Episode #5 Farmyard France and the Struggle for Water

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Crossroads France

AFP Audio

6 episodes

1 day ago

As France heads into the 2022 presidential election, the fabric of a country that has at times been the envy of Europe is looking tattered. The sands of society are shifting on an almost daily basis, the ‘traditional’ French way of life appears to be on the way out. Things that used to define France appear to have gone: the welfare state is losing steam, industry and agriculture are both suffering.The far-right claims that the country isn’t French enough and has become too multicultural - and that even debating the place of Islam has become a dangerous no-go zone. France, it seems, is going through “a crise d’identité”.Crossroads France, created by Antoine Boyer, Sarah-Lou Lepers and Camille Kauffmann and hosted by Barney Spender, explores five different regions of France and five areas of French life to find out more about the country in the 21st century. Episode 1 looks at the forgotten people of the “Empty Diagonal” where public services are dwindling while Episode 2 heads down south where heavy industry is declining but new industries are taking root. Episode 3 takes us to Paris to hear more about the far-right’s notion of ‘assimilation’ and the effect of the death in police hands of Adama Traore, the face behind France’s equivalent of the Black Lives Matter movement. In Episode 4 we learn more about a row over Islam that went out of control at a university in Grenoble. The question of Islamophobia has become so awkward in France that it is barely possible to debate it without tempers becoming frayed. And in Episode 5 we go west to see how climate change is affecting attitudes to farming and the countryside. Translator & narrator: Barney SpenderCreators and editors : Camille Kauffmann, Sarah-Lou Lepers, Antoine BoyerOriginal music: Clémence Reliat et Nicolas Vair. Engineer : Christophe Robert.Illustrator : Julie Pereira. Marketing and communication : Laurent Nicolas, Coline Sallois. Editors-in-chief : Guy Jackson and Michaëla Cancela-Kieffer. An AFP Audio podcast.

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Episode #5 Farmyard France and the Struggle for Water

Crossroads France

21 minutes 13 seconds

3 years ago

Episode #5 Farmyard France and the Struggle for Water

Episode 5/5 : Farmyard France and the Struggle for Water

Episode 5 heads west to the Marais Poitevin, the second largest wetland in France nicknamed “Green Venice”, 200 kilometres north of Bordeaux, where farmers and environmentalists are at loggerheads over a plan to build 16 large water reserves.

France has always been proud of its countryside. It has the largest rural population and agricultural industry within the European Union. But faced with the onset of global warming, farmers are facing a new battle for water.

With temperatures rising, farmers are stuck with the age-old problem of feeding their crops in summer. But the solution appears to be coming at the expense of France’s wonderful natural landscapes and biodiversity: it is an existential crisis for the agriculture sector that is not singular to the French.

The farmers in the Marais Poitevin largely view the project positively as the reserves will provide water during the dry months of summer but environmentalists, and even certain other smallhold farmers, believe it will weaken the marsh and reduce the availability of water.

The demonstrations are currently local but with plans to export the reserve idea to other parts of the country, these are likely to be just the first salvos in a nationwide battle.

We travel to the Marais Poitevin to hear from farmers from both sides of the hedge as well as environmentalists and ecology researchers who also look ahead to a France that will need greater self-sufficiency following the Ukraine War.

Narrator & translator: Barney Spender

Creator in French & English editor: Camille Kauffmann

Original music: Clémence Reliat, Nicolas Vair

Engineer : Christophe Robert

Illustrator : Julie Pereira

Marketing and communication : Laurent Nicolas, Coline Sallois

Editor: Guy Jackson

Editor-in-chief : Michaëla Cancela-Kieffer

An AFP Audio podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Crossroads France

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.