Exploring barriers to the agroecological transition in Nicaragua: A Technological Innovation Systems Approach

Abstract

Latin America has historically been a vanguard of agroecology. In Nicaragua, an agroecological transition is occurring, with three decades of building a groundswell based on the farmerto-farmer movement and the recent institutionalization of agroecology in national law. Yet, problems remain with agroecology's diffusion. We introduce the Technological Innovation Systems approach to examine systemic barriers to the agroecological transition and cycles of blockages caused by barriers' interactions. Based on qualitative data from north-central Nicaragua, we find the main barriers hindering the agroecological transition include weak guidance of the search for agroecology, insufficient capacities and quantities of resources, and lacking market development. Beyond the Nicaragua case, the analysis points at the importance of using socio-technical systems analysis to better understand and address the root causes behind issues blocking national agroecological transitions.

Las transiciones hacia la sostenibilidad como procesos de final abierto: Dinamización Local Agroecológica con horticultores convencionales de l’Horta de València

“…Los procesos analizados con los perfiles mayoritarios en el territorio (horticultura familiar) desvelan transiciones entendibles más fácilmente desde enfoques complejos, no-lineales, nodeterministas y de final abierto. En este sentido encajarían mejor, como se ha ido comentando, con los enfoques de las barreras a la transición agroecológica (Guzmán et al, 2013;Schiller et al, 2019); las estrategias híbridas de supervivencia en la actividad agraria (Maye & Ilbery, 2005;Darnhofer, 2014); y las estrategias y dinámicas particulares de las redes de actores frente a los cambios en el contexto (Callon, 1984;Martín, 2000). En estos casos y con estos perfiles observamos trayectorias identificables con transiciones no deterministas en las que a través de secuencias de acción-reflexión-acción (Freire, 1975;Villasante 2006) se activan procesos creativos (Magda et al, 2019) de desborde de los marcos de pensamiento previos.…”

“…La capacidad de tales redes para abordar los desafíos sociales, culturales, económicos y ecológicos de los sistemas alimentarios dentro de un marco integral es lo que conduciría a reconfiguraciones del régimen socio-técnico dominante (Levidow et al, 2014) La transición desde sistemas agroalimentarios industrializados hacia sistemas más sostenibles es un proceso complejo (Lobley et al, 2009;Milestad et al, 2010) y requiere por tanto de aproximaciones metodológicas específicas, entendidas como un proceso colectivo de aprendizaje individual y social (Röling & Wagemakers, 1998;Cúellar & Calle-Collado, 2011). Los agricultores han identificado una serie de dificultades para emprender dichas transiciones como un proceso holístico que vincula diferentes escalas y se ve afectado por factores multidimensionales (Guzmán et al, 2013;Schiller et al, 2019). La situación de partida de los tejidos socio-económicos agrarios ha sido identificada como un elemento clave a la hora de definir las trayectorias específicas que se han de desarrollar en cada caso (Guzmán et al 2013).…”

Sustainable Agricultural Systems: A Bibliometrics Analysis of Ecological Modernization Approach

“…However, although agroecological transition is occurring, with Latin America leading [27], there is a problem of agroecology's diffusion and in the recent literature there is a deep analysis of the barriers to agroecology and sustainability transition, as well about the limits to the diversification approach [26]. Using Technological Innovation Systems approach in a Nicaraguan case study, Schiller et al [32] found that among the main barriers to agroecological transition there are weak guidance, insufficient capacities and quantities of resources, and the lack of market development. Moreover, if the transition does not use a participatory approach, there is the risk that these will be conventionalized and co-opted, especially in larger territories [33].…”

Tracking down coupled innovations supporting agroecological vegetable crop protection to foster sustainability transition of agrifood systems

“…ACP is based on a reasoning of agroecological cropping practices which aims to "promote the ecological functioning of agroecosystems by directly or indirectly optimizing interactions between living communities (plant, animal and microbial) both in and above the ground", mainly using preventive and non-synthetic methods (Deguine et al, 2020;Wezel et al, 2014). However, scholars have recently shown that IPM and ACP were not scaling up, due to a web of interconnected barriers which lock the current agricultural systems around the conventional farming model and conventional value chains (Boulestreau et al, 2021;Cowan and Gunby, 1996;Della Rossa et al, 2020;Kernecker et al, 2021;Meynard et al, 2018;Schiller et al, 2019;Vanloqueren and Baret, 2009). For example, long-distance trade, standardization of food quality, low prices, and reliance of agricultural systems on synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are mutually reinforcing one another.…”

“…Agricultural systems' scholars, based on sustainability transition studies, conceptualized the overcoming of this lock-in as a sociotechnical or sustainability transition process (Geels, 2011(Geels, , 2002Geels and Schot, 2007) towards a more sustainable agrifood system (Boulestreau et al, 2021;Klerkx and Begemann, 2020;Meynard et al, 2017;Ollivier et al, 2018;Schiller et al, 2019). An agrifood system is defined as the "system [that] gathers all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructure, institutions, etc.)…”