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Blockchain-based supply chains: Progress and obstacles towards a better integration of consumers in agri-food systems
No full textInternational audienceConsumer distrust in the Food Supply Chain (FSC) has resulted in manufacturers and retailers striving to enhance their supply chains to be inclusive, resilient, sustainable, and transparent/traceable (Friedman & Ormiston, 2022). Blockchain, “a digital, decentralized and distributed ledger in which transactions are logged and added in chronological order with the goal of creating permanent and tamperproof records” (Treiblmaier, 2018, p. 547) is considered to be a promising solution to transform the FSC by offering a decentralized end-to-end traceability system. However, academic research is limited on the benefits and barriers consumers perceive when participating in Blockchain-Based Supply Chains (BBSC). This study addresses the gaps in the literature by conducting a qualitative exploration of consumers' reactions to current BBSCs.Data was collected using focus groups of French consumers of varying ages and gender. The first focus group was conducted in 2020 (n=6) and the second in 2023 (two groups of n=10). Stimulus materials included products with live blockchain systems implemented in France. The focus group encompassed discussions on food shopping, product packaging handling, QR code scanning, perception of information search, blockchain content, and its perceived usefulness. Thematic analysis was applied to transcribed interviews.Consumer distrust in the agri-food industry and supermarkets, coupled with skepticism towards certifications and labels, emerged as common themes. Participants perceived supermarket shopping as time-consuming, and felt overwhelmed by abundant and often irrelevant product information. Interestingly, majority of the participants exhibited limited knowledge of blockchain, BBSCs, and were unfamiliar with QR code scanning. Main findings from Group 1 indicated a preference for easy access and clear presentation of information, valuing concrete details on production processes, product origins, and routes. However, personal data on producers was not necessarily valued. Participants identified imprecise or missing information, including the lack of carbon footprint calculation and transparency on the distribution of value among actors, prompting a critical perspective. Concerns about information abundance being time-consuming were raised, but participants showed curiosity when faced with technical data. Governance of BBSCs, the ease and time-consuming nature of QR code scanning, and its perceived necessity only during the first purchase were also highlighted.Findings from subsequent focus groups reinforced negative perceptions with the promotion of company or brand, inconsistencies between packaging and blockchain-derived information, missing or inaccurate data leading to mistrust, and questions about the authenticity of information. Consumers were also keen on information related to environmental and social sustainability.Results of these focus groups point to the necessity of effective communication about BBSCs, a commitment to transparency to avoid consumer defiance, and efforts to simplify consumer access to complex information. The study suggests that conventional measures like click-through rates may be inadequate for assessing BBSC performance from the consumer's perspective. Participants' desire for unprecedented transparency indicates a readiness for FSC transformation but raises challenges regarding the current operational methods and digitization levels of FSCs.Limitations of the exploratory study are acknowledged, and future research is proposed to generalize findings beyond France, understand the impact of BBSCs on FSC dynamics, and explore how blockchain can promote consumer integration in FSCs
The role of animal hosts in shaping gut microbiome variation
No full textInternational audienceMillions of years of co-evolution between animals and their associated microbial communities have shaped and diversified the nature of their relationship. Studies continue to reveal new layers of complexity in host–microbe interactions, the fate of which depends on a variety of different factors, ranging from neutral processes and environmental factors to local dynamics. Research is increasingly integrating ecosystem-based approaches, metagenomics and mathematical modelling to disentangle the individual contribution of ecological factors to microbiome evolution. Within this framework, host factors are known to be among the dominant drivers of microbiome composition in different animal species. However, the extent to which they shape microbiome assembly and evolution remains unclear. In this review, we summarize our understanding of how host factors drive microbial communities and how these dynamics are conserved and vary across taxa. We conclude by outlining key avenues for research and highlight the need for implementation of and key modifications to existing theory to fully capture the dynamics of host-associated microbiomes
Towards reusable building blocks for agent-based modelling and theory development
No full textInternational audienceHighlights: • Reusable Building Blocks (RBBs) are effective in software development but are underrepresented in agent-based modelling. • RBBs describe individual mechanisms or processes, distinguishing them from modules that represent entire subsystems. • We present a first website that demonstrates how a RBB template and repository can be organized. • Examples of RBBs are provided to illustrate the concept, fostering discussion and encouraging further refinement.Abstract: Despite the increasing use of standards for documenting and testing agent-based models (ABMs) and sharing of open access code, most ABMs are still developed from scratch. This is not only inefficient, but also leads to ad hoc and often inconsistent implementations of the same theories in computational code and delays progress in the exploration of the functioning of complex social-ecological systems (SES). We argue that reusable building blocks (RBBs) known from professional software development can mitigate these issues. An RBB is a submodel that represents a particular mechanism or process that is relevant across many ABMs in an application domain, such as plant competition in vegetation models, or reinforcement learning in a behavioural model. RBBs need to be distinguished from modules, which represent entire subsystems and include more than one mechanism and process. While linking modules faces the same challenges as integrating different models in general, RBBs are “atomic” enough to be more easily re-used in different contexts. We describe and provide examples from different domains for how and why building blocks are used in software development, and the benefits of doing so for the ABM community and to individual modellers. We propose a template to guide the development and publication of RBBs and provide example RBBs that use this template. Most importantly, we propose and initiate a strategy for community-based development, sharing and use of RBBs. Individual modellers can have a much greater impact in their field with an RBB than with a single paper, while the community will benefit from increased coherence, facilitating the development of theory for both the behaviour of agents and the systems they form. We invite peers to upload and share their RBBs via our website - preferably referenced by a DOI (digital object identifier obtained e.g. via Zenodo). After a critical mass of candidate RBBs has accumulated, feedback and discussion can take place and both the template and the scope of the envisioned platform can be improved
Stabilization of infant formulas against lipid oxidation: What are the key structural levers?
No full textInternational audienceAbstract Infant follow‐on formulas (IFF) mimic human milk. This study aimed to identify the key structural levers that influence oxidative stability of IFF. Representative model IFF of marketed products in term of lipid composition were formulated with varying droplet size, lipid droplet core composition, and interfacial composition using different emulsifiers (soy lecithin or dairy phospholipids [DPL]). The oxidative stability of model IFF was assessed in accelerated storage conditions. No significant stabilization effect based on the lipid droplet core composition was observed. However, the nature of the interface, influenced by the emulsifier type, had an impact. Model IFF with DPL showed no loss of tocopherols and peroxide value was up to twice lower than those with soy lecithin after 20 days. This effect was particularly pronounced for the 0.4µm droplets. These results suggest that model IFF with DPL had a greater oxidative stability, likely due to the presence of sphingomyelin and the formation of a rigidified domain at the droplet surface. Model IFF with 0.4 µm droplets stabilized with soy lecithin, especially when added to the water phase, showed a tocopherols loss twice as high as that of IFF with DPL. These results indicate that oxidative stability of IFF is more influenced by the chemical environment rather than droplet size. Practical Application : Infant follow‐on formulas (IFF) aim to ensure an adequate nutritional intake to support the proper development and infant growth. Therefore, IFF must be stable against degradation phenomena such as lipid oxidation and have a composition and structure that are as biomimetic as possible to mature breast milk. This study provides key information for the development of IFF with a lipid composition and structure that are suitable for the infant nutritional needs and have an acceptable resistance to lipid oxidation. More generally, these results can be applied to all dispersed systems in the form of oil‐in‐water emulsions with a similar composition
Transcriptomic analysis of developing sorghum grains to detect genes related to cell wall biosynthesis and remodelling
No full textInternational audienceObjectiveSorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is the fifth most important grain produced in the world. Interest for cultivating sorghum is increasing all over the world in the context of climate change, due to its low input and water requirements. Like other cultivated cereals, sorghum has significant nutritional value thanks to its protein, carbohydrate and dietary fiber content, these latter mainly consisting of cell wall polysaccharides. This work describes for the first time a transcriptomic analysis dedicated to identify the genes involved in the biosynthesis and remodelling of cell walls both in the endosperm and outer layers of sorghum grain during its development. Further analysis of these transcriptomic data will improve our understanding of cell wall assembly, which is a key component of grain quality.Data descriptionThis research delineates the steps of our analysis, starting with the cultivation conditions and the grain harvest at different stages of development, followed by the laser microdissection applied to separate the endosperm from the outer layers. It also describes the procedures implemented to generate RNA libraries and to obtain a normalized and filtered table of transcript counts, and finally determine the number of putative cell wall-related genes already listed in literature
Impact limité de la lutte antivectorielle sur la structure des populations de Glossina fuscipes fuscipes dans le foyer de la maladie du sommeil de Maro, Tchad
No full textInternational audienceTsetse flies (genus Glossina) transmit deadly trypanosomes to human populations and domestic animals in sub-Saharan Africa. Some foci of Human African Trypanosomiasis due to Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (g-HAT) persist in southern Chad, where a program of tsetse control was implemented against the local vector Glossina fuscipes fuscipes in 2018 in Maro. We analyzed the population genetics of G. f. fuscipes from the Maro focus before control (T0), one year (T1), and 18 months (T2) after the beginning of control efforts. Most flies captured displayed a local genetic profile (local survivors), but a few flies displayed outlier genotypes. Moreover, disturbance of isolation by distance signature (increase of genetic distance with geographic distance) and effective population size estimates, absence of any genetic signature of a bottleneck, and an increase of genetic diversity between T0 and T2 strongly suggest gene flows from various origins, and a limited impact of the vector control efforts on this tsetse population. Continuous control and surveillance of g-HAT transmission is thus recommended in Maro. Particular attention will need to be paid to the border with the Central African Republic, a country where the entomological and epidemiological status of g-HAT is unknown
Introduction de moutons pour la gestion agroécologiques de l'enherbement dans les plantations de bananes en Guadeloupe: Un processus de co-design avec des agriculteurs
No full textInternational audienceCONTEXT: In Guadeloupe, the use of a persistent pesticide (chlordecone) contaminated one third of the island’s agricultural soils, causing a major environmental crisis. In the aftermath, banana farmers significantly changed their management practices to decrease their pesticide use. With the support of research, farmers have tested and adopted various agroecological practices, such as planting cover crops and using vitroplants and fallow. However, the use of animals to decrease pesticide use on banana plantations has not yet been explored. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to co-design agroecological cropping systems that integrate animals as an alternative means to manage weeds.METHODS: The study was based on co-design workshops involving farmers, advisors and scientists, a survey of local practices of integrating animals within cropping systems, on-farm experiments with four farmers during which a total of 20 four-month-old male lambs were introduced within their cropping systems, and reflexive monitoring two and six months after the end of the experiments.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of sheep into cropping systems was the option deemed the most promising after three co-design workshops. Animals already were integrated into some banana-based farming systems in the study area, but this integration mainly consisted of cattle grazing on fallow land. The on-farm experiments highlighted that sheep made it possible to reduce the herbaceous cover on banana plantations by almost 60%. The growth performance of the lambs allowed by the herbaceous cover was within the range observed for this breed when reared on pastures (50–139 g/day). In this experiment, the lambs were not reared for meat, since the animals were, unsurprisingly, contaminated by chlordecone. The farmers appreciated that the practice enabled them to eliminate a labor-intensive activity (removing by hand the vines around the banana pseudo-stem) and radically reduce brush cutting. Piloted by a technical institution providing farmers technical support, initial changes in the broader socio-technical regime were observed.SIGNIFICANCE: This study highlights a co-design process of agroecological cropping systems involving agronomists, animal scientists, and farmers that led to an innovative, animal-based method of managing weeds within banana cropping systems with positive preliminary adoption outcomes as new farmers start using the practice. Inspired by similar efforts in vineyards, cereal and oil palm plantations, it is one of the first attempts to introduce sheep into banana cropping systems. The challenge is now to support this adoption at the territorial scale through possible cooperation between breeders and farmers, the training of farmers, and finding a means to ensure the safety of sheep
Which diversification trajectories make coffee farming more sustainable?
No full textInternational audienceHighlights: • Coffee is produced in diverse systems along a management intensity gradient. • Coffee systems face urgent sustainability challenges exacerbated by climate change. • Improving environmental, economic, and social sustainability is context-specific. • Agroforestry is pivotal for diversification and enhanced coffee system resilience. • Three key case studies illustrate that appropriate responses are context specific.Abstract: Annual global coffee consumption growth (1–2%) has been largely met (>50%) mainly by Brazil and Vietnam through high-input monocrop system adoption. Smallholders account for >80% of global producers and >60% of global supply despite limited farm sizes (<2 ha), yields, and input usage. Production concentration in areas with high-yielding systems has fulfilled global demand growth while keeping coffee prices low. However, climate shocks demonstrate the vulnerability of all supply models, strengthening the voice of those advocating more resilient and diversified systems. We review current agroforestry knowledge to identify key trade-offs and synergies between sustainability/performance indicators (i.e. economic, environmental, and social) and explore pathways for a more sustainable coffee future with three examples representative of global coffee production system diversity
Évaluer la durabilité des exploitations agricoles: La méthode IDEA4, un cadre conceptuel combinant dimensions et propriétés de la durabilité
No full textThis article is an updated translation of an article originally published in French in Cahiers Agricultures, ‘Évaluer la durabilité des exploitations agricoles. La méthode IDEA v4, un cadre conceptuel combinant dimensions et propriétés de la durabilité’, DOI: 10.1051/cagri/2019004International audienceThis article presents the conceptual framework for assessing farm sustainability using the IDEA4 method. IDEA4 combines a dual assessment approach based on sustainable agriculture objectives and the properties of sustainable farming systems. It is rooted in the domains of strong sustainability, strong agroecology and the multifunctionality of agriculture. It takes into account the overall issues of sustainable agriculture. This conceptual framework has been used to construct 53 indicators for analysing farm sustainability using two complementary approaches. The first assesses sustainability by organising these 53 indicators according to the 3 normative dimensions of sustainable development (agroecological, socio-territorial, economic), structured into 13 components. This assessment relies on a scoring system based on 100 sustainability units for each of the 3 dimensions, which cannot offset each other. The second approach is used to assess sustainability by organising the same 53 indicators according to the 5 properties of sustainable agricultural systems (ability to produce and reproduce goods and services, autonomy, robustness, territorial embeddedness, and overall responsibility), which are arranged in a tree structure with 15 branches. Indicators are aggregated in a qualitative and hierarchical manner using the DEXi tool. The exploratory potential of the concept of the properties of sustainable systems encourages a transdisciplinary approach for assessing farms. IDEA4’s theoretical framework is now complemented by three information technology (IT) tools, which means that the method can be used to a much greater extent to support the agroecological transition.Cet article présente le nouveau cadre conceptuel d’évaluation de la durabilité de l’exploitation agricole développé dans la méthode IDEA4. Il combine une approche évaluative basée sur les objectifs assignés à une agriculture durable et une évaluation des propriétés des systèmes agricoles durables. Il s’ancre dans le champ de la durabilité forte, de la multifonctionnalité et prend en compte les enjeux globaux d’une agriculture durable. Ce cadre conceptuel a permis de construire 53 indicateurs permettant d’analyser la durabilité de l’exploitation agricole selon ces deux approches complémentaires. La première évalue la durabilité en organisant ces 53 indicateurs selon les 3 dimensions normatives du développement durable (agroécologique, socio-territoriale, économique), structurées en 13 composantes ; l’évaluation repose sur un système de notation basé sur 100 unités de durabilité pour chacune des 3 dimensions qui ne se compensent pas entre elles. La seconde évalue la durabilité en organisant les 53 indicateurs selon les 5 propriétés des systèmes agricoles durables (autonomie, robustesse, capacité productive et reproductive de biens et services, ancrage territorial et responsabilité globale) qui sont structurées de manière arborescente en 15 branches ; l’agrégation des indicateurs y suit une démarche qualitative et hiérarchique mobilisant l’outil DEXi. Le potentiel pédagogique du concept de propriétés des systèmes favorise une approche transdisciplinaire de l’exploitation agricole. Le cadre théorique d’IDEA4 est complété par trois outils informatiques permettant d’utiliser la méthode dans une diversité d’usages (enseignement, recherche, conseil, accompagnement, action publique) pour soutenir la transition agroécologique
L'intelligence artificielle au service de l'auto-évaluation des unités de recherche
No full textThis article examines the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to aid research units in preparing their self-assessment reports for the French High Council for Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (Hcéres). Employing natural language processing tools such as Mistral, Claude, and ChatGPT, the study showcases how automated analyses of laboratory publications and activities can lead to the generation of concise and targeted summaries, which are instrumental in addressing various criteria of the evaluation framework. These AI tools also offer assistance in drafting by suggesting content and phrasing. The benefits discussed include significantly reducing the analysis time from weeks to days, enhancing the comprehensive coverage of data, and improving report consistency. However, the article also emphasizes the need for human verification and contextual adaptation, noting that AI should not solely determine the unit's portfolio highlights but, when properly integrated, can become a valuable asset for high-quality self-evaluation.Cet article explore les opportunités offertes par l’IA pour assister les unités de recherche dans la préparation de leur rapport d'auto-évaluation Hcéres. Des outils de traitement du langage naturel comme Mistral, Claude ou ChatGPT, en réalisant des analyses automatisées des publications et des activités du laboratoire, sont capables de générer des synthèses et des formulations précises et ciblées qui sont utiles pour répondre aux différents critères du référentiel. Ces outils peuvent aussi faciliter la rédaction en suggérant formulations et contenus. L'article discute des bénéfices potentiels de ces approches, tels que la réduction de la durée d'analyse de plusieurs semaines à quelques jours, l'amélioration de la couverture exhaustive des données et la cohérence des rapports. Il souligne aussi l'importance de précautions telles que la vérification humaine et l'adaptation contextuelle. L’IA ne peut pas choisir seule les productions à mettre en avant pour le portfolio de l’unité. Mais bien intégrée dans le processus, elle peut devenir un atout pour une auto-évaluation de qualité