27 January 2026Climate change is affecting agriculture first and foremost, with particularly strong impacts in certain highly exposed territories. Just a few dozen kilometres from Montpellier, the Haut-Languedoc — a predominantly rural area covering nearly 1,900 km², stretching from the Orb valley in the north to Capestang in the south, and from the Lauragais plain in the west to the Béziers area in the east — provides a striking illustration of these dynamics.
Over the past twenty years, the number of farms in the region has fallen by nearly 60%. This sharp decline raises serious concerns about the territory’s capacity for resilience. While climate change is not the sole cause, it is likely to become a major driving factor in the coming years if no action is taken. This leads to a central question: how can the resilience of local agricultural systems be strengthened?
To address this issue, Abderaouf Zaatra (CIHEAM), Mélanie Requier (CIHEAM) and Hélène Rey-Valette (CEE-M) were guests on the radio programme À l’UM la Science, broadcast on Divergence FM on 22 January 2026 and now available as a podcast. During the discussion, they presented findings from a study conducted with Thierry Blayac and Hatem Belhouchette (CIHEAM), combining two complementary approaches: an objective assessment of farm vulnerability and an analysis of farmers’ own perceptions of the vulnerability factors they face.