questions traditional practices and know-how, and involves a far-reaching redefinition of agricultural professions and activities.

This transition is all the more complex for livestock farming systems, which must meet high ecological and societal expectations (reduction of greenhouse gases, animal welfare, sustainable food, etc.), while operating under challenging working conditions (long working hours, intense physical activity, significant mental strain).

Added to this are serious socio-economic difficulties that impact working conditions: work-related hardships, low workforce renewal, limited income, declining consumption of animal proteins, among others.

Despite these challenges, many livestock farmers continue to view their work as a 'passionate profession' that they wish to continue, develop and promote.

To understand what farmers are experiencing in the context of AET, while bolstering the prospect of decent work for themselves, this study sought to analyze the dynamics of commitment among farmers in the region of Occitania in the south of France, to more sustainable practices.

### 25 livestock farmers surveyed on 13 farms in Occitania

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#### Types of livestock on the 13 farms

S: sheep (100 to 400 animals), C: cattle (15 to 90 animals), G: goats (60 to 250 animals), P: pigs

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#### Types of production on the 13 farms

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Location of farms

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PAYS MIDI-QUERCY

Inter AFOCG
Inter Associatives de Rénovation Collective à la Genie

Farmers are members of the PETR Midi-Quercy and InterAFOCG networks, partners of the study

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# Two jointly mobilized activity analysis models

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In order to identify and characterize the psychosocial processes operating in commitment dynamics, two models were jointly mobilized in this study:

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# A three-stage research-intervention program

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2 non-directive clinical interviews conducted on each farm
+ participant observations
+ videos of activity sequences

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1 professional practice analysis session (PAS) bringing together nine of the farmers previously interviewed.

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**Research-intervention:**

A collaborative approach involving joint analysis between researchers and practitioners, focused on action and the production of scientific and empirical knowledge. The researcher-facilitator adopts a supportive role rather than that of an advisor.

## Why adopt a clinical psychosocial approach?

The aim is not to solve problems directly, but to elucidate their meaning, taking into account subjective, relational and symbolic dimensions. Particular attention is paid to what the involved individuals have to say and their ability to become agents of their own development.

Clinical interviews place the subjects and their narrative at the center of the analysis by exploring the psychological functioning through their actual experience, including their own history and their relationship with other social groups. These interviews make it possible to collect qualitative data that cannot be adequately captured by questionnaires.

This information can provide an in-depth and individualized understanding of situations and, consequently, a better understanding of the individual and collective dynamics operating in work. This paves the way for a research-intervention approach that provides the opportunity to transform the working situation of livestock farmers through dialogue.
Key result 1: The psychosocial components of livestock
farming activities

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During the interviews, farmers were asked to co-analyze their activities with the researcher in order to identify sources of conflict, particularly in the impeded activities, and to identify the psychosocial factors behind these impediments.

By impeded activity, we consider: what is not done, what cannot be done, what we no longer do, what we think or dream of doing elsewhere, what we achieve to avoid doing what needs to be done, what we do without us wanting to, etc.

Two types of narratives were identified:

Narratives specific to the factual,
**imposed dimensions of activities.**
They are related to production and
management of economic, logistical
and territorial resources.

These activities constitute common
references to the profession and to
all actors in the agricultural sector,
allowing them to share their work
experience together. They reflect the
attachment of farmers to the
specificities of their profession that
distinguish them from other
agricultural professions.

Narratives related to the **psychosocial dimensions of the reality of activities**, more subjective than imposed ones, such as those in connection with the territory or family history. They occur in two types of cases:

1) Situations of concern to farmers. They are sources of conflict in the workplace and concern the transmission of the farm and the relationship to the family, questions about animal welfare and working conditions related to the challenges raised by society, the relationship to support institutions and the feeling of belonging, and which become factors for reflection.

2) Situations where farmers have imagined new practices that they have implemented or are currently implementing. These practices are often close to those proposed by the AET.

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Farmers in
their capacity
as individuals

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Dimensions are in interaction with the
professional, social, family-related and
territorial environments

* The transmission of the farm appears to be a major concern among all the surveyed farmers (before agroecological issues).

* A conflict between the professional and social spheres can be a source of distress at work and may stand in the way of adopting new agricultural practices.

* When the activity is impeded, the reflection and debate about the conflict within this activity can make it possible to build or identify a new resource, to consider new developments in the workplace and to develop oneself.

The profession is characterized
by its imposed and visible
dimensions, which constitute
common references to enable
farmers to share their work
experience together.

Clinical interviews make it possible to access the
psychosocial dimensions of the profession that are
difficult to verbalize and visualize. These dimensions
are important for rethinking and transforming
impeded activities and overcoming conflicts
(intrapsychic, interpersonal, activity-specific, etc.).
# Key result 2: three forms of commitment dynamics towards more sustainable practices

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## The importance of transmission

All the respondents wanted to focus on the transmission of family farming. It is a major concern, more important for them than the agroecological transition alone.

By co-analyzing their work situations with the farmers, the researcher showed three dynamics of commitment towards more sustainable practices for the environment and/or the individual, which may be in the same vein as those taken by the parents or, on the contrary, may take on a more radical or moderate direction.

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### 1) Opposition

Radical changes in production systems at the time of take-over: farmers go against their parents' trajectories.

For example: a radical change from the organic farming practices inherited from the parents or, conversely, adoption of AE practices.

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### 2) Compromise

Farmers reach a compromise by changing only a few practices, hybridizing AE practices and more conventional practices.

For example: taking over an organic farm in a less restrictive way, or implementing some AE practices.

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### 3) Pursuit

Continuity and reinforcement of the orientations taken by parents, accentuation of AE practices that can be comparable to innovation.

Farmers then adopt militant positions to disseminate their practices.

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These dynamics revolve around several tensions, the most central appearing to be that of farm transmission, a question of inheritance, which is not only material and technical, but also emotional and psychological. At stake is the place taken and built by the farmer within the history of the farm and the family.

The dynamics of commitment are therefore influenced by relationships among family members, as well as by the symbolic roles given to those who transmit and those who receive, in a professional situation that involves the future of the latter.

Commitment can be understood in its conflicting dimension and with reference to all spheres of life, not just the professional sphere.

The commitment of farmers to more sustainable practices comes from the meaning they give to their activity in terms of their commitments and positions at different times and in different contexts of socialization.

In the absence of sufficient psychological and social resources to treat them all, transmission issues take precedence over those related to agroecology or environment.
## Key result 3: building individual and collective intersignificance through dialogue between peers

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A session to analyze practices was then organized to further encourage farmers to reflect on their practices and to observe psychosocial and subjective processes, not only from an individual perspective but also through dialogue within a peer group.

It was possible to identify a process of collective intersignification resulting from interactions between farmers and, in this way, to understand what the interlocutors produce together that they would not have been able to produce alone.

**Intersignificance**
The process by which subjects give unique meaning to their situation, behavior and roles based on the behaviors they develop and the roles they occupy in other social spheres.

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This session allowed the concerned farmer to realize that his situation was not personal. The collective co-analysis of the conflict in the workplace, which he initially experienced as being unique, led to the development of a collective interpretation of the conflict, which turned out to be a conflict inherent to the profession. This occurred during five psychosocial processes:

1

Awareness of a conflict related to the transfer and organization of work on a family farm where the parents are retiring.

2

Collective deliberation on the conflict, highlighting a problem common to the profession: similar experiences of transfer and the difficulty of maintaining a balance between tradition (family, territorial, technical) and adaptation (contextual and personal).

3

Sharing experiences and/or reflections: several strategies are discussed (hiring an employee, partnering with a peer or changing the organization of the farm), but these solutions come up against economic realities and emotional resistance related to the family history.

4

Testing commitment to new practices: some farmers present changes they have devised or tried, while analyzing the limitations and/or other conflicts this may generate in other activities, as well as the potential sources of self-development (better adaptation to their personal aspirations).

5

Building a new stance to maintain or develop the capacity to act: participants become aware of the need to overcome the alienation they find themselves in (inherited model) by relying not only on their individual situation, but also by considering the problem as belonging to a professional collective.
## Why consider AET as a psychosocial transition?

AET must be understood through the eyes of those who experience it because it challenges the identity and meaning of the farming profession.

It involves rebuilding the meaning of work, combining past experiences and future prospects, and placing the profession within both collective and individual dynamics.

It is based on the resources, constraints, intentions and emotions that farmers experience, and requires psychological reorganization in order to adapt to a new reality.

These psychosocial dimensions are perceived and felt by both farmers and support workers. However, they are not taken into account to support AET, even though they are as integral to it as the technical, economic and environmental dimensions.

## What are the implications for supporting farmers in the context of AET?

Understanding AET in its psychosocial dimension calls for a renewal of approaches in support of the development of the farming profession:

* Support mechanisms must integrate the psychosocial and identity aspects of the profession in order to be effective.

* Advisers must take emotions into account, not as a private matter but as an integral part of the profession (particularly in situations involving the transfer of farms).

* Developing spaces for individual and collective dialogue where farmers can analyze their experiences could enable the joint development of solutions tailored to their specific situations and to the profession as a whole.

## Perspectives: the role and importance of community

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The farmer's commitment is shaped by the intersection of family history, professional identity and collective dynamics, involving subjective reflection on the meaning of the profession. This commitment is based on each individual's unique history, but also on the different social circles with which each person interacts.

In the case of the farmers in this study, their choices are shaped at the intersection of the different communities to which they belong (family, peers, unions, society, etc.) but also according to their own desires and appetites.

The creation of spaces for dialogue between peers to analyze work activities can foster personal and professional development. We argue that such spaces for dialogue, linking individual situations and collective issues in the profession, are an essential lever for enabling livestock farmers to appropriate and adapt agroecological practices.

This document is a summary of C. Berrier's doctoral thesis, defended on 3 December 2024.

https://theses.hal.science/tel-04992354v2