© Photo : Market gardening, Delphine Burger-Lennhardt

This resource, in terms of accessibility, availability and needs, plays a crucial role in productivity levels and the spatial distribution of crops. Its use is also subject to trade-offs between uses, in the event of shortages, with priority given to drinking water.

The aim of this thesis is to integrate water-related constraints into a foodshed model. After developing a conceptual model, a digital version of the model will be tested on a field in Occitanie, then used as a basis for various sensitivity analyses to test the impact of different scenarios (climatic, hydraulic infrastructure or agronomic such as type and location of crops) on water resources and the characteristics of the foodshed.

The work will be carried out by two research units (UMR G-eau, Montpellier and UR ECODEV, INRAE Avignon) as part of a project (TAI-OC, TETRAE, 2022-2027).  This doctoral research will benefit from a 100% INRAE doctoral grant, with operating costs funded by the TAI-OC project (INRAE and the Occitanie Region).

Key words: foodshed, water, modelling