Connecting food to place
Chairmen:
F. Casabianca (LRDE, INRA, France)
C. Tafani, (LISA, UCPP UMR CNRS 6240, France)
Objectives: Regional branding initiatives for local food are more and more spread as a mean for reconnecting agri-food products to places and, by this way, for creating value in rural areas. Regional branding encompasses several types of initiatives, ranging from very formal ones – such as geographical indications (GI) protected under EU quality policy schemes (PDOs and PGIs) – supposed to be based on strong links, to umbrella strategies where links between products and place can be very weak. Regional branding initiatives differ in many respects, in particular as regards with degree of formalization, governance and institutional arrangements, role of farmers and other value chain actors, existence and type of specifications and of control systems, geographical scale of the initiative, and strength of the connection with local resources. Many of these depend on who initiates and leads the process (local organized actors, NGO, local authorities, regional Park…) and for what objective, from top-down to bottom-up approaches.
Most often regional branding initiatives are expected to support the development of local agrifood systems and to exert positive impacts on rural development, both directly (income, employment) and indirectly (activation of local resources to be managed, activation of other local economic activities like tourism). However, we need to evaluate and compare the many types of impacts, which depend inter alia on the type and design of the regional brand, the level of use by firms, the level of requirements and the guarantee system. The collective initiatives aiming at linking producers and consumers could offer relevant analysis to understand territorial anchoring of the local firms. This track aims at sharing empirical evidences, thoughts and methodologies on the economic, social, agronomical and environmental effects of regional branding, mobilizing diverse disciplines together in an interdisciplinary approach. A special focus should be made on the resilience of local agri-food production systems, multifunctional agriculture, and rural areas, seen as a pathway to sustainable development.
Key-words: Local agri-food systems, regional branding, territorial development, governance, rural tourism
Scientific Responsibles:
F. Casabianca / C. Tafani
Scientific Committee:
T. Albertini, UCPP, UMR CNRS 6240,France
D. Bereni, UCPP, UMR CNRS 6240,France
J.P. Dubeuf, LRDE, INRA, France
G. Luisi, UCPP, UMR CNRS 6240, France
M-A. Maupertuis, UCPP, UMR CNRS 6240, France
J.M. Sorba, LRDE INRA,France