action 4Co-design and evaluation of best-farm practices for soil C sequestration
What are the options and how do they compare, for strategies that both address farmers' objectives and constraints when dealing with their soil fertility, and carbon sequestration sustainably within a long-term outlook?
4.1: Processes of multi-stakeholder socio-ecosystemic modelling
Main Objectif : To create with stakeholders a shared reality and understanding of their own systems where soil fertility is managed and C sequestration can be considered.
Specific Objectives : To identify or to establish a multi-stakeholder learning platform on each study sites.
To develop conceptual models based on UML formalism (Unified Modeling Language), representing the social-ecological dynamics that drives agricultural practices for soil management and C sequestration
Materials and Methods : The method ARDI (Actors/stakeholders, Resources, Dynamics, Interactions) comes from the companion modelling (ComMod) approach. It will be used to co-construct mental models with stakeholders, based on the elicitation of their points of view and confrontation and evaluation of evolution scenarios (Etienne 2014). Literature review and a series of interviews with key informants will precede the organization of workshops gathering stakeholders in the adequate way for learning by sharing knowledge and points of view.
Main Objectif : To situate best-farm practices in the functioning of the socio-ecosystem at stake and to visualize processes important aspects to be considered in the assessment of options and helping identify alternatives.
Specific Objectives :
To identify SCS options that stakeholders wish to assess and compare (from T4.1)
To develop a set of indicators reflecting stakeholders' motivation and constraints in their farming decisions
To adjust a simple and revisable calculation tool, projections over several years to decades (accounting for T4.3 scenarios)
To evaluate how changes and uncertain events (climatic anomalies, market,…) may change the element of comparison.
Materials and Methods : A set of indicators will be developed, accounting for what existing assessment tools such as Farmsafe-Yieldsafe already propose and for the information that stakeholders really need in their decisions affecting soil fertility now and within a long term outlook. An initial literature review and consultation of project's partners will delimit relevant criteria to include in the assessment and check what data is available to account for these criteria. Specific research will be undertaken in case of data missing, or requiring an update or a validation. Expert knowledge will complete when data is lacking A series of workshops possibly joint with those of tasks 4.1 and 4.3 will allow adjustment of assessment to essential characteristics of best-farm practices, when considering their adoption and their sustainability: environmental, economic, social and cultural.
CONTACTS:Abigail Fallot - abigail.fallot[@]cirad.fr - GREEN Etienne Delay - etienne.delay[@]cirad.fr - GREEN
4.3: Implementation exploration and characterization of scenarios and/or trajectories
Main Objectif : To develop tools helping stakeholders to understand and interpret implications of modelling formalism used to represent their own reality
Specific Objectives : To formalize through an agent based model (ABM), stakeholders representations built in the task 4.1 in order to integrate time (and dynamics) in those conceptual models
To evaluate uncertainty by exploring the models with sensitivity analysis
Materials and Methods : This task will be performed during the COMMOD approach using OpenMole platform (https://openmole.org/ ; (Reuillon et al. 2013)). Co building scenarii and co analyzing the results will allow to improve the model representation and to understand better the consequences of today's decisions for the stakeholders. Reflexively, it will also help them to interpret the implications of modelling formalism used to represent their own reality. This task will be performed simultaneously with the task 4.1 with the aim of validating the computer formalism as identifying the relevant indicators for stakeholders in a validation process.
CONTACTS:Abigail Fallot - abigail.fallot[@]cirad.fr - GREEN Etienne Delay - etienne.delay[@]cirad.fr - GREEN
