SUSTR: Graduate Module
Sustainable Rural
Development: Agriculture
Title:
Paradigm Shift in Agriculture for Rural Development
Presenters:
Katie Snyder-Marr, Mariah Maggio, Ellis Adams, Brie Rust, Meredith Ballard, Nawaf Bilasi
Michigan
Technological University
Background:
Historical agriculture began based upon the realization of
the economic value of agricultural land, mostly in rural areas. The initial phase of agriculture was centered
on resource extraction and departure, i.e. the boom town to ghost town
phenomena. After the initial phase, there was another wave of agricultural
development that was based upon resource substitution, emergent agricultural
technologies, commercial fertilizers, and irrigation. This reversed the trend of ghost towns and
helped create long-term communities and towns.
At this time, rural development was much less constrained by the
fertility of the local land. During this
period, farming communities specialized in single crops, developing
monocultures. The growth of industrial
agriculture developed significant economic, environmental and social concerns
with the insurgence of technologies to replace human labor thereby displacing
farm families and promoting low levels of income, education, health, and
community service (Ikerd, 1998). The future
of rural communities may be significantly impacted by the way society addresses
the future of agriculture and sustainability.
We are rapidly depleting natural resources and consequently
there is a need to shift from the economy of reliance on nonrenewable energy
and depletion of resources to dependence on renewable energy and harmonious
living with natural and human resources.
This may require a shift from narrow self-pursuit of wealth to the
pursuit of equity and justice for society.
To meet these demands, some call for sustainability to create new
opportunities and visions for rural communities and the future of rural areas
(Ikerd, 2010).
For the past 20 years there has been a shift in the
sociological aspect of rural communities, including the maintenance of local
knowledge and populations. Currently,
these communities are still experiencing out migration to inviting cities for
greater opportunities and jobs and thus changing the face, values, and
economies of these rural communities. The economies depend on the economically
dominant industrial agriculture system which translates into very few family
farms and jobs. The International
Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development
(IAASTD) demanded that “global society must undertake a "paradigm
shift" in agriculture” (Block, 2008). This demand is realized by the
transition to sustainable agriculture system through the linkage of values
inherent in geographically fixed resources in rural communities. The shift represents a conflict between two
opposing worldviews and social equity.
The competing worldviews are illustrated through Beus and Dunlap’ s (1990)
six dimensions: 1) centralization vs. decentralization 2) dependence vs.
independence 3) competition vs. community 4) domination of nature vs. harmony
with nature 5) specialization vs. diversity and 6) exploitation vs. restraint.
The transition to ecologically sustainable agriculture will
substitute internal resources for the external purchased inputs, thus
increasing farm labor, operators, and families by building natural and human
capital in the rural communities.
Alternatively, this transition may provide sustainable energy for local
and regional communities through the use of biofuels. Inherent in this
agricultural shift are levels of governance driven by regional, national and
international policy. The module will
focus on the social, economic and environmental aspects of the agriculture
paradigm shift as a potential for sustainable rural community development. The module will engage students in the
discussion of the sustainable agriculture as a plausible transition for world
food production, community sustainable development, and energy production.
Objectives:
·
to understand the historical trends in rural agriculture
·
to understand the paradigm shift
from conventional to sustainable agriculture in rural communities
·
to illustrate the possibilities and
constraints through case studies in North America
·
to understand how the different
forces interplay in the adaption of agricultural strategies in rural
development (governance – local and national)
Synopsis: With these
objectives in mind, we’ll look at the following topics to understand the
dynamics of agriculture as a tool for sustainable rural development:
·
History of the paradigm shift
·
Shift to Local Based Ecological
Agriculture
·
Transfer of Local Knowledge and
Increase in Social Equity
·
The use of policies to drive rural
development (Governance)
·
Bio-fuels
Presentation: link to powerpoint presentation
Outline:
I.
History: Background on agrarian shifts
II.
Current Agricultural Structure
III.
Paradigm Shift: Conversion to sustainably rural development (Katie
& Mariah)
1
Rationale: What is driving this shift?
2
Examples: Organic, Permaculture, Rotational Crops, Community-based
Agriculture
a.
Community Supported agriculture (CSA-In Canada, Community Shared
Agriculture)
b.
Permaculture
c.
Organic
d.
Rotational Crops
3
Linkage of resilience and local knowledge
IV.
Counter-Argument to Sustainability-Biofuels (Ellis)
V.
Conclusion/Discussion
Readings:
1.
Beus, C.E. and Dunlap, R.E. 1990. Conventional
versus Alternative Agriculture: The Paradigmatic Roots for the Debate. Rural
Sociology, 55: 590-616. http://www.soc.iastate.edu/class/325/beus.pdf
2.
Ikerd, John E. 1998. Sustainable
Development as a Rural Economic Development Strategy: http://web.missouri.edu/~ikerdj/papers/sa-cdst.htm
3.
Stinner, D H, Paoletti, M G and
Stinner, B R (1989). In search of traditional farm wisdom for a more
sustainable agriculture: a study of Amish farming and society. Agriculture,
Ecosystems and Environment. 27: 77-90.
4.
Anderson, Molly D. 2008.
Sustainable agriculture and rural development in the United States:
Progress and priorities. Supplement to Non-governmental Organization
Major Group Paper for the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)-16,
5-16 May 2008. Retrieved from http://www.foodsystems-integrity.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/US_NGO_Supplement.2103954.pdf
5.
McFadden, Steven. 2003. History of
Community Supported Agriculture Part 1 and 2: http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/0104/csa-history/part1.shtml
and http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/0204/csa2/part2.shtml
6.
Biofueling Rural Development: Making
the case for linking biofuel production to rural revitalization: http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/PB_biofuels.pdf
Additional Resources
1.
Petrini, Carlo. Short excerpt from Slow Food Nation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECzTRG7tjV0
and book Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean and Fair (excerpt
pdf attached)
2.
Paul Fieldhouse. 1996. Community
Shared Agriculture. Agriculture and Human Values 13 (3) 43-47 http://www.springerlink.com/content/p070658054074768/fulltext.pdf
3.
Biofuels: A major rural economic
development opportunity: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bbb.104/pdf
4.
Block, Ben (2008) “International
Commission Calles for ‘Paradigm Shift’ in Agriculture” Worldwatch Institute.
5.
Pulido, J.S., and G. Bocco. (2003)
“The traditional farming system of a Mexican indigenous community: the case of
Nuevo San Juan Paranagricutiro, Michoacan, Mexico.” Geoderma 11: 249-265.
6.
Deborah Stiles, Greg Cameron, (2009)
"Changing paradigms?: Rural communities, agriculture, and corporate and
civic models of development in Atlantic Canada", Journal of Enterprising
Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 3 Iss: 4, pp.341 –
354
7.
Ikerd, John E. (2010) “Reclaiming
Rural America; Sustainable Community Development” presentation for Town Hall
Meeting on Local Sustainable Community Development, Sioux City, IA.
8.
United States Department of
Agriculture National Agricultural Library Publications Webpage, Community
Supported Agriculture page http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml
9.
International Centre for Research in
Organic Food Systems (ICROFS) http://www.icrofs.org/Pages/News_and_events/index.html
10.
Local Harvest: www.localharvest.org/csa/
11.
Organic Agriculture: UN Food and
Agricultural Organization (FAO) Working Group on Organic Agriculture. 2003. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/y4587e/y4587e.pdf