Implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in Africa: anthropological perspectives
In this paper, we will explore the ways in which sustainable intensification interventions often overlook fundamental social dynamics in rural landscapes. We provide evidence of the underlying social, political and environmental contexts that affect farmers’ land-use decisions. While there are numer...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/53063 |
| _version_ | 1855527133976199168 |
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| author | Snyder, Katherine A. Cullen, Beth |
| author_browse | Cullen, Beth Snyder, Katherine A. |
| author_facet | Snyder, Katherine A. Cullen, Beth |
| author_sort | Snyder, Katherine A. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | In this paper, we will explore the ways in which sustainable intensification interventions often overlook fundamental social dynamics in rural landscapes. We provide evidence of the underlying social, political and environmental contexts that affect farmers’ land-use decisions. While there are numerous initiatives to promote a Green Revolution for Africa, many tend to be dominated by technical fixes that fail to understand rural farmers’ condi - tions or aspirations and focus narrowly on increasing productivity. These technical solu - tions rarely address the broader social, economic and political challenges to agricultural production and farmers’ livelihoods. Finally, top-down technical approaches frequently fail to build on the local knowledge, innovative capacity and expertise of farmers and members of rural communities throughout Africa. Examples from fieldwork in Ghana, Ethiopia and Tanzania are used to illustrate our arguments. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace53063 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace530632025-11-12T05:55:50Z Implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in Africa: anthropological perspectives Snyder, Katherine A. Cullen, Beth smallholders farmers sustainable agriculture anthropology food security land tenure agricultores agricultura sostenible antropología seguridad alimentaria áfrica In this paper, we will explore the ways in which sustainable intensification interventions often overlook fundamental social dynamics in rural landscapes. We provide evidence of the underlying social, political and environmental contexts that affect farmers’ land-use decisions. While there are numerous initiatives to promote a Green Revolution for Africa, many tend to be dominated by technical fixes that fail to understand rural farmers’ condi - tions or aspirations and focus narrowly on increasing productivity. These technical solu - tions rarely address the broader social, economic and political challenges to agricultural production and farmers’ livelihoods. Finally, top-down technical approaches frequently fail to build on the local knowledge, innovative capacity and expertise of farmers and members of rural communities throughout Africa. Examples from fieldwork in Ghana, Ethiopia and Tanzania are used to illustrate our arguments. 2014 2015-01-19T18:17:39Z 2015-01-19T18:17:39Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/53063 en Open Access application/pdf Snyder, Katherine A.; Cullen, Beth. 2014. Implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in Africa: anthropological perspectives. Anthropological Notebooks 20(3): 9-29. |
| spellingShingle | smallholders farmers sustainable agriculture anthropology food security land tenure agricultores agricultura sostenible antropología seguridad alimentaria áfrica Snyder, Katherine A. Cullen, Beth Implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in Africa: anthropological perspectives |
| title | Implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in Africa: anthropological perspectives |
| title_full | Implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in Africa: anthropological perspectives |
| title_fullStr | Implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in Africa: anthropological perspectives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in Africa: anthropological perspectives |
| title_short | Implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in Africa: anthropological perspectives |
| title_sort | implications of sustainable agricultural intensification for family farming in africa anthropological perspectives |
| topic | smallholders farmers sustainable agriculture anthropology food security land tenure agricultores agricultura sostenible antropología seguridad alimentaria áfrica |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/53063 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT snyderkatherinea implicationsofsustainableagriculturalintensificationforfamilyfarminginafricaanthropologicalperspectives AT cullenbeth implicationsofsustainableagriculturalintensificationforfamilyfarminginafricaanthropologicalperspectives |