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 six JAFSCD Partners: |
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Agricultural production is fraught with risks and uncertainties. However, unlike conventional agriculture, where producers have a variety of options to mitigate risks around diseases, pests, and poor-quality soils, organic farmers face limitations on the use of synthetic chemicals and fertilizers. These challenges have contributed to the low adoption of certified organic production particularly in the Lower Midwest and Mid-South of the U.S. as compared to other parts of the country, such as the Upper Midwest and Northeastern U.S.
In a new JAFSCD article, Navigating organic farming challenges with farmer-led entrepreneurial innovations in the Mid-South, researchers Stephen Mukembo, Garima Srivastava, Mary Hendrickson, Kerry Clark, and David Redhage employed a hybrid thematic analysis, integrating both deductive and inductive approaches, to examine the entrepreneurial innovations used by certified organic farmers in the Mid-South states of Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee to address regional-specific challenges affecting their operations. They used Schumpeter’s perspective on innovations to categorize farmer innovations.
KEY FINDINGS |
Farmer-led Entrepreneurial Innovative Solutions for Organic Production |
Farmers are diversifying and adding value to their products to expand their market offerings. Farmers are engaging in service innovations, including agritourism, culinary education, and providing delivery options for their online shoppers.
They are improving their production processes by employing more preventative strategies such as mulching, irrigation, and setting up shades, high tunnels, and greenhouses to mitigate pests, diseases, drought, and weeds.
They are creating new marketing strategies to reach diverse consumers, such as through online sales, community supported agriculture (CSAs), and accepting various forms of payments, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Electronic Benefit Transfer (SNAP EBT).
Some farmers reported reinventing farming practices by venturing into adjacent products, such as adopting alternative certifications like certified regenerative products and naturally grown certifications.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH
Despite individual farmer successes, systemic challenges remain for these entrepreneurial farmers. The researchers suggest that an entrepreneurial ecosystems approach could better support these innovative farmers. This could involve developing supportive policies, providing training to improve market access, improving access to financing, and community support networks in these regions. Additional research is needed to gain a deeper understanding of the reinventions and transformations occurring among organic producers, including their experiences that are deterring them from certified organic production.
This research is supported by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) award no. 2020-05110632359.
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A recent study reveals how certified organic farmers in the U.S. Mid-South are tackling unique regional challenges through entrepreneurial innovation. These farmers are diversifying products and services, improving production processes, creating new marketing strategies, and reinventing farming practices. What innovative farming practices have you seen in your area? Share in the comments!
#OrganicFarming #AgInnovation #SustainableAgriculture #EntrepreneurialFarmers #Farminnovation Read the @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2024.134.019 |
Photo above: Liz Graznak of Happy Hollow Farm in Missouri speaks to a group during Organic Field Day 2013 about trap cropping for insects and organic vegetable production. Image by Kyle Spradley | © MU College of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources; used under CC BY-NC 2.0.
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Not “just admin”: Organizational development for food systems change
JAFSCD peer-reviewed article by Lauren Gwin (Oregon State U), Michelle Miller, Erin B. Lowe (both at U of Wisconsin-Madison), Casey Hoy (The Ohio State U), Nancy Creamer (North Carolina State U), Nevin Cohen (City U of New York), Rich Pirog (Michigan State U), Tom Kelly (U of New Hampshire), and Thomas P. Tomich (U of California, Davis)
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Universities can be important partners in changing agriculture and food systems to address critical issues. Inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement are essential approaches – and they are also administratively complicated. Centers and institutes create and hold space and resources for this innovative and often messy work, helping faculty, staff, and students build collaborative relationships across departments or colleges and between the university and external partners. They are essential infrastructure for the work, but often difficult to manage and sustain in university environments built for deep disciplinarity.
The Inter-Institutional Network for Food, Agriculture, and Sustainability (INFAS), which facilitates collaboration to achieve a US food system that is environmentally sustainable and socially just, connectss many centers and institutes. The INFAS Organizational Development working group hosted conversations focused not on the content of the work but the structure and systems that make the work possible.
In a new JAFSCD article, Resilience strategies for centers and institutes focused on food systems transformation, Lauren Gwin, Michelle Miller, and Erin Lowe, with collaborators from nine centers and institutes participating in INFAS, share challenges, insights, and recommendations from these conversations. KEY FINDINGS Structural and operational choices can support or undermine the resilience, stability and effectiveness of centers.
Center leaders benefit from opportunities to share experiences with their peers that are not typically covered in peer reviewed academic literature or at academic conferences. Centers and institutes are structured very differently, based on their institutional, social, and political contexts. Some are Extension-focused, others focus on participatory research or experiential for-credit education. Many centers contend with similar issues. Primary challenges include cultivating consistent support from university administrators and faculty over decades; recruiting and retaining supportive faculty partners; and securing sustainable funding.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH
The paper offers many different recommendations to address the primary challenges. Some can be implemented by center leaders, while others must be changed by higher-level administrators. Context matters: A strategy used successfully by one center leader may not work for another.
Community partners have power: They are important advocates with administrators and policy decisionmakers. Build solidarity between centers and keep this conversation going: The “nuts and bolts” of running a center or institute may not seem exciting, but centers require ongoing attention and care.
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It's not just administration! What challenges and opportunities do universities face in their work on sustainable agriculture and food systems? Leaders in academia share their experiences with building and maintaining innovative and collaborative structures and systems inside universities. Read the @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2024.134.018
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Image above: Diagram of the founding dates of the 9 centers who contributed recommendations; image provided by the authors.
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Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries: New Tools to End Hunger, by Katie S. Martin; review by Anna Marchessault (U of Vermont)
From the review:
"Martin . . . juxtapos[es] the goals of emergency food aid with the goals of reducing widespread food insecurity. While the charitable food system is built on addressing emergency food access, the current food insecurity in the U.S. is not an emergency; it is embedded in our society. . . . Consequently, these programs are built and measured around the goal of feeding the hungry. When food banks measure success through pounds of food donated, it encourages them to keep customers rather than address the root causes of food insecurity. A lost customer is not a success story of someone getting back on their feet but instead an indication of less food donated."
Read the full review for free! |
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SUPPORT JAFSCD THROUGH YOUR LIBRARY!
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If you are affiliated with a college or university and want to support JAFSCD, now is the time of year when libraries order new journal subscriptions. |
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EVENT BY A JAFSCD SHAREHOLDER
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10th Annual Rich Earth Summit November 12–14, 2024
Hybrid: Virtual (Zoom) & In-Person (Brattleboro, Vermont, USA)
The Rich Earth Summit, hosted by Rich Earth Institute, is a global event dedicated to advancing urine reclamation to create sustainable and just nutrient cycles. This gathering brings together researchers, practitioners, and advocates to share knowledge and foster collaboration.
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F2iSummit Call for Proposals
Farm to Institution New England (FINE) invites you to help create the 2025 Northeast Farm to Institution Summit!
Submit your proposal(s) to organize a 2-hour strategy session, 1-hour session, or field trip at this extraordinary event in Portland, Maine in April 2025. The theme is Belonging. FINE also welcomes other suggestions via this proposal (e.g. speakers, side meetings, topics you hope are addressed, and arts to integrate). Questions to Tania: tania@farmtoinstitution.org
Submissions accepted until November 1, 2024, at Summit Call for Proposals |
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JAFSCD is an open access, community-supported journal! Your library, program, or organization can become a shareholder to help keep JAFSCD's content available to all, regardless of their resources. We welcome anyone to become an individual shareholder; donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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