Logo image
Back
Against the odds: Network and institutional pathways enabling agricultural diversification
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Against the odds: Network and institutional pathways enabling agricultural diversification

Jennifer Blesh, Zia Mehrabi, Hannah Wittman, Rachel Bezner Kerr, Dana James, Sidney Madsen, Olivia M. Smith, Sieglinde Snapp, Anne Elise Stratton, Mohamed Bakarr, …
One earth (Cambridge, Mass.), Vol.6(5), pp.479-491
05/19/2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.03.004

Abstract

Environmental Sciences Environmental Sciences & Ecology Environmental Studies Green & Sustainable Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Science & Technology Science & Technology - Other Topics
Farming systems that support locally diverse agricultural production and high levels of biodiversity are in rapid decline, despite evidence of their benefits for climate, environmental health, and food security. Yet, agricultural policies, financial incentives, and market concentration increasingly constrain the viability of diversified farming systems. Here, we present a conceptual framework to identify novel processes that pro-mote the emergence and sustainability of diversified farming systems, using three real-world examples where farming communities have found pathways to diversification despite major structural constraints. By applying our framework to analyze these bright spots in the United States, Brazil, and Malawi, we identify two distinct pathways-network and institutional-to diversification. These pathways emerge through align-ment of factors related to social and ecological structure (policies, institutions, and environmental conditions) and agency (values, collective action, and management decisions). We find that, when network and institu-tional pathways operate in tandem, the potential to scale up diversification across farms and landscapes in-creases substantially.

Metrics

1 Record Views

Details

Logo image