Abstract
This paper is the result of a research project in risk geography which focuses on the vulnerability of Mediterranean agriculture to climate change and the decrease in water resources in Roussillon (France). Two complementary approaches are undertaken: the first characterizes the adaptation strategies of farmers to the decrease in water resources by means of semi-directive interviews processed by a textual analysis software. The second spatializes the farmers' adaptation practices on localized sketches. The interest of this approach is twofold: on the one hand, it makes it possible to identify the mechanisms of construction of the farmers' adaptation and, on the other hand, to insert them into the space in which they are articulated. However, not all farmers adapt in the same way. Some strategies even tend to increase the vulnerability of farmers to the decrease in water resources. Repositioning these strategies in the dynamics of the farm operation in a territory provides information on the evolution of the vulnerability of territory. This scientific note focuses on the second part of the approach. By means of sketches, the farmers' strategies are spatialized on a map. This makes it possible to document the way in which the strategies fit into the territories, as well as to distinguish the actions to achieve them. In the context of climate change and forecasts on the evolution of irrigation water resources, the use of so-called "smart" technologies can decrease the vulnerability of the farmer but can also increase it. This paradox depends on the role attributed to technologies in the strategies that act on the farmers' dependence on the water resource. Seen through the prism of risk geography, technologies have an ambivalent role in reducing the vulnerability of agriculture. The conclusions qualify the role of high-tech practices in climate change adaptation.