Adapting a participatory modelling method to forecast food system scenarios: a case study on the pork value-chain

Abstract

For a value-chain to be sustainable, the main challenge is sometimes its durability. When stakeholders are lost in the shifting maze of economic, social and environmental issues, participatory foresight methods help them consider the options and choose a strategy to follow. The aim is to create several scenarios of evolution of the value-chain and select desirable scenarios. Because of the global context in 2020 and 2021, implementing methodological and organizational adaptations in the classic "scenario method" from Michel Godet was necessary. These adaptations are exemplified by the case study of the prospective for the French pork value-chain in the next 5 years. Indeed, this value-chain touches particularly on certain contemporary concerns, with much discussion about its environmental footprint, its human resource challenge and its social acceptability, as is the case for most food value-chains in developed countries.