Analyzing barriers and levers for practice change: a new framework applied to vegetables’ soil pest management

Abstract

Western agricultural practices for crop protection are still heavily dependent on pesticides, even though they cause major human health and environmental hazards. In France, public incentives for pesticide reduction have failed to achieve their goal, and agroecological practices are still seldom implemented. In this study, we hypothesized that a systemic analysis of the determinants of current farming practices could serve to characterize (i) the impediments to change in farming practices; (ii) the resources supporting the change; (iii) the underpinning sociotechnical processes; (iv) the stakeholders' involvement; and (v) levers to facilitate agroecological transition. We therefore designed the first analytical framework that supports a systemic, multi-level (field, farm, territorial, and supra-territorial), multi-actor (including private actors and policymakers), and transformation-oriented analysis of the determinants of farming practices. We applied this analytical framework to the management of root-knot nematodes in sheltered vegetable systems in south-eastern France, jointly analyzing conventional and organic systems. We conducted this comprehensive analysis based on complementary data collection methods: interviews with stakeholders, analysis of written material, participant observation, and participatory workshops. We show that strongly interconnected determinants of farming practices fostered drastic soil disinfection and locked out agroecological soil health technology (e.g., product quality and economic constraints from marketing firms and from regulations; lack of knowledge; unavailability of agroecological inputs). However, this sociotechnical lock-in was being undermined by societal pressures and increasing actions of the stakeholders in favor of the agroecology paradigm. On the other hand, the conventionalization process of the organic regime was simultaneously threatening the further development of agroecological practices. Finally, this analysis revealed levers that could be used to support innovation design and enable changes in farming practices toward agroecology (e.g., facilitate access to agroecological inputs, develop multi-stakeholder platforms). The framework, successfully applied to the Provençal vegetable sector, could be used in other production and territorial contexts.

Crop diversification in Idaho’s Magic Valley: the present and the imaginary

“…While crop diversification in and of itself is still likely to boost ecological benefits, the prevalence of temporal diversification strategies in the Magic Valley reflects the regional normalization of crops and their economically proven–successful rotations rather than an active and intentional process of diversification that decenters profit and markets centers agroecological “metamorphosis”. Such normalization of specific crop rotations and practices may even limit future diversification innovations, “locking out” (as opposed to locking in) agroecological alternatives (Boulestreau et al 2021 ). Thus, the work of scaling agroecology must go beyond field boundaries toward paradigmatic shifts.…”

Key research challenges to supporting farm transitions to agroecology in advanced economies. A review

“…(ii) Addressing issues of representation and power Farmers' desired futures and plans are contingent on coupled innovations that involve multiple influential actors (e.g., upstream input suppliers, food processing actors, consumers, institutional actors, Klerkx et al 2017;Meynard et al 2017;Aare et al 2021;Boulestreau et al 2021) who can hinder or support on-farm change processes. Issues of representation and power must be addressed when including these actors in exploring desirable farm futures, because they may have different representations of the problems to address, the objectives to reach or the systems to design.…”

Crop up! : adoption and value chain organisation in crop diversification transitions

“…Yet, the enablers and barriers for bringing these niches to scale at a territorial level are far from being fully understood (Ingram, 2015;Magrini et al, 2016;Meynard et al, 2018;Morel et al, 2020). The implementation and adoption of niche practices at larger scale is a complex endeavour (Boulestreau et al, 2021;Wigboldus et al, 2016;Wojtynia et al, 2021) and in the case of crop diversification touches upon many dimensions, including policies, markets and value chains, and farm management (Magrini et al, 2016;Meynard et al, 2018;Voisin et al, 2014). Accordingly, farmers are not always in full control of their choice to adopt crop diversification (Bonke & Musshoff, 2020), and while they can stimulate change at the innovation niche level (Boulestreau et al, 2021), it is the scaling of these practices that is essential to bring about the sustainability transitions food systems need.…”

“…The implementation and adoption of niche practices at larger scale is a complex endeavour (Boulestreau et al, 2021;Wigboldus et al, 2016;Wojtynia et al, 2021) and in the case of crop diversification touches upon many dimensions, including policies, markets and value chains, and farm management (Magrini et al, 2016;Meynard et al, 2018;Voisin et al, 2014). Accordingly, farmers are not always in full control of their choice to adopt crop diversification (Bonke & Musshoff, 2020), and while they can stimulate change at the innovation niche level (Boulestreau et al, 2021), it is the scaling of these practices that is essential to bring about the sustainability transitions food systems need. Against this background, this study focuses on these scaling processes in order to further unravel the mechanisms that facilitate or obstruct the adoption of crop diversification practices, and their scaling.…”

“…We propose, based on our findings, that these dimensions are interrelated (see figure 3.2) and that they shape the scaling process of sustainable innovation niches. This assumption is inspired by the fact that changing farming practices at scale is complex and has many interrelated determinants (Boulestreau et al, 2021) which we can disentangle by considering these dimensions. For example, actors in an innovation niche are motivated by their values and mission to implement and scale up sustainable practices.…”