Global Networks in Local Agriculture: A Framework for Negotiation

Abstract

Agricultural systems operate through the enrollment of local actors into social networks. These social networks share common idioms and expectations concerning appropriate knowledge and practices. Interaction and competition between social network segments creates the potential for technological change and sustainable production. In the past, global actors enrolled local actors into the networks of modern agriculture through the success of the technology transfer model. However, the innovation to resolve the current problems of local agroecologies requires a more reflexive approach. The adaptive management model facilitates the negotiation of boundaries between networks while addressing the most pressing issues of sustainable local agriculture.

KEY TERMS:

• adaptive management
• globalization
• innovation
• knowledge networks
• local agriculture
• negotiation
• social learning
• social networks
• sustainable agricultural systems
• technological change
• technology transfer

Acknowledgments

This presentation was given as a part of a plenary panel on “Negotiating Local Change in Globalized Agriculture” at the 12th Biennial Conference of the United States Agricultural Information Network, “Agriculture without Borders,” Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, May 10, 2010.

The author wishes to thank Margaret Merrill for bringing the panel together that led to this article, the feedback of colleagues Cornelia Flora, Jennifer Lamb, Michael Mulvaney, Elizabeth Ransom, and Corinne Valdivia and the technical support of Lauren Moore and Lindsey Sutphin. This article was made possible by the United States Agency for International Development and the generous support of the American People for the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Collaborative Research Support Program under terms of Cooperative Agreement No. EPP-A-00-04-00013-00 to the Office of International Research, Education, and Development at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Notes

A number of social network methodologies and approaches are currently being promoted. They all have a considerable amount in common, but they all have their technical nuances as well. Here, we frame the discourse in terms more associated with Actor Network Theory, but, that too, has a certain degree of diversity within its ranks. See Lamb, Moore, and Christie (2010) for discussion.

With its new money and lack of institutional baggage, a question is currently posed concerning the Gates Foundation contribution to this learning pathway. Will it attempt to re-create the wheel of technology transfer (as it currently appears) or move on to support the building of local innovation networks?