Coopérative agricole : un intermédiaire possible de projets de développement territorial ? L’exemple d’une action collective en agroécologie

The study focuses on an agro-ecological transition based on the development of pulses and managed by an agricultural cooperative. These crops represent a resource with a range of agronomic, environmental and food benefits for the region. The case study examines how such an economic organisation can act as an intermediary between local actors to activate this specific resource in a regional project. Semi-directive interviews were conducted with key players in the project: elected representatives from local authorities, farmers and technicians from the cooperative. A lexicometric analysis of the discourses, using the Alceste method, was used to identify converging and diverging points of view. The results reveal that the actors have different expectations and conceptions of the agro-ecological transition but also show the several intermediary roles played by the cooperative's technicians: connecting actors (matchmaker), managing the network (orchestrator), creating trust (mediator), transferring information and technology (facilitator) and supporting innovation (innovator). The roles of innovator and orchestrator, which are essential for changing ways of thinking and acting, are most evident in the relationships between organic farmers and technicians. However, these roles are much less evident in the relationships between conventional farmers and technicians. There is also evidence of a lack of coordination between cooperatives and local authorities. This situation, which reflects the current inability of the cooperative to rally certain local actors around its project, is likely to penalise the success of the collective action it has initiated. Finally, this research enables a better identification of the conditions that must be met for an economic organisation, such as an agricultural cooperative, to support a process of collective innovation at the service of territorial development.