Carrying agricultural land in the name of public and collective interests: a diversity of institutional arrangements[Le portage foncier de terres agricoles au nom d’intérêts publics et collectifs : une diversité d’arrangements institutionnels]

Land ownership by public and associative actors is developing as a support and lever for agricultural and environmental action. This article analyzes the diversity of the resulting agreements between these new lessors and their farmers through an analysis of institutional arrangements and bundles of rights. The study of 29 cases in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region shows that they emerge in territories that are rather densely populated and agriculturally diversified. The projects respond to the objectives of the lessors, which are sectoral – focusing on a single issue, such as water quality – or integrative – multi-stakeholder, such as food, landscape and economic. The lessors create demanding arrangements - in which the owner imposes terms of use – to partnership arrangements – in which the owner consults with the user to decide the terms of use. Prior to the agreement, the clarification of these objectives and their confrontation with the values of the user and his vision of the farming profession reduce the probability of renegotiation and even the risk of conflict.