Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T03:36:45.410Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Participatory organic research in the USA and Italy: Across a continuum of farmer–researcher partnerships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2016

Kathleen Delate ,
Stefano Canali ,
Robert Turnbull ,
Rachel Tan  and
Luca Colombo
Kathleen Delate*
Affiliation:
Departments of Agronomy & Horticulture, Iowa State University, IA 50011, USA.
Stefano Canali
Affiliation:
Italian Center for Agricultural and Economics Research–Research Center for Soil-Plant Relationships (Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e L'analisi dell'Economia Agrarian–CREA; Centro di Ricerca per lo Studio delle Relazioni tra Pianta e Suolo–RPS), 00184 Rome, Italy.
Robert Turnbull
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, IA 50011, USA.
Rachel Tan
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, IA 50011, USA.
Luca Colombo
Affiliation:
Italian Foundation for Research in Organic and Biodynamic Agriculture (Fondazione Italiana per la Ricerca in Agricoltura Biologica e Biodinamica-FIRAB), 00153 Rome, Italy.
*
*Corresponding author: kdelate@iastate.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Organic agriculture continues to expand in the USA and in the European Union (EU), particularly in Italy, which had 48,650 organic farms in 2014 compared with 19,474 in the USA. Additionally, EU support for organic research is nearly double than that of the USA. Along with increased support for organic research, the EU organic community has achieved recognition at the European Commission policy level for a dedicated innovation platform, advocating the practice of farmer-first models for participatory research. The US land-grant universities have a long history of on-farm research, primarily through the Extension Service, but the need exists for more inclusive, second-loop, co-research with organic farmers. A survey was conducted of organic farmers and researchers in Italy and in the USA to ascertain the extent of participatory organic research activities and experiences, and explore the vision each group had for the future of co-innovation between organic farmers and researchers. Results indicated that, despite the higher level of organic research support in the EU, the percentage of researchers involved in on-farm/participatory organic research was equivalent in Italy and the USA, presumably due to the more recent emphasis in Italian/EU agricultural research agendas on the importance of farmer knowledge and participation in organic research. Overall, 60% of surveyed organic researchers in both countries cited involvement in on-farm/participatory organic research, with ‘farming systems’ and ‘nutrient/pest management’ the main research focus in the USA, compared with ‘farming systems’ and ‘equipment’ in Italy. Both countries’ researchers expressed their vision of participatory research as helping to improve communication between researchers and farmers, to enable work on relevant research, and to allow farmers to adapt technologies to their own conditions. Organic farmers in Italy completed survey questionnaires as part of a field day activity, leading to more Italian farmers responding to the survey, compared with USA counterparts who were queried via e-mail. Organic farmers in Italy identified ‘knowledge-sharing’ as a critical value of participatory research, and were conducting on-farm research with less compensation than US farmers. The ‘lack of time’ was cited as the most important constraint limiting participatory research by Italian and US farmers, although the ‘lack of common language’ also was rated as potentially impairing full participation. Lessons shared between EU and US organic researchers as a result of this project included methods to institute policies aimed at increasing support for organic research and co-innovations with organic farming communities, and connecting experienced on-farm researchers in the US with Italian colleagues to enhance collaborative activities with organic farmers.

Keywords

on-farm researchfarmer experimentsinnovation in agricultureextensionfarming systems
Type
Research Papers
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 32 , Issue 4 , August 2017 , pp. 331 - 348
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altieri, M.A. 1983. Agroecology. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.Google Scholar
Altieri, M.A. 2002. Agroecology: The science of natural resource management for poor farmers in marginal environments. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 93:1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Argyris, C. 1991. Teaching smart people how to learn. Harvard Business Review. May–June 1991. https://hbr.org/1991/05/teaching-smart-people-how-to-learn.Google Scholar
Bailey, J.C. 1971. Seaman A. Knapp: Schoolmaster of American Agriculture. Arno Press, New York.Google Scholar
Beintema, N., Stads, G.J., Fuglie, K., and Heisey, P. 2012. ASTI Global Assessment of Agricultural R&D Spending. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC; Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators, Rome, Italy; Global Forum on Agricultural Research, Rome, Italy. Available at Web site http://www.ifpri.org/pressroom/briefing/global-trends-agricultural-rd-spending (verified 15 December 2015).Google Scholar
Benouniche, M., Errahj, M., and Kuper, M. 2014. The seductive power of an innovation: Enrolling non-conventional actors in a drip irrigation community in Morocco. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension 20:1–19. doi: 10.1080/1389224X.2014.977307.Google Scholar
Chevalier, J.M. and Buckles, D.J. 2013. Participatory Action Research: Theory and Methods for Engaged Inquiry. Routledge, Chapman and Hall, London.Google Scholar
Darnhofer, I. 2014. Contributing to a transition to sustainability of agri-food systems: Potentials and pitfalls for organic farming. In Bellon, S. and Penvern, S. (eds). Organic Farming: Prototype for Sustainable Agricultures. Springer, Dordrecht, Germany. p. 439–452.Google Scholar
Delate, K. and DeWitt, J. 2004. Building a farmer-centered land grant university organic agriculture program—A Midwestern partnership. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 19:1–12.Google Scholar
Delate, K. and Shade, J. 2015. An organic researcher perspective on organic check-off funds. The Organic Report, Organic Center, Washington, D.C. Available at Web site http://theorganicreport.com/organic-researcher-perspective-organic-check-funds (verified 15 April 2016).Google Scholar
De Leener, P. 2001. Towards an evolving conceptual framework to effectively capture the complexity of collaborative research. Technical Workshop on Methodologies, Organization and Management of Global Partnership Programmes, IFAD, Rome, 9–10 October 2001.Google Scholar
De Schutter, O. 2010. Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food. UN General Assembly. Human Rights Council Sixteenth Session, Agenda item 3 A/HRC/16/49, United Nations, New York.Google Scholar
EC-SCAR (European Commission–Standing Committee on Agricultural Research). 2013. Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems Towards 2020—an Orientation Paper on Linking Innovation and Research. European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.Google Scholar
European Commission. 2012. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the European Innovation Partnership ‘Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability’ COM(2012) 79 final. European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.Google Scholar
European Commission. 2015. What is Horizon 2020. European Commission, Brussels, Belgium. Available at Web site https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/what-horizon-2020 (verified 15 April 2016).Google Scholar
Farrington, J. and Martin, A.M. 1988. Farmer participatory research: A review of concepts and recent fieldwork. Agricultural Administration and Extension 29:241–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FIRAB (Italian Foundation for Research in Organic and Biodynamic Agriculture). 2016. Il progetto APIOB. Available at Web site http://www.firab.it/site/intro-progetto-apiob/ (verified 15 April 2016).Google Scholar
Foddy, W.H. 1994. Constructing Questions for Interviews and Questionnaires: Theory and Practice in Social Research. New ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
Gerber, A., Hoffmann, V., and Kügler, M. 1996. Das Wissensystem im Ökologischen Landbau in Deutschland: Zur Entstehung und Weitergabe von Wissen im Diffusionsprozeß. Berichte über Landwirtschaft 4:591–627.Google Scholar
Gillham, B. 2008. Developing a Questionnaire. 2nd ed. Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd., London.Google Scholar
Halberg, N., Panneerselvam, P., and Treyer, S. 2015. Eco-functional intensification and food security: Synergy or compromise? Sustainable Agriculture Research 4:126–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements). 2015. Technology Innovation Platform of IFOAM. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland. Available at Web site http://www.organic-research.net/tipi.html (verified 15 December 2015).Google Scholar
Lavrakas, P.J. 2008. Encyclopedia of survey research methods, paper-and-pencil interviewing. In Adèr, H.J. and Mellenbergh, G.J. (eds) (with contributions by D.J. Hand). Advising on Research Methods: A Consultant's Companion. Johannes van Kessel Publishing, Huizen, The Netherlands. p. 211–236.Google Scholar
Leff, E. 2006. Aventuras de la epistemología ambiental. De la articulación de las ciencias al diálogo de saberes. Siglo XXI Editores, México City.Google Scholar
McIntyre, A. 2007. Participatory Action Research. SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.Google Scholar
McIntyre, B.D., Herren, H.R., Wakhungu, J., and Watson, R.T. 2009. International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) Synthesis Report. Island Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Mittelstrass, J. 2011. On transdisciplinarity. Trames 15:329–338.Google Scholar
Moeskops, B., Blake, F., Tort, M-C., and Torremocha, E. (eds) 2014. Action Plan for Innovation and Learning. TP Organics, Brussels, Belgium.Google Scholar
Montgomery, D.C. 2009. Design and Analysis of Experiments. 7th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ.Google Scholar
MPAAF (Ministero per le politiche agricole, alimentari e forestali). 2008. MD 13641/2009: Programma di azione nazionale per l'agricoltura biologica e i prodotti biologici per gli anni 2008 e 2009. Decreto del Ministero per le politiche agricole, alimentari e forestali. MPAFF, Rome, Italy.Google Scholar
Niggli, U. 2008. Current situation in organic agriculture. In Niggli, U., Slabe, A., Halberg, N., Schmid, O., and Schlüter, M. (eds). Vision for an Organic Food and Farming Research Agenda to 2025. IFOAM EU Group and FiBL, Brussels, Belgium and Frick, Switzerland. http://orgprints.org/13439/1/niggli-etal-2008-technology-platform-organics.pdf.Google Scholar
Niggli, U. 2015. Incorporating Agroecology into Organic Research—an On-Going Challenge. Sustainable Agriculture Research. doi: http://dx.doi.org.10.5539/sar.v4n3p149 Google Scholar
Okali, C., Sumberg, J., and Farrington, J. 1994. Farmer Participatory Research Rhetoric and Reality. Overseas Development Institute, Intermediate Technology Publications, London. p. 159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Padel, S. 2001. Conversion to organic farming: A typical example of the diffusion of an innovation. Sociologia Ruralis 1:40–61.Google Scholar
Pretty, J.N. 1995. Participatory learning for sustainable agriculture. World Development 23:1247–1263.Google Scholar
Puliga, S., Marzetti, A., and Canali, S. 2006. Italian research in organic food and farming: Country report. In Lange, S., Williges, U., Saxena, S., and Willer, H. (eds). European Research in Organic Food and Farming. Reports on Organisation and Conduction of Research Programmes in 11 European Countries. Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE), Bonn, Germany. p. 145–164.Google Scholar
Rahmann, G., Kühne, S., Nürnberg, M., and Töpfer, A. 2013. Forschen für den Ökologischen Landbau: mehr Ressourcen erforderlich [Research for Ecological Farming: More resources required]. ForschungsReport spezial. Ökologischer Landbau (2):22–23. http://literatur.thuenen.de/digbib_extern/dn053124.pdf.Google Scholar
Röling, N. and Brouwers, J. 1999. Living local knowledge for sustainable development. In Prain, G., Fujisaka, S., and Warren, M.D. (eds). Biological and Cultural Diversity. The Role of Indigenous Agricultural Experimentation in Development. Intermediate Technology Publications, London. p. 147–157.Google Scholar
Sewell, A. M., Gray, D.I., Blair, H.T., Kemp, P.D., Kenyon, P.R., Morris, S.T., and Wood, B.A. 2014. Hatching new ideas about herb pastures: Learning together in a community of New Zealand farmers and agricultural scientists. Agricultural Systems 125:63–73.Google Scholar
SINAB (Sistema Informativo Nazionale Agricoltura Biologica) [Italian National Organic Agriculture Statistics]. 2015. Bio in cifre. Report of the Sistema Informativo Nazionale Agricoltura Biologica, Rome, Italy (In Italian) Available at Web site http://www.sinab.it (verified 15 April 2016).Google Scholar
Smits, R.E., Kuhlmann, S., and Shapira, P. 2010. The Theory and Practice of Innovation Policy—An International Research Handbook. Edward Elgar Publishing, Williston, VT.Google Scholar
Sriskandarajah, N., Bawden, R.J., and Packham, R.G. 1991. Systems agriculture: A paradigm for sustainability. Association for Framing Systems Research – Extension Newsletter 2(2):1–5.Google Scholar
Sumberg, J. and Okali, C. 1997. Farmers’ Experiments: Creating Local Knowledge. Lynne Rienner Publishers, London.Google Scholar
Tress, G., Tress, B., and Fry, G. 2005. Clarifying integrative research concepts in landscape ecology. Landscape Ecology 20:479–493.Google Scholar
Tulloch, A.I.T., Joseph, L., Szabo, J.K., Martin, T., and Possingham, H.P. 2013. Realizing the full potential of citizen science monitoring programs. Biological Conservation 165:128–138.Google Scholar
U.S. Dept of Agriculture/Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS). 2015. Organic Production–2011. USDA-ERS, Washington, D.C. Available at Web site http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/organic-production.aspx#25766 (verified 15 December 2015)Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)–National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). 2011. Crop Production–March 8, 2013, USDA-NASS, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Vogl, C.R., Kummer, S., Leitgeb, F., Schunko, C., and Aigner, M. 2015. Keeping the actors in the organic system learning: The role of organic farmers’ experiments. Sustainable Agriculture Research 4:140–148. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/sar.v4n3p140 Google Scholar
Youngberg, G. and Demuth, S.P. 2013. Organic agriculture in the United States: A 30-year retrospective. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 28:294–328. Available at Web site http://dx.doi:10.101.1017/S17421705.3000173 Google Scholar