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Coaching the process of designing a farm: Using the healthy human as a metaphor for farm health
Abstract
This paper is on coaching farmers in (re)designing a farm. It describes how farmers can become inspired to design a sustainable farm by the way medical doctors look at the human being and his health. Sustainability in farm management is usually strived for in such a way that damage to People, Planet or Profit is prevented. However, preventing such damage does not automatically mean that humans, animals, rural societies, landscape, and nature can develop and manifest themselves to the full extent. Only in examples where the emphasis is on positive characteristics of and actions in farming, and where the approach is based on coherence between the three layers described (agricultural production, agri-culture, and the meaning of life and existence), we observe that all stakeholders can fully express themselves. This approach is comparable with the positive way in which the World Health Organization describes human health, distinguishing three different layers of health: physical health, socio-cultural health, and mental health. Applying the metaphor of the healthy human enables us to ask relevant questions as to how to achieve farm health. The power of the metaphor of the living human lies in the possibility to introduce the concepts of life, the conscious direction, transformation and health in the process of (re)designing the farm organism. The living farm emerges under the direction of the farmer as a new entity in which the possibilities of the site, the societal and agro-ecological context and the people involved are all mutually fine-tuned. Only if all three interconnected layers of health (i.e., the physical, socio-cultural, and mental health) are equally addressed, true farm health, and, in our definition of farm health, also sustainability can be achieved. This paper does not address the issue of creating an absolutely healthy and sustainable farm but is about farm transformation and the art of development, step-by-step reshaping specific farm elements, thus allowing the entire farm to become healthier.
... This awareness of the relationship between human health, animal health and the health of the planet has contributed to the development of integrated approaches such as One Health and EcoHealth (Lerner and Berg, 2017). As health is a good entry point to establish a dialogue between science and farmers, we follow Bloksma and Struik (2007) who propose to consider health a conceptual tool for the analysis of farming systems and for their redesign. However, to our knowledge, a pragmatic approach has not been formalized and applied yet. ...
... Farmers interact daily with the notion of health, particularly their own (their well-being, their physical condition) but also the "economic health" of their farm and the health of their herd (a herd must be healthy to produce). This notion must therefore speak to them and enable them to study the system by looking at the health of the farmer, the herd, the soil and the plants (Bloksma and Struik, 2007). ...
... The case of Mr. Henry demonstrates that farmers can have a very different conception of health: for him, the health of the different components of the farm are closely intertwined with each other through a relationship of care and respect. Moreover, in line with the holistic health approach proposed by Bloksma and Struik (2007), the interconnections between physical, socio-cultural and mental health are essential for Mr. Henri to take action on his farming systems. Within the proposed approach, an appropriate researcher's stance and attitude are essential since he conducts the interview from the farmer's point of view without judgment. ...
Today, agriculture and livestock farming are facing environmental, social and health challenges. The agroecological transition is a possible response to these challenges. It requires changes in practices but also an evolution in farmers' ways of thinking and relationships with living things. Some diagnostics of farms, such as the global analysis of farms, behaviors and practices. We therefore propose a holistic approach combining a global analysis of farms and a pragmatic approach to understand the functioning of agricultural production systems. This pragmatic turn enables to integrate the ways in which the farmer's reality is established, the performance of the system, the associated metrics and the farmer's relationship with life. Using the example of a farm in transition, we show that it is the combination researcher's stance and allows for a renewed dialogue between research and farmers in the field.
... However, after an initial period of success, with lots of family and volunteer support, many of these farmers have found that the future of their enterprise is largely determined by the effort that they are willing and able to put in to maintain it. While many have put in this effort, often at a considerable personal cost (Bloksma and Struik 2007;Groh and McFadden 1997), many others have given up and have either left farming, or have returned to conventional agriculture (Flaten et al. 2010;Koesling et al. 2012;Madelrieux and Alavoine-Mornas 2012). This is certainly the case in China, where very few Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) enterprises and alternative food networks (AFNs) have yet developed business models that work for them in the medium to long term (Shi et al. 2011;Chen 2013;Si, Schumilas, and Scott 2015;Liu et al. 2016;Ding, Liu, and Ravenscroft 2018). ...
... In this paper we want to address this gap in knowledge, focusing in particular on the potential utility of a little-known approach to organisational development that was originally designed for such situations and which has previously been applied to small ecological farms in the West. Many CSAs and AFNs have been influenced by the work of Glasl and Lievegoed (Lievegoed 1980;Glasl and Lievegoed 1994; see also Bloksma and Struik 2007;Vesala, Peura, and McElwee 2007;McGuire, Morton, and Cast 2013;Sulemana and James 2014;Poels, Tucker, and Kielema 2017), which uses the metaphor of human development to argue that successful organisations tend to be those that undergo a structured and rhythmic series of changes as they grow. While developed in post-second world war Europe and not part of mainstream business thinking, Glasl and Lievegoed's work has influenced generations of business researchers interested in the ways in which small organisations learn, adapt and grow into larger organisations (Howard 2002;Poels, Tucker, and Kielema 2017). ...
... Literature review: the need for new models of organisational development Friedrich Glasl and Bernardus Lievegoed's work on the development of organisations (Lievegoed 1980;Glasl and Lievegoed 1994) is founded on their understanding of evolutionary development: that all organisms go through a series of developmental stages as they grow, and that they have to go through these stages in sequence if their growth is to be sustained and healthy (Bloksma and Struik 2007). While recognising that this does not necessarily hold true for businesses, Glasl and Lievegoed arguedand demonstrated empiricallythat most businesses that are successful over a long period of time do, indeed, go through identifiable developmental stages. ...
Small-scale ecological farming and their associated alternative food networks, are increasingly important in China, as a response to poor farm incomes and as a contribution to widespread concerns about environmental degradation and food safety. However, despite the enormous market potential and the notable success of some ventures, this type of farming remains at the margins, with many businesses struggling to develop beyond their start-up phase and consumers struggling to build confidence in the new produce and routes to market. Many of these farms display the classic elements of pioneer businesses, including high reliance on charismatic individuals, insecure land rights, high transaction and monitoring costs and fragile routes to market. Empirically, many of these businesses fail because they cannot grow out of the pioneer phase before the pioneer grows tired of the business. While this is a problem for all small businesses, it is particularly acute in business sectors like ecological farming in China, where there is little evidence of suitable and sustainable developmental models. Using Bernardus Lievegoed's work on organisational development applied to two case study farms, we suggest that there are Western developmental models that are applicable to small-scale ecological farming and that have the potential to offer insights into how this might be achieved with Chinese characteristics. We conclude by arguing that, Chinese ecological farms have to plan explicitly for a form of development that allows them to remain committed to their ideals while moving them away from dependence on charismatic people, family labour and volatile customer bases.
... Biodynamic farm management should maintain or improve the health of this organism by supporting the function of all these organs, as well as of the relationships between them and the environment. As outlined by Bloksma and Struik (2007), a healthy farm organism in the biodynamic perspective is not only a physically 'healthy', resilient and sustainable, locally-adapted agroecosystem, but includes the socio-cultural and the mental/spiritual dimension, as farming in itself is an interaction between the human and the natural environment, and is embedded in a cultural environment. ...
... But until today, there is only one published study on the 'farm organism', even though this term is frequently used as an image to illustrate the interconnectedness of elements in a farm system even beyond biodynamic agriculture. In their study, Bloksma and Struik (2007) explore the applicability of the human as a role model for the design of farming systems on a theoretical basis. The authors try to apply the concept of human health and the diagnostic approach of physical/medical sciences in the assessment of farms, and conclude that the study of the farm organism must consider physical, socio-cultural and mental aspects. ...
Research into biodynamic food and farming has a long history within the biodynamic movement. Whilst the basic aim of this research has always been to provide knowledge for furthering the development of this farming approach, recently interest has increased in sharing research activities and results with the global scientific community. After commencing with an introduction to biodynamic agriculture, this review gives an overview of peer-reviewed publications on issues in biodynamic food and farming that have been published between 2006 and 2017. The time before this period is covered by the reviews of Leiber et al. (2006) and Turinek et al. (2009).
Overall, 86 articles were included into this review. The most recognized topics were soil quality and soil health in biodynamic vs. conventional and organic farming, effects of biodynamic preparations, food quality, and viticulture. The studies provide substantial evidence for positive effects of biodynamic management on agroecosystems and food quality:
1) Biodynamic management creates system effects on soils, where compost application plays a crucial role.
2) Biodynamic preparations create effects on food chemical composition and food quality.
3) Biodynamic production can improve the value of food with regard to nutritive properties, taste and human health and well-being.
4) Biodynamic management improves grape quality and plant traits compared to non-biodynamic management.
Until now, the effects of biodynamic management have usually been studied with classical analytical methods in natural and life sciences through disciplinary and reductionist study designs. An application of study designs or specific methods that are conducive for a more holistic analysis are rarely implemented. Thus, we identify the development of appropriate methods and study designs for a holistic examination as a major challenge of future research in biodynamic food and farming.
... L'un de ces niveaux est celui du domaine agricole qui peut être appréhendé comme un organisme vivant constitué de ses organes vitaux pour la respiration, la digestion, la circulation etc. ; un organisme également doté de facultés de sociabilité, d'autonomie et de responsabilité. Suivant cette lecture métaphorique, l'organisme agricole devient une réalité dont la santé peut être évaluée sur un mode à la fois dynamique et plastique (Bloksma et Struik, 2007). Dans cette évaluation, la référence à la santé humaine permet de prendre en compte les trois niveaux de santé décrits par l'OMS : physique/organique, social/culturel et mental/spirituel. ...
L’agriculture manifeste l’intrication constitutive du design des territoires, des plantes cultivées, des nourritures et des vies humaines. L’obscurcissement des liens qui sous-tendent cette intégration a fait disparaître peu à peu la compréhension des dynamismes inhérents aux processus naturels, en particulier ceux qui prennent part à l’édification des plantes et des nourritures. Pour le voir, il est nécessaire d’examiner quel type de rationalité oriente l’esprit du design vers la modernisation agricole et l’agriculture numérique. Cet examen prend son éclairage dans la conception de la connaissance chez Goethe, pour qui le tout ne prend sens qu’à la condition d’intégrer l’idée centrale de métamorphose. Cette conception s’applique à tous les plans d’organisation, et donc à l’esprit même du design. Comme antidote à une désintégration des liens qui unissent, les plantes se révèlent une leçon de métamorphose capable de guider l’innovation au service de territoires animés de vie.
... According to Salembier, Segrestin, Berthet, Weil, and Meynard (2018), the study of biodynamic farming could open new innovation pathways, and possibly inspire other agricultural systems, but an effort of theorization is needed. At farm level, for example, Bloksma and Struik (2007) propose to coach the process of farming system design with the metaphor of the healthy human, which includes physical, socio-cultural and mental health (as in biodynamic farming). Complementarily, it would be relevant to further develop holistic and multicriteria farm assessments. ...
Biodynamic farming is increasingly popular among farmers and consumers, but it is still dismissed as pseudoscience by part of the scientific community. In this article, we first present an overview of biodynamic farming, its current development, foundations and three specific principles: 1) the farm seen as a living organism; 2) Preparations; 3) Cosmic rhythms. Then, we show that pragmatic scientific approaches are compatible with biodynamic farming, and suggest an interesting potential for sustainability. Particularly, anthropological studies demonstrate that beliefs and spirituality in biodynamic farming contribute to a unique relationship of care between farmers and nature. Contrary to a common misconception, biodynamic farmers are shown to be open to scientific knowledge, which they manage to combine creatively with experiential and spiritual knowledge. At farm scale, although still rare, holistic multicriteria assessment studies suggest fairly satisfactory overall sustainability performances. Biodynamic farming has also already proven to be useful in transdisciplinary action-research projects with diverse stakeholders, to produce original “actionable knowledge” for sustainability. Overall, we conclude that biodynamic farming can be a valuable resource for “reenchanting” agriculture, in a comparable and complementary way to indigenous knowledge. However, it must not be seen as a panacea, and its organization and the major role of beliefs especially raise legitimate concerns. More research is needed to better understand the specific advantages and difficulties of biodynamic farming. Three key research perspectives are identified: 1) Farmers' decision-making; 2) Farming system design and evaluation; 3) Transformation pathways.
... In this conceptual approach, the use of the coaching methodology considers the learning needs of adults, so it would contribute to higher levels of motivation and increase the capacity to manage complex situations, which is the case with integrated systems. Another approach of coaching presents the metaphor of farm health to human health (Bloksma and Struik, 2007). The authors proposed redesigning elements of the farm to ensure the entire farm would be healthier. ...
CONTEXT
Integrated crop–livestock systems (ICLS) are supposed to achieve eco-efficiency; however, its management is more complex than that of specialized systems, thereby posing a challenge for researchers, farmers, and advisors to develop coordinated actions. Besides, there is a lack of methodological approaches to support the transitions to ICLS that are important to help toward effectively crop-livestock recoupling.
OBJECTIVE
The Farm Coaching (FC) workshop was developed based on a blend of ICLS concepts (i.e., management of the soil-plant-animal relationships, financial resources) and personal coaching (i.e., assertive communication and time budgets). Accordingly, the objectives of this study include: (i) to analyze and discuss the potential benefits and constrains of the FC workshop; (ii) to evaluate farmers mindset change after FC; and (iii) to identify the effective actions implemented by farmers supported with specialized ICLS advising.
METHODS
The FC initiative was led by a private advisory company together with ICLS researchers. During each workshop, four steps are proposed: 1) deconstructing the current modus operandi, 2) going through concepts and tools to understand ICLS, 3) gaining experience through a serious game (SIPA game), and 4) co-designing a new lifestyle and production system. In addition to the workshop, the advisory company led the work on-farm that was composed of a pre-set framework, including diagnosis, co-design, and implementation. To better understand the impacts of FC, participant observation and individual interviews were conducted with 12 farmers.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Four FC workshops were held between 2017 and 2019 (90 participants in total). The FC initiative successfully supported the participants' mind-set changing from specialized toward ICLS. The 12 farmers interviewed also experienced customized ICLS advice to help set up the concepts of sustainable ICLS, including whole farm design, and transition into practice. The results highlight the individual trajectories in implementing ICLS projects. Initial strategies reported for transitions included: implementing pilot projects, evaluating technical and financial indicators, organizing personal working routines, and improving teamwork skills to deal with the duties of the new concept.
SIGNIFICANCE
This study describes an original technical–personal blending approach that inspires the revision of current trends (i.e., specialized agricultural systems) and motivates farmers to act differently. The insights in this article may support ICLS agricultural initiatives in facilitating more effective mind-set changing and co-design processes.
... A growing demand for local traceability of farm products indicates a renewed interest in farm and farmland identity. Some even scale it up to the identity, integrity and health of the entire farm [59]. ...
Soils are an essential element in sustainable food systems and vital for ecosystem services. Soils are degrading, because of urbanization, poor soil management, depletion and mining, over-use of inputs and impacts of climate change. Poor soil management resulted from short-term yield maximization caused by changes in land tenure, property rights and land use. We argue for soil protection based on the concept of soil telos defined as the combined purposefulness in agricultural production and terrestrial ecosystem optimization. It includes the right of mankind to use soils, provided norms and values are respected based on the soil’s usefulness, its natural purposefulness and its right to be protected (including its physical, chemical and biological cycles). Finding a sustainable balance between these values and rights on the one hand and the need to use living soils for agricultural production on the other hand requires a new approach to soil management based on widely accepted norm- and value-driven decisions on unavoidable trade-offs. Reconciling man-made telos and natural telos, requires (i) empowering the soil to achieve its man-made telos (e.g., by restoring degraded soils); (ii) empowering the soil to achieve its natural telos (e.g., by restoring water courses); (iii) raising awareness about the need to reconcile these two teloi (e.g., by acknowledging rights of soils); and (iv) monitoring tools to assess successful reconciliation (e.g., by evaluating soil health).
... The agro-ecosystem also has 'intrinsic value' because it is a dynamic system, which-as a living entity with (to a greater or lesser extent) its own character and identity-functions through its unique combination of species, to some extent managed by a farmer, who eventually harvests these species, but also takes care of them on the basis of a system of rules and values. Even the farm, to which this agricultural ecosystem belongs, may be considered as a living being with a moral value which plays a specific role in a broader (spatial and temporal) environment which is dependent on the proper management [62]. Equally, to both the agro-ecosystem and the farm its own telos can be awarded. ...
We analyze the extent to which humans respect farm animals and crop plants and whether humans provide them adequate care. Concerns are justified, since many farm animals and crop plants have become completely dependent on humans for their survival. We explore whether the concept of ‘telos’ can be useful. From a biocentric and ecocentric custodian position, an animal or a plant possesses a telos, a nature of its own and a natural, species-specific purpose, but also a telos through its destination imposed by humanity because of its usefulness and service to human beings. Based on both forms of telos farm animals and crop plants deserve respect and have a moral value. Both forms of telos seem to oppose each other: the more humans domesticate the animal or plant, the more it must sacrifice its ‘natural telos’ to serve its ‘utility telos’. Humans should enable the animal or the plant to realize its natural telos in harmony with its utility telos. Both forms of telos could be reconciled if humans fulfil their moral duty to support farm animals and crops in completing their production cycle in a respectful manner. We formulate some guidelines to operationalize, and give meaning to, the concept of telos.
... Instead, we observed that different combinations led to similar levels of vulnerability. In these systems, the practices implemented (stocking rate, input use, etc.) were consistent with the objective of developing the properties targeted (efficiency, robustness, adaptability, etc.), as discussed by Bloksma and Struik (2007). For instance, farm D8 was designed for system efficiency (Dumont et al., 2013) and robustness (Ten Napel et al., 2011) through consistent matching of animal diets to animal feeding requirements, of stocking rate to land-use capacity and management intensity, etc. Farm M2 relied on farmland diversity to promote redundancy in animal feed production and adaptability to impacts of climatic and economic variability, as observed by Martin and Magne (2015). ...
The need to adapt to decrease farm vulnerability to adverse contextual events has been extensively discussed on a theoretical basis. We developed an integrated and operational method to assess farm vulnerability to multiple and interacting contextual changes and explain how this vulnerability can best be reduced according to farm configurations and farmers’ technical adaptations over time. Our method considers farm vulnerability as a function of the raw measurements of vulnerability variables (e.g., economic efficiency of production), the slope of the linear regression of these measurements over time, and the residuals of this linear regression. The last two are extracted from linear mixed models considering a random regression coefficient (an intercept common to all farms), a global trend (a slope common to all farms), a random deviation from the general mean for each farm, and a random deviation from the general trend for each farm. Among all possible combinations, the lowest farm vulnerability is obtained through a combination of high values of measurements, a stable or increasing trend and low variability for all vulnerability variables considered. Our method enables relating the measurements, trends and residuals of vulnerability variables to explanatory variables that illustrate farm exposure to climatic and economic variability, initial farm configurations and farmers’ technical adaptations over time. We applied our method to 19 cattle (beef, dairy, and mixed) farms over the period 2008–2013. Selected vulnerability variables, i.e., farm productivity and economic efficiency, varied greatly among cattle farms and across years, with means ranging from 43.0 to 270.0 kg protein/ha and 29.4–66.0% efficiency, respectively. No farm had a high level, stable or increasing trend and low residuals for both farm productivity and economic efficiency of production. Thus, the least vulnerable farms represented a compromise among measurement value, trend, and variability of both performances. No specific combination of farmers’ practices emerged for reducing cattle farm vulnerability to climatic and economic variability. In the least vulnerable farms, the practices implemented (stocking rate, input use…) were more consistent with the objective of developing the properties targeted (efficiency, robustness…). Our method can be used to support farmers with sector-specific and local insights about most promising farm adaptations.
The definition and understanding of the social farming (social agriculture) concept varies from country to country, depending on the specific conditions for its development. The contribution provides a systematic literature review of its definition and context. Scientific publications (134), which deal with the topic of social agriculture in different contexts within different geographical areas, and with different intensity over time, have been analysed. Special attention was paid to case studies. Most of the case studies dealt with Italy, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom and Norway. More than a third of the outputs address the issue of health effects of social farming. Social benefits are the second most frequent topic. Moreover, educational, environmental and economic effects of social agriculture are discussed in the analysed publications with a similar intensity. Green care (social agriculture) farms are significant players in rural development, and work and social inclusion, and can instantly and innovatively react to the local needs.
The context to be addressed is the digitalization of industry and industrial processes. Digitalization brings enhanced customer relationships and value‐chain integration, which are effective instruments to meet increasing competition and slimmer margins for productivity and profitability. Digitalization also brings more pronounced requirements for effective planning, problem solving and decision making in an increasingly complex and fast‐changing environment. Decision analytics will meet the challenges from the growing global competition that major industrial corporations face and will help solve the problems of big data/fast data that digitalization is generating as a by‐product. A mantra is appearing in business magazines – that powerful, intelligent systems will be effective tools for the digitalization of industrial processes – but much less attention appears to be paid to the fact that users need advanced knowledge and skills to benefit from the intelligent systems. First, an effective transfer of knowledge from developers, experts and researchers to users (including management) will be needed; second, the daily use and operations of the systems need to be supported, as automated, intelligent industrial systems are complex to operate. We look at this transfer as knowledge mobilization and will work out how the mobilization can be supported with coaching; this coaching needs to be digital, as human coaches are both scarce and too expensive to employ in large numbers.
Classical management science is making the transition to analytics, which has the same agenda to support managerial planning, problem solving and decision making in industrial and business contexts but is combining the classical models and algorithms with modern, advanced technology for handling data, information and knowledge. We run a knowledge mobilisation project as a joint effort by Institute for Advanced Management Systems Research, and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The goal was to mobilise knowledge stored in heterogeneous databases for users with various backgrounds, geographical locations and situations. The working hypothesis of the project was that fuzzy mathematics combined with domain-specific data models, in other words, fuzzy ontologies, would help manage the uncertainty in finding information that matches the users’ needs. In this paper, we describe an industrial application of fuzzy ontologies in information retrieval for a paper machine where problem-solving reports are annotated with keywords and then stored in a database for later use. One of the key insights turned out to be that using the Bellmann-Zadeh principles for fuzzy decision-making are useful for identifying keyword dependencies in a keyword taxonomic tree.
Classical management science is making the transition to analytics, which has the same agenda to support managerial planning, problem solving and decision making in industrial and business contexts but is combining the classical models and algorithms with modern, advanced technology for handling data, information and knowledge. In work with managers in the forest industry, we found out that there is a growing interest to replace the classical net present value (NPV) with real options theory, especially for strategic issues and uncertain, dynamic environments. Uncertainty and dynamics motivate the use of soft computing, i.e. versions of the real options methods that use fuzzy numbers (intervals), macro heuristics, approximate reasoning and evolutionary algorithms. In general, managers can follow the logic of the real options theory but the methods require rather advanced levels of analytics; when the methods are implemented, they will be used by growing numbers of people with more of a business than analytics background. They find themselves in trouble pretty quickly as they need to master methods, they do not fully understand and details of which they forget from time to time. We propose that digital coaching is a way to guide and support users to give them better chances for effective and productive use of real options methods.
Improving the Wellbeing of People Dependent on the Low-income Beef Industry in South Africa
This study is of the dual cattle economies in South Africa that are the legacy of apartheid. The two economies resemble developing and developed beef sectors elsewhere. The study aims to understand this situation and develop interventions that facilitate change in the South African beef industry. It was undertaken to respond to a reality that little progress has been made in improving the income levels of the developing sector participants despite the advanced beef industry market chain and support structures. This study focused on identifying barriers and promoters of individual change that are essential for improving the wellbeing of the individual participants in the low-income sector.
The study was conducted in the Limpopo province’s five districts municipalities using mixed methods underpinned by a paradigm of critical theory and pragmatism. The theoretical underpinning methodology for this work is grounded theory which looks for emerging themes from qualitative data. Systems’ thinking was considered to set boundaries of the study of the whole beef industry in Limpopo. Focus groups and in-depth interviews were used for data collection, supported by field records. The study informants were the four types of farmers in Limpopo provinces and the professionals of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and the Limpopo Department of Agriculture (LDA).
The data analysis revealed themes and sub-themes that impact on the efficacy of the support system for the low-income beef sector in South Africa and the barrier to change by individual farmers. The most important elements from support staff were the historic legacy of the ARC and LDA, the technology dependent culture of support staff, cultural stereotyping and disconnection of farmers in the developing sector. The farmer data revealed the need for building human, social, financial and psychological capital in the low-income sector. Of these the most important was psychological capital which emerged as the key leverage point. An intervention model for change and a tool to address the psychological capital based on coaching was designed for institutionalisation in the ARC, LDA and Limpopo beef farmers support groups. The approach proposed is a radical departure from previous approaches as it incorporates elements of extension models, community development and sustainable improvement and innovation.
Keywords
Individual change, Interventions, Design, Psychological capital, Cultural Capital, Social Capital, Low-income beef sector, Coaching farmers, Extension leverage points, Livelihood
Producers, traders, and consumers oforganic food regularly use the concept of thenatural (naturalness) to characterize organicagriculture and or organic food, in contrast tothe unnaturalness of conventional agriculture.Critics sometimes argue that such use lacks anyrational (scientific) basis and only refers tosentiment. In our project, we made an attemptto clarify the content and the use of theconcepts of nature and naturalness in organicagriculture, to relate this conception todiscussions within bioethical literature, andto draw the implications for agriculturalpractice and policy.
Qualitative interviews were executed with arange of people in the field of organicagriculture and with consumers of organicproducts, on the basis of a list of statementsabout the meaning of the concept of naturalnessformulated by the authors. Based on the resultsof the interviews, we distinguished 3 aspectsof the concept of naturalness: natural as theorganic (life processes), natural as theecological, and natural as referring to thecharacteristic nature of an entity. We relatedthese conceptual aspects to three mainapproaches within the field of organicagriculture: the no chemicals approach, theagro-ecological approach, and the integrityapproach. It became clear that these approachescan also be recognized in the change ofattitude of farmers as they convert fromconventional to organic agriculture, and in theattitudes of consumers of organic foodproducts.
We conclude that the idea of ``naturalness'' canbe used to characterize organic agriculture andto distinguish it from conventionalagriculture, but only if naturalness not onlyrefers to not using chemicals but also toecological principles and respect for theintegrity of life. Thus perceived, theprinciple of naturalness can also serve as aguide to future developments in the field oforganic agriculture. As part of the holocentricethics of organic farming the value ofnaturalness has three dimensions: a cognitiveone, an emotive one, and a normative one.
To address globalization challenges, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM] articulated the principles of organic agriculture through a worldwide participatory stakeholder process. The process aimed to bridge the values from the pioneers of organic agriculture to the present time of globalization and to extended growth of the organic sector. As a result the principles of health, ecology, fairness and care are now worldwide considered as the basis from which organic agriculture grows and develops. IFOAM institutionalized these four principles in its own work, for example in the revision of the Organic Guarantee System. The four principles offer a perspective on how to deal with the challenges of globalization. A response to these challenges seems to be to extend and further detail the standards so that, for instance, externalities can be included. However, stricter standards may not do justice to the principle of fairness, as they potentially undermine fair access to markets. Ideal would be a situation in which a balance between the principles and standards can be realized.
Obra que propone una nueva relación entre la producción de alimentos y su consumo desde una perspectiva ambiental, basado en la cultura, el conocimiento y la capacidad productiva de cada región, con la finalidad de reducir la gran distancia entre la producción en grandes cantidades que alimenta a muy pocas personas y, en casos opuestos, genera hambre en unas zonas y personas con malos hábitos alimenticios en otras.
The natural approach taken by organic agriculture obviates the use of synthetic agrochemicals and emphasizes farming in accordance with agroecological principles. Also implicit in this approach is an appreciation for the integrity of living farm organisms, with the integrity being evaluated from a biocentric perspective. The ethical value assigned to integrity of organisms has challenged us to develop criteria for evaluating both integrity and breeding techniques. For cultivated plants, integrity refers to their inherent nature, their wholeness, completeness, species-specific characteristics, and their being in balance with their (organically farmed) environment. We evaluate integrity using criteria derived from four different perspectives: integrity of life, plant-specific integrity, genotypic integrity, and phenotypic integrity. These criteria were used to assess whether existing breeding and propagation techniques violate the integrity of crop plants. In vitro techniques and techniques that engineer at the DNA level appeared to be incompatible with the integrity of crops, with the exception of use of DNA markers. On the other hand, breeding techniques that work at the level of breeding, evaluation, and selection for whole plant performance, and which do not break reproductive barriers between species, may conform to the principles of organic farming. In the selection process, the so-called breeder's eye can be developed to become a more consciously applied instrument for perceiving and assessing aspects of the wholeness or phenotypic integrity of a plant. Thus, the challenge given by the organic community to breeders implies the further development of scientific approaches, evaluation, and choice of breeding techniques, and the systematic development of the respectful and artful eye of the individual breeder.
The virtual farmer guides us towars a better understanding of the associated identities and practices that make up the agricultural sector. In this book the author developes a new and integrated view of agriculture and the countryside - a perspective that combines historical, economic, social, cultural and political dimensions with the technological. At the same time he attempts to identify new developments that might provide the bases for reestablishing public's confidence in the country's agriculture - a reconciliation that is urgently needed.
Each of four sections in this paper sketches the philosophical problems associated with a different dimension of sustainability. The untitled introductory section surveys the oft-noted discrepancies between different notions of sustainability, and notes that one element of the ambiguity relates to the different points of view taken by a participant in a system and a detached observer of the system. The second section, “Sustainability as a System Describing Concept,” examines epistemological puzzles that arise when one attempts to assess the truth or falsity of claims that attribute sustainability or non-sustainability. In particular, such claims generally presume bounded systems, but boundary conditions are value-laden. The third section, “Sustainability as a Goal Prescribing Concept,” examines puzzles that arise in attempting to define sustainability in normative terms. In particular, the question of whether sustainability is an intrinsic or instrumental value is examined. The final section, “Sustainability and Bliss,” offers an analysis of the moral responsibilities that human beings have, given the fact that knowledge of conditions for achieving sustainability can never be complete.
Many of the attempts to construct sustainable rural livelihoods involve a shift away from agriculture’s traditional ‘core’ activities by means of a diversification with new on-farm activities or ‘conversion’ to quality modes of production. This raises the question of how we should conceptualize the role of those enterprises that fall into the vast category of ‘main-stream’ farms within the process of rural development. By discussing the style of ‘farming economically’ in Friesian dairy farming, this paper argues that rural development should not be seen as a contradiction between conventional and alternative farming systems. Farming economically is considered an integral part of the newly emerging model of rural development, since it entails a particular model for the mobilization, combination and utilization of resources at farm level that contrasts sharply with the modernization paradigm. At the level of the rural region, farming economically allows for higher income and employment levels, factors that are fundamental for a healthy, rural social fabric. The paper concludes that for the rural development potential of farming economically to be developed further,a favourable ‘rural district’ is needed that strengthens the innovativeness and specific developmental trajectory embedded in the practice.
Producers, traders and consumers of organic food regularly use the concept of the natural to characterize organic agriculture or organic food. Critics sometimes argue that such use lacks any rational (scientific) basis and only refers to sentiment. We carried out research to (1) better understand the content and the use of the concepts of nature and the natural in organic agriculture, (2) to reconstruct the value basis underlying the use of the concept of the natural in organic agriculture, and (3) to draw implications for agricultural practice and policy. A literature study and the authors' own experience were used to produce a discussion document with explicit statements about the meaning of natural in the different areas of organic agriculture. These statements were validated by means of qualitative interviews with stakeholders. The concept of nature or the natural appeared to be value-laden. The value basis is a normative reconstruction that cannot just be derived from the use of the word natural by organic stakeholders. For this reconstructed concept the word naturalness is used. Naturalness thus becomes an ethical value for organic agriculture, an inspirational guide for organic stakeholders. The value of naturalness refers to a basic respect for the intrinsic value of nature, i.e., the value nature has, independent of the benefits it may have for humans. This manifests itself in three ways: (1) in the use of natural substances, (2) in respecting the self-regulation of living organisms and ecosystems, and (3) in respecting the characteristic (species-specific) nature of living organisms. If organic stakeholders limit themselves to using natural substances it is called the no-chemicals approach. If they also respect the self-organization of living organisms the authors call it the agro-ecological approach. If also the normative element of naturalness is included, it is called the integrity approach.
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