Environmental Approach in Understanding and Supporting Farmers in Difficulty
This analysis is based on a research about partnership and local experiment helping farmers in difficulty towards a professional retraining in the West of France. Based on a qualitative survey by observations and interviews with a variety of stakeholders (farmers, elected officials, executives, social workers), this research aims to analyze the social situations of these farmers with the ecosystemic model, and to question the representations and practices of the different stakeholders involved in their support. The results show that the vulnerable situations of farmers are located at the intersection of the influences of a set of socio-cultural and spatial environments and individual trajectories punctuated by biographical events that are more or less weakening depending on the context. Faced with these situations and even if the stakeholders are aware of the influence of the environments, the institutional organisations and the social norms remain focused on the individual responsibilities.