With calls for less conventional approaches to agriculture being made increasingly often, the issue of including farmers’ knowledge in developing environmentally-friendly and sustainable types of agriculture has recently been on the table. What is farmers’ knowledge? Why is it necessary? How can it be integrated with scientific knowledge? The article below considers these aspects.
Over the past few decades, agricultural practices have witnessed a deep transformation due to mechanization, the large-scale use of pesticides and fertilizers, and other factors typical of conventional agriculture. This has obviously resulted in more generic agricultural information and standard solutions. The ongoing climate changes, resource shortages, and persistent high rates of hunger and malnutrition have called for a transition towards regenerative, sustainable agriculture that cannot be undertaken using the same basis of information and knowledge.
What is farmers’ knowledge?
Against this background, academia has admitted that “farmers’ knowledge is a valuable resource that can reorient modern agriculture towards more sustainable and resilient paths of development”. Defined as “a sub-set of local knowledge that enables farmers to farm in local conditions”, local farmers’ knowledge is believed to be “of particular importance as it contains an intimate understanding of the particular set of local cultural and natural resources.”
Although farmers’ knowledge quite often lacks the specificity characteristic of scientific work, the scientific community nevertheless seems to be rather receptive to farmers’ knowledge, demonstrating spectacular results when integrating context-specific realities through collaboration with the latter thus helping to find and implement solutions for more sustainable agricultural production.
Consultation tools
As there is an urgent need for transition to sustainable food production, there are mechanisms that allow consultation with farmers so that their knowledge can be incorporated within agricultural policies. In the European Union, for instance, farmers can introduce their input and share their experience via Civil Dialogue Groups as well as different events organized by the European Commission with a view to more participatory and transparent policy-making.
Meanwhile, the largest farmers’ association in the world, Via Campesina, which stands up for agroecology, has been developing an extensive knowledge hub through the development and organization of 70 schools and continuous learning processes organized for agroecology around the globe. Researchers consider that the partnership the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization established with Via Campesina will promote ‘small farmers as key agents in the eradication of world hunger’.
On the other hand, there have been calls for tighter cooperation between EU bodies and Via Campesina. According to several researchers[1], European Coordination Via Campesina is heavily under-represented in European institutions.
Scientist-farmer projects
Whereas politically, farmers’ insights and experience have yet to be appreciated, researchers have displayed a high level of receptiveness towards their knowledge. Scientists have studied informal farmers’ knowledge in different contexts and agricultural models with most of their research emphasizing the conclusion that “informal knowledge has a considerable potential to strengthen agricultural sustainability and resilience”, particularly highlighting the need for location-specific solutions as a means to “improve farm outputs, protect the environment and enhance societal wellbeing,” says Sandhu.
Collaboration and dialogue between academia and farmers have proved fruitful in projects such as Farming for Nature in Ireland or Zero Budget Natural Farming in India, supported by UNEP. Both projects demonstrate how integrating science and farmers’ knowledge can help to achieve results and bring about change in food production systems. There will be more success stories to come as this collaborative approach gains momentum.
[1] Roullaud E. (2017), Contester l’Europe Agricole. La Confederation paysanne a l’epreuve de la PAC, Lyon, Presses universitaires de Lyon.
Delorme H. (2002), “Les agriculteurs et les institutions communautaires: du corporatisme agrícola au lobbyuisme agro-alimentaire”, dans R.Balme et al. (eds.), L’action collective en Europe, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po.
