Organic Agriculture in Sustainable Rural Development - Sharing and Co-production of Knowledge in Ecological Farming Systems

Rationale and Targets of the Echange-Project

This Echange-Project is part of a PhD research about knowledge processes in organic agriculture and sustainable rural development as practiced in international development cooperation.

The Echange-Project was carried out between 22nd of February and 18th of April 2009 in the Philippines, in the Greater Mekong Subregion (Laos, Thailand, Cambodia), and in India. It comprised of the following activities:

- Attending the international conference “6th International Rice-Ducks Conference” on February 23-27, 2009 at the  University of San arlos, Cebu City, Philippines. This conference is an Asian wide knowledge platform that has a history of more than 15 years and deals with the state of research and extension regarding an organic rice farming method called ‘Integrated Rice and Duck Farming’ (IRDF). Representatives from the following countries where present: Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, and Bangladesh.
- Attending a four day training course on Biodynamic farming in Mysore, India. The course has been hold regularly for more then a decade. What started as a several month long course has been condensed over the years to only a few intensive training days by the Biodynamic Association of India. The training provided an intensive and deep insight in the adaptation of Biodynamics to tropical India and furthermore a good base to get in contact and share ideas and information with different stakeholders.
- Visiting and meeting universities and scholars in order to get in contact with possible research partners and partner institutions.
- Visiting and meeting different stakeholders engaged in organic farming like NGO staff, organic certification institutes, farmers, extension workers, government officials and trainers.

The specific objectives behind these activities are designed to fit in the initial stage of the candidates PhD thesis and have been met with success:

• To present, discuss and share the results from my master thesis at the “6th International Rice-Ducks Conference”.
• To discuss and adequate the proposed research questions of my PhD to the requirements of Southern partners involved in further developing organic rice cultivation.
• To identify Southern partners interested in establishing a research partnership in which my PhD can be embedded.
• To identify possible areas for cases studies and establish contacts with research institutions near those sites.
• To create optimal conditions and contacts for jointly defining thematic and institutional requirements for the creation of a North-South research partnership between my home institution (CDE) and the Southern partners as required for a successful application for a “Jeune Chercheur”-Project.

Dissertation Abstract

This dissertation aims to provide scientific contributions to better comprehension – and the specific advancement – of social learning processes that are associated with the development and dissemination of sustainable forms of knowledge, technologies, and practices in the geographic South. The scientific approach of this human geographic dissertation, in which the Echange-Project is embedded, is to understand and act upon knowledge processes implied in the development of organic agriculture considering cultural, ecological and socio-economical factors. The supervisors are PD Dr. Stephan Rist and Prof. Dr. Urs Wiesmann from the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Berne.

The dissertation is basically motivated by the endeavour to put sustainable development into practice. The concept of sustainability emphasizes on the need for development pathways that take into account intra- and intergenerational equity. With that it is stated what to aim for, but not (yet) indicated how to achieve this general principles in specific social, ecological, economic or historical situations. Organic agriculture is one way of expressing the general principles of sustainability with regard to production of food, fibre and ecological services. As organic agriculture is generally based on the integration of scientific, experts and farmers knowledge, its further development and dissemination is heavily depending on a successful sharing and integration of knowledge between those stakeholder groups. This endeavour is conceptualized as part of a social learning process between the actors involved, which are aiming at a co-production of knowledge which is characteristic to the historical core of organic development.

The research goals are the following:

• The overall goal of this research is to gain better comprehension – and the specific advancement – of social learning processes that are associated with the development and dissemination of sustainable forms of agricultural knowledge, technologies, and practices. With a human-geographic approach that is sensitive to knowledge processes within socio-economic, cultural and ecological contexts on different geographical levels, this study shall grasp the enabling and hindering factors of knowledge processes considering organic farming in general and of sustainable rice farming methods in particular.
• A deeper understanding of those processes shall enable both inter-national and intra-national development cooperation projects in agriculture to achieve long-term and sustainable improvements in rural areas, no matter if organic or conventional farming methods are promoted in those projects. This understanding shall also enable policy makers and project initiators to support organic agriculture reasonably in order to contribute concomitant livelihood security and long term soil fertility and biodiversity.
• The empirical findings, together with literature review and document analysis will lead to a theorisation about knowledge sharing processes in the context of international development cooperation devoted to sustainability in agriculture and rural development with a focus on organic agriculture.

               
Conference Attendee and Mayor of the going green Municipality of Trento, Agusan del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines, explains their communal project to Mr. Takao Furuno, the founder of integrated rice and duck farming during the 6th International Rice-Ducks Conference in Cebu, Philippines (Souce: Dominik Rutz 2009)

 

Biodynamic compost making during the Biodynamic training course near Mysore, Karnataka, India. The compost which compromised of several layers of intermittent carbonaceous and nitrogenaceous materials is covered with cow dung in order to prevent moisture loss in the sweltering heat of the Indian pre-monsoon period (Souce: Dominik Rutz 2009)

Discussing dry period plant society and crops with a NGO staff and a local farmer near Surin, Northeast Thailand (Souce: Dominik Rutz 2009)

 

Involved Institutions and Persons

Dominik Rutz
MSc in Geography
Uhlandstrasse 10
CH-8037 Zurich
Switzerland
Email: drutz@gmx.ch

PD Dr. Stephan Rist
Coordinator Transversal Package of the
National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South
Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)
Hallerstrasse 10
CH- 3012 Bern
Switzerland
Email: Stephan.Rist@cde.unibe.ch

Research Partner:
Mr. Sarun Hey BSc. (Research Partner)
E-mail: hey.sarun’at’gmail.com
Graduate School / Royal University of Agriculture in Cambodia
GIDAR MASTER PROGRAM “Gestion Intégrée du Dévelopment Agricole et Rural”, meaning Integrated Management of Agricultural and Rural Development
Dr. Seng Mom
Dean of Graduate School
E-mail: mom_seng@hotmail.com