from the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
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JAFSCD is the world’s only community-supported journal. JAFSCD content is open access (free) thanks to the generous support of our shareholders: the JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium, Library Shareholders, a growing number of Individual Shareholders, and our seven JAFSCD Partners: |
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See the press release below for the first paper published in the special section. (JAFSCD's summer cover features a photo from the first article's research.) Three papers have been published to date, with more coming soon! |
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Special thanks to the sponsors for making this special section possible. |
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Special section guest editors: Jessica Guarino, LL.M, Postdoctoral Associate, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Julie Dawson, Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin–Madison Carmen Ugarte, Assistant Research Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Michelle Wander, Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Alice Formiga, Assistant Professor (Practice), Oregon State University |
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JAFSCD peer-reviewed article by Erin Nelson (U of Guelph), Sarah Hargreaves (Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario), and Dillon Muldoon (Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario) |
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Farmer-led research is a type of inquiry that centers farmers and enables them to address their curiosities and challenges by applying scientific methods on their farms. It is compatible with diverse farm scales and management styles and has been most widely used to support ecological farming systems. Although farmer-led research has been widely used in the Global South for decades, in recent years it has become more popular in North America. Often led by farmer networks and nongovernmental organizations, farmer-led research has been shown to help farmers develop and refine ecological farming innovations, share them with peers, and increase their adoption. Farmer-led research initiatives also create important social benefits, including instilling pride in participants and building strong, diverse communities.
In a new JAFSCD article, “Farmer knowledge as formal knowledge: A case study of farmer-led research in Ontario, Canada,” Erin Nelson, Sarah Hargreaves, and Dillon Muldoon share the story of the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario’s Farmer-Led Research Program, presenting results of a participatory, mixed methods program evaluation. Corresponding author Erin Nelson can be contacted at enelson@uoguelph.ca.
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KEY FINDINGS
Since 2016, the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario and its Farmer-Led Research Program have supported almost 100 farmers in conducting trials on their farms and sharing their findings with others. Research demonstrated that this work is having important impacts, including: -
Facilitating effective communication about the benefits of ecological farming practices to a wide range of audiences;
- Fostering a feeling of community among knowledge generators and users and across broader farmer-research networks;
- Enhancing the quality and reliability of on-farm data collection;
- Enabling farmers to make evidence-based decisions on their farms; and
- Instilling a strong sense of pride in participating farmer-researchers.
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| POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS - Funders need to provide multiyear funding to enable multiyear trials.
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Funding must be flexible to allow farmers to adapt projects and deliverables to their on-farm realities and follow seasonal cycles of decision-making and innovation.
- Institutions should support farmer-to-farmer knowledge-sharing and mentorship in a variety of ways.
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Based on the research results, the authors developed policy recommendations aimed at enhancing the scale, scope, and sustainability of farmer-led research. More information on these recommendations and a summary of the research project can be found at the EFAO website. |
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Photos: (Top) Heather Coffey's plots are set up as part of a trial looking at the efficacy of spring-planted white clover as mulch for organic garlic. (Bottom) Romina Bortoluzzi takes observations of different lettuce varieties as part of a multifarm lettuce variety trial. Photos provided by the authors. |
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