Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 24th Aug 2026, 01:50:16am WEST
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Daily Overview |
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Climate Change Adaptation: Water Scarcity and Management Location: B003 Session Chair: Emilien Veron, INRAE | |
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When the Land Dries Up, Big Farms Grow and Small Ones Exit 1: INRAE, AgroParisTech, Paris Saclay Applied Economics, University of Paris-Saclay, France; 2: RITM, University of Paris-Saclay, France This paper examines the impact of recurrent droughts on farm size and land concentra- tion in France over the period 1970–2022. While droughts in developing countries are often associated with cropland expansion, we show that in France, they instead accelerate land concentration. Using panel data covering French 716 small agricultural regions and more than 344,000 farms, we analyze changes in farmers’ land size following drought episodes. Drought exposure is measured using the Soil Wetness Index, capturing both absolute soil moisture deficits and relative deviations from region-specific historical normals. Our results indicate that severe droughts significantly increase farm size, particularly when they occur during summer and autumn. These effects operate through two main channels: droughts depress agricultural land prices and force smaller farms to exit the sector. Larger farms, by contrast, are better able to expand along the extensive margin, facilitated by the with- drawal of smaller producers. Moreover, we find that climate risk insurance and CAP Pillar I subsidies amplify these concentration dynamics by supporting farm expansion rather than mitigating inequality. Overall, our findings highlight the structural consequences of climate shocks in developed agricultural systems and underscore the need for policy interventions that promote both equity and climate resilience in agriculture. | |