Donald Lecomte – Head of the National Food Programme for the Occitanie Regional Directorate for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (DRAAF) (testimonial from the dossier “Food and territories: INRAE scientists in support of territorial food projects” – 2023)
Three questions for Donald Lecomte
What are the benefits of a TFP for regions in general and for Occitanie in particular?
“A territorial food project enables the area that supports it to implement a wide range of actions centred on the challenge of sustainable, high-quality food. As such, TFPs generally embrace broader social, cultural, economic and environmental objectives. Bringing about change in agricultural and food models is a long-term process that necessarily involves a network of players and a range of complementary skills. In the Occitanie region, more than 60 TFPs are trying to create an environment conducive to anchoring food in the region.”
What is the role of the DRAAF for the TFPs in Occitanie?
“In Occitanie, an agricultural region that is particularly vulnerable and sensitive to climate change, and with highly diversified production, the territories took up food issues long before the arrival of territorial food projects. The DRAAF, which was already very active on these issues, was a driving force behind the launch of the TFPs in 2014. We are involved at various stages in these projects, from assisting with their design, through to their evaluation, and including the appraisal of applications for funding. Our role is to act as facilitators, providing information to the TFP project managers and helping them to find additional funding. We support “structuring” projects that promise to bring about lasting changes to food systems. With the government’s 2021 France Recovery Plan, we have been able to give a real boost to the TFPs thanks to an exceptional funding capacity of €12.5 million for measure 13, i.e. almost 25 times our usual annual budget.”
What contribution do scientists make to these TFPs?
“Research has a strong link with the regions, particularly in the context of the TFPs. They provide technical expertise and support for project management and evaluation. The involvement of scientists is also a criterion for achieving a certain level of accreditation. In reality, these TAPs are laboratories for the design and application of innovative food policies, and research provides support for this innovation, whether organisational or technological. In Occitanie, the DRAAF has links with a number of scientists, including researchers from INRAE, and is co-funding several research projects or Cifre theses on TFPs. For example, we are co-funding an INRAE project to develop a diagnostic and monitoring tool, OUTIPAT’OC, to help regions implement, manage and evaluate TFPs in Occitanie.”
Testimonial from our thematic dossier
Thematic dossier
Food and regions: INRAE scientists supporting regional food projects
Over the last 60 years, the places where food is produced, processed and consumed have gradually moved further apart: from farm to fork, the distances have increased. Faced with this phenomenon, local authorities have gradually demanded that they ‘reclaim’ their agri-food systems. INRAE scientists have been working closely with local players on these issues, in particular the ACT department, which has been conducting research into territorial dynamics for almost 40 years. In 2014, the deployment of ‘territorial food projects’, a new tool in local food policy, called on a wide range of scientific knowledge and methods, now involving several INRAE departments. This dossier is an initial look at the involvement of INRAE scientists in the implementation of local food projects.
