PROVENCE
ALPES CÔTE D’AZUR Diagnosis of the
food resilience
of the southern region

CONTEXT

ADEME has commissioned UTOPIES to experiment with a method for diagnosing the food system in the PACA region in order to expand its support for local initiatives to promote the transition to agriculture and food. The method proposed by UTOPIES and tested on this occasion is intended to be adopted by local players in each French region, in order to provide better guidance for policies supporting local initiatives in agriculture, the agri-food sector and food. These regional diagnoses could also serve as a valuable resource for regional initiatives (PAT or others) undertaken within each region.

MISSION

• Study of the PACA region’s food metabolism: local production, local consumption, food autonomy by product category, food import and export flows, etc.
• Measurement of the environmental impacts and vulnerabilities of the regional food system: environmental impact of regional agricultural production, environmental footprint of regional food consumption (including imports), land availability and production capacity, exposure to climate risk, socio-demographic vulnerabilities linked to the attractiveness of the sector, etc.
• Development of prospective scenarios: simulation of changes in the major indicators of the local food system in a ‘Continuation of current trends’ scenario and a ‘Transition of the agri-food system’ scenario.
• Determination of the potential for change in the PACA region: opportunities for diversification or conversion of sectors, possible levers for action, determination of 6 major challenges for the development of the regional food system.

RESULTS

The assessment of the resilience of the food system produced at the end of the mission brought together and compared a number of issues that are usually dealt with separately: agricultural and agri-food production, food self-sufficiency, the region’s productive capacity, land availability, the environmental impact of agricultural production, the carbon footprint and material footprint of the region’s consumption (including the footprint of imported foodstuffs), dependence on imported inputs, exposure to climate change, social aspects and the economic performance of farms, and so on.

While, at national level, the aim was to experiment with new methodological approaches to understanding the concept of resilience, at local level this mission has helped to maintain and enrich a local dynamic of mobilisation of public, academic, consular and private players in the food system around the concept of food resilience.