Eliane Bakker’s scientific contributions

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Publications (2)


Steps of farmer-led research. The figure outlines the research steps that the 2 groups (tenancy and commons), as subgroups of an existing land research group of the farmers’ association Toekomstboeren, did to perform their research. Source: Authors.
Historic waves in tenancy security and commons in the Netherlands. The figure shows a timeline from the 18th century up to today of major developments related to land tenancy and commons in the Netherlands. Source: Authors.
Collective land arrangements that decommodify land for agroecological transformations
  • Article
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June 2024

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81 Reads

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1 Citation

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Eliane Bakker

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Rights and access to land are major pressing issues among mainly first-generation agroecological farmers in the Netherlands. Due to short-term tenure contracts and high land prices, these farmers face an insecure future. Because of this, they are often unable to make long-term ecological investments, such as planting trees and taking measures to improve soil health. A growing group of farmers are devising new, more communal forms of land ownership and tenancy, that counter market forces and existing policies. In this article, we shed light on these farmers’ discourse and how it informs the construction of new forms of land ownership and tenancy. In the related research project written and led by farmers, information has been gathered in the form of meeting minutes, interviews covering problems and perspectives related to the land tenure regulation, and commons. This information has been systematized and validated by farmers. Agroecological farmers find themselves in an uncomfortable situation that is challenging in 2 ways. On the one hand, they are calling for revision of land tenure regulations to ensure long-term land contracts for their existence and on the other hand they are seeking to replace property rights in favor of more collective possession-based arrangements. Our analysis shows how a discourse of decommodification seems to underlie the strategies and practices implemented by farmers. It focuses on place-based developments to secure the autonomy of farmers and communities. We argue that, to safeguard the possession and use of land for agroecological farming in the future, both developments of land decommodification (long-term tenancy and commons) should be supported. This can be done by integrated policies on land sale and lease that align with the ecological carrying capacity and agroecological production capacity of land, and that ensure compensation for monetary downgrading of agricultural land.

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Figure 2. Overview of transition trajectory of each farmer over time. Trigger-events are indicated when explicitly mentioned by the farmer. The two publications shown at the top timeline indicate the start of an environmental movement; the financial crisis is indicated because it had major implications for the transition trajectory of at least three of the interviewees.
The ‘inner’ dimension of Dutch farmers’ trajectories of change: drivers, triggers and turning points for sustained agroecological practices

February 2023

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68 Reads

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9 Citations

Transformation to sustainable agriculture in the Netherlands is increasingly called for. Agroecology is acknowledged as a sustainable – potentially transformative – alternative for conventional methods of agriculture. However, few farmers adopt agroecological practices. Recent literature suggests failure to achieve sustained and transformational change may be due to neglectance of personal, nonmaterial aspects of such processes, also referred to as “inner” dimensions of sustainability. Aiming for empirical underpinning, individual transition pathways of nine agroecological farmers were explored, and processes of change were analyzed using a conceptual framework of “zones of friction and traction” across three interconnected and embedded spheres of transformation: the personal, the practical and the political. The chosen framework allows for seeing the role of the personal aspects of transformation, without losing sight of pressures and influences from the “outside.” Identification of zones of friction and traction revealed where and why transformation was happening, as well as the drivers behind farmers’ choice and passion for agroecology. We argue that focus on the “inner” dimension or personal sphere is foundational to sustained transformational change in the practical and political spheres, i.e. the outside world. The presented findings have implications for strategies targeting envisioned transition toward a sustainable food system.

Citations (2)


... In our project, pursuing a fundamental orientation could have involved exploring pathways toward restructuring production, consumption, and supply chains, such as reconfiguring systems in line with degrowth economics (Guerrero Lara et al., 2023), promoting and facilitating agroecological production methods for sustainable and healthy diets (Frison & Clément, 2020), and exploring new forms of land tenure and multi-use management (Goris et al., 2024). These would target the root causes of the impacts of the food system, rather than the immediate effects. ...

Reference:

The politics of transdisciplinary research on societal transitions
Collective land arrangements that decommodify land for agroecological transformations

... The shortage of skilled advisors is also accompanied by an inadequate supply of training/information services, while acquisition of the right entrepreneurial and technical skills is crucial for adopting agroecological behaviour (Bakker et al., 2023;Ciliberti et al., 2023;Ives et al., 2020). ...

The ‘inner’ dimension of Dutch farmers’ trajectories of change: drivers, triggers and turning points for sustained agroecological practices