Proximities and Logics of Sustainable Development of the Territorial Resource: The Case of the Localised Agro-Food System of Kalâat M’gouna in Morocco

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture is fundamental to strengthening the resilience of rural communities to climate risks. This article aims to integrate traditional and scientific knowledge by identifying the types of proximity and the modes of valorisation of the territorial resource “rose” activated by the territorial actors of a localised agri-food system (LAFS), specialised in the production and processing of fresh rose in Kalâat M’gouna (K-M), Province of Tinghir in Morocco. The objective is to show to what extent the logics of proximity activated allow for the inclusion/understanding of the mechanisms of resource valorisation implemented by the actors. In other words, we seek to see whether the activation of several types of interaction between actors can promote the emergence of new modes of valuing the rose resource. This will be done by analysing the level of valorisation of the “rose” resource by the actors of this system while proposing tracks of improvement to take part in the sustainable development of this traditional system through its orientation towards the cognitive and innovative aspects. Our methodology is based mainly on a case study of a localised agri-food system (LAFS) using a set of semi-directive interviews conducted with 47 different actors of the system. Thus, we relied on SPSS software to study the possible correlations between the types of proximities existing and the modes of resource valuation activated. In terms of results, we were able to verify the domination of traditional proximities (geographical, organisational, relational, etc.) at the level of interactions between actors. On the other hand, there is a kind of insufficiency of the relations which are based on the knowledge and the (cognitive) knowledge.