Co-inquiry in agroecology research with farmers: transdisciplinary co-creation of contextualized and actionable knowledge

ABSTRACT

The transformative claim of agroecology research draws on transdisciplinarity and participatory action research to operationalize horizontal learning and experimentation for knowledge co-creation and change in action. Drawbacks to recent research strategies in this field are lack of action orientation, and limited roles and low level of control attributed to farmers, particularly in defining scope and methods for collaboration and joint experimentation. In response, in this article we conceptualize a co-inquiry approach for agroecology research adopted from participatory action research and explore its operationalization and outcomes with a group of organic horticultural farmers in Argentina. We assess how co-inquiry considers farmers’ experience in the knowledge co-creation process to achieve contextualized research questions and actionable results, and reflect on potentials and constraints of extended roles attributed to farmers and their increased control over inquiry process and contents. We found that co-inquiry facilitates extended roles of farmers as co-researchers and thereby encourages horizontal learning based on systems thinking, through a joint explorative assessment of the systems operators’ purposes, context, and experience, and through joint choice of methodology, experimentation and reflection.

KEYWORDS:

• Co-operative inquiry
• transdisciplinary research
• participatory action research
• transition
• knowledge co-production
• organic horticulture
• Rio Negro Argentina

Acknowledgments

We are very much thankful to the six farmers who participated in the presented co-inquiry as co-researchers. In particular, we are grateful for the collaboration at eye level, and for their willingness, experience and ideas to jointly advance transdisciplinary action for agroecology. We extend our thanks to the wider group of local farmers who supported the co-inquiry process in various ways. We are further very grateful to the three institutions listed above for their financial support to the project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical statement

The collaboration in the co-inquiry was formalized in a written and signed agreement of cooperation between the first author and the participating group of co-researchers at the beginning of the project. The agreement included an informed consent and explicit authorization by the co-inquiry group to analyse and publish anonymized data on the co-inquiry process and results. In recognition and appreciation of the contribution by non-academic partners in the transdisciplinary knowledge co-creation process, the co-inquiry group decided for co-authorship by one co-researcher in representation of the group of co-researchers.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. In this study, we use the term role to relate to a set of expected behaviors by a social group or individuals toward a social position (Peuckert 1992) including tasks and responsibilities in collaborative actions.

2. In this article we use the term experimentation in a broad sense, including experiments on a scientific basis, and informal experimentation without using scientific criteria, for instance when farmers reflectively observe their actions and draw conclusions for changing their practices. See Hansson (2019) for a comprehensive analysis of farmer experimentation from the philosophy of science perspective.

3. According to Heron and Reason (2008) experiential knowing refers to the immediate encounter with a person, thing or place, hence the direct experience through perception and feeling. Presentational knowing refers to the process of expressing and sharing experience with others. Propositional knowing is based on intellectual knowledge that is shared with others in form of beliefs or ideas. Practical knowing is the know-how for implementation, leading to new skills or competences.

4. The facilitating co-researcher is fluent in the Spanish language, hence no translator was needed for conducting the co-inquiry process and for analyzing the data.

5. Within a community of practice of peer farmers (Morgan 2011), individual farmers (monitor farm) become actively involved in experimentation, monitoring, evaluation and demonstration of farming practices, to trigger joint learning and action among peer farmers and other relevant stakeholders (e.g. Dalley et al. 2014)

6. We use the term purpose to refer to intentions, aims and reasons for doing something or for allowing something to happen (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/de/worterbuch/englisch/purpose)

Additional information

Funding

The research received funding support from: German Academic Scholarship Foundation (PhD scholarship first author); German Academic Exchange Service (PhD scholarship first author for field work); Foundation fiat panis (material costs for field work).