A Preliminary Assessment of the Local Diversity of Family Farms Change Trajectories Since 1950 in a Pyrenees Mountains Area

Abstract

In agriculture and environmental sustainability research, assessment of local diversity of individual farm dynamics and farmers' behaviors appears of special interest for enlightening changes in ecological, social, and economical functions related to farming in rural communities and landscapes. It also includes challenges due to current methodology limitations. In this study, we developed a method for assessing the variety in individual change trajectories since 1950 of farms in a case study area in the Pyrenees (France). Changes in individual farms and households over the period were described at a five-year step using a set of indicators selected in reference to a social-ecological model of family farm dynamics. They were respectively categorized using a spatial-temporal multivariate analysis method. Results gained on a 24-farm sample showed four contrasted farm-development trajectories that could be related to lifecycle patterns of individual households. This opens new prospects for integrated assessment of individual farms' dynamics within a local agricultural system.