# Agricultural value chain organizations in the digitalization of agriculture: use prescription, for which transition?

Éléonore Schnebelin

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Éléonore Schnebelin. Agricultural value chain organizations in the digitalization of agriculture: use prescription, for which transition?. 16th International Sustainability Transitions Conference: Tensions and trade-offs in structural changes for sustainability transitions, Sustainability Transitions Research Network, Jun 2025, Lisbonne, France. 9p. hal-05129794

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Submitted on 18 Aug 2025

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# Agricultural value chain organizations in the digitalization of agriculture

## Use prescription, for which transition?

IST'25 Conference - 25/06/2025

Eléonore SCHNEBELIN

UMR AGIR - INRAE Toulouse

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RÉPUBLIQUE
FRANÇAISE

Liberté
Egalité
Fraternité

INRAE
Digitalisation to support sustainable transition ?

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>Rapport Agriculture Innovation 2025 (Bournigal et al, 2015)</figcaption></figure>

For agri-food value-chains:

> Transparency

> Fairness

> Sustainability

> Knowledge

It can also alter power relations within
these chains

(Meemken et al., 2024)

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> The crucial role of intermediaries

Transition and innovation of agri-food systems

Crucial role of intermediary organizations in the (Kivimaa et al., 2019; Klerkx and Leeuwis, 2009)

Role of value-chain organisations (Cholez and Magrini, 2023; Touzard and Vandame, 2009)

Digitalisation of agri-food systems :

Crucial role of intermediaries (Busse et al., 2015)

What about value chain organisations ?

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What role do value chain organizations play in
the digitalization of agriculture? How might
this affect the transition of agri-food systems?

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> Material

**Data** : arable farmers (n=98), winegrowers (n=43) and value-chain organizations (n=11)
**Analysis** : Use profile (statistical classification), descriptive statistics, qualitative insights

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CAIRN.INFO

MATIÈRES À RÉFLEXION

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arbes

Ecological Economics 196 (2022) 107422

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ELSEVIER

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Ecological Economics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon

QUEL RÔLE POUR LES COOPÉRATIVES DANS L'ÉCOLOGISATION ET LA NUMÉRISATION DE L'AGRICULTURE ? L'EXEMPLE DE LA VITICULTURE EN OCCITANIE (FRANCE)

Éléonore Schnebelin, Jean-Marc Touzard, Pierre Labarthe, Isabelle Macaine

Association RECMA | « RECMA »

2022/4 N° 366 | pages 33 à 49

ISSN 1626-1682

DOI 10.3917/recma.366.0045

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Check for
updates

Linking the diversity of ecologisation models to farmers’ digital use profiles

Éléonore Schnebelin *

UMR Innovation, DigitAg, INRAE Montpellier, Institut Agro, France

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INRAO

IST'25 - Lisbon

25 June 2025 / Schnebelin Eléonore
> Results

**Value-chain organisation facilitate the use of digital technologies**

➤ Raise awareness of technology

➤ Logistical or economic access to the technology

➤ Knowledge building

➤ Technology adaptation and appropriation

**Value-chain organisation promote the use of digital technologies**

➤ Commercialize new services

➤ To gain access to new markets – or to gain value on the market : For example, the use of traceability software

➤ To get data, for coordination and control

**Value-chain organisation compel the use of digital technologies**

➤ Technology prescription in contracts

➤ A requirement to access some markets

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> Discussion

Value chain organizations have new intermediary functions and act as prescriptive organisations for the use of digital technologies

> Opportunities

> Power imbalances ?

Issue of neutral information about technology

Issue of data

Issue of dependence

"Everything must be transparent for the farmer, but nothing is transparent for the cooperative. We are more and more tied to the cooperative." (Crop farmer)

> Ecological Transition ?

Contribution to sociotechnical lock-in of farmers within conventional production system
Digitalisation towards legitimation of practices rather than changing practices

Fairbairn et al., 2025 ; Lioutas and Charatsari, 2020 ; Schnebelin, 2022
> Thank you for your attention

eleonore.schnebelin@inrae.fr

To go further :

Schnebelin, É., 2022. Linking the diversity of ecologisation models to farmers’ digital use profiles. Ecol. Econ. 196, 107422.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107422

Schnebelin, E., Labarthe, P., Touzard, J.-M., 2021. How digitalisation interacts with ecologisation? Perspectives from actors of the French Agricultural Innovation System. Journal of Rural Studies 86, 599–610.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.07.023

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RÉPUBLIQUE
FRANÇAISE

Liberté
Egalité
Fraternité

INRAE