Supporting transition toward conservation agriculture: a framework to analyze the learning processes of farmers

Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA) is based on 3 principles, namely reduced soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and more complex and legume-rich rotations; and multiple studies have shown its positive impacts. Because CA relies on a variety of ecological processes, it is more deeply rooted in a specific ecological context than conventional agriculture. The complexity of these processes makes it difficult to elaborate general recipes to be applied by farmers, who therefore need to learn to make their own choices adapted to their own agroecosystem. Consequently, helping farmers to move toward CA requires supporting them in learning to develop their own practices. Farmers' learning remains poorly investigated at the individual level, with in particular very little work focusing on learning in CA. We hypothesize that the processes involved in learning to practice CA may differ from those involved in conventional agriculture: for instance, the current lack of detailed reference documents may induce farmers to experiment more. Against this background, we here aimed at describing how farmers experienced in CA learn, by qualifying their learning mechanisms and processes. To do so, we conducted five comprehensive interviews with farmers experienced in CA, and then inductively analyzed the data to explore the diversity of learning mechanisms involved, i.e. the elementary actions or cognitive activities which, organized together, constitute a learning process. We, thus, propose a descriptive framework of non-ordered and non-obligatory learning mechanisms that appear to be mobilized by farmers experienced in conservation agriculture, as a first step toward a deeper analysis of their learning processes. We further emphasize the often unintentional aspect of learning, as well as the importance, for farmers who wish to implement CA practices, of developing new standards of comparison. A better understanding of these learning processes would help improving extension services and training for farmers.

Exchanges among farmers’ collectives in support of sustainable agriculture: From review to reconceptualization

“…The interplays between farmers' exchanges among collectives and the transition process agricultural practices, various studies have shown that transitions towards more sustainable farming systems actually lead to transformations of the farmers themselves: their worldview, their values, their work organization, and so on (Lamine, 2011;Chantre et al, 2013;Barbier et al, 2015;Coquil et al, 2017;Cristofari et al, 2017;Dupré et al, 2017;Chizallet et al, 2018;Toffolini et al, 2019). Although such studies were conducted for various purposes and through different approaches, they all point out that the transition process towards sustainability is much more complex than just filling knowledge gaps or adopting new recommended practices (Coquil et al, 2018).…”

How and why did the transition process towards a fully sustainable production of cocoa beans in Bahia (Brazil) take place?

“…For these scholars, the term "anchoring" conceptualize emerging forms of connection; that is, anchoring is about the link between a novelty and the existing structures and institutions. Therefore, anchoring might happen between a niche and a regime or within a niche like, for example, transformation observed in niche actors (worldviews, values, organization) when going through transitions towards more sustainable agricultural systems (Chizallet et al, 2018;Coquil et al, 2017;Cristofari et al, 2017;Dupré et al, 2017;Lamine, 2011;Toffolini et al, 2019). Elzen et al (2012) propose three anchoring types: technological, network, and institutional.…”

Socio-economic Characterisation of Agriculture Models

“…These forms of organisation, the main goal of which is to share knowledge and learn situated practices, also have the effect of re-drawing the boundaries of agronomic "standard practices". This entails redefining what constitutes good cropping practices, what a field is in a good state is like, what acceptable production levels are, or even the criteria for judging efficiency, and so on (Cristofari et al 2017). This way of organising knowledge circulation contributes to "valuing" others' viewpoints while simultaneously enabling the construction of a shared representation of collective values.…”