Negotiating the boundary between state-led and farmer approaches to knowing nature: An analysis of UK agri-environment schemes

This paper explores the role of knowledge in the development of more environmentally sustainable farming systems in the UK and specifically seeks to reveal the porosity of the boundary between state-led and farmer approaches to knowing nature. Its empirical focus is two government sponsored ‘agri-environment schemes’—the Countryside Stewardship scheme and the Environmentally Sensitive Area scheme—which offer financial incentives to farmers and other land managers who agree to undertake environmentally beneficial practices. As a framework for analysis, the paper draws on the notion of ‘knowledge culture’, with agri-environment schemes represented as an emerging ‘policy knowledge culture’ that is seemingly distinct, in its approach to knowing nature, from pre-existing ‘agrarian knowledge cultures’. Data are derived from two large scale, countrywide surveys of agreement holders in the two agri-environment schemes. These reveal that alongside some resistance to the policy knowledge culture of AES, there is also negotiation and interchange taking place between knowledge cultures, and the policy knowledge culture is adapting to and accommodating aspects of the other. As such, the paper contests the findings of previous studies which assert that the codified knowledge of agri-environment schemes always wins out in the implementation of scheme agreements, with the subsequent marginalisation of other knowledge(s). In turn, it suggests that policy knowledge cultures can give voice to farmers’ ways of knowing nature with benefits both for them and nature itself. The paper concludes with some reflections on the extent of knowledge culture transformation and offers some policy recommendations.     

‘Letting them go’ - Agricultural retirement and human-livestock relations

Through a focus on agricultural retirement, this paper extends on the recent work considering human-livestock relations. Drawing on research conducted in Hampshire and West Sussex (UK), the paper utilises farmers’ narratives of farm work and retirement to explore the themes of [dis]connection between farmers and their dairy cattle. The paper attempts to add complexity and nuance to assumptions about the nature and extent of animal objectification with commercial dairy farming, and consider the intricate moral geographies [re]created within the individual farm. The discursive and material ‘placings’ of animals are considered alongside an exploration of how the intricate temporality and spatiality of these are disturbed and disrupted by the move to retirement. In discussing these relations the paper examines how animals are central to the everyday lives and identities of farmers and how separation from them alters farmers’ attachment to particular practices, places and social networks.     

Virtual moralities: The mainstreaming of Fairtrade in Kenyan tea fields

Fairtrade was founded to alleviate poverty and economic injustice through a market-based form of solidarity exchange. Yet with the increasing participation of transnational food corporations in Fairtrade sourcing, new questions are emerging on the extent to which the model offers an alternative to the inimical tendencies of neoliberalism. Drawing on a qualitative research project of Kenyan Fairtrade tea, this paper examines how the process of corporate mainstreaming influences the structure and outcomes of Fairtrade, and specifically the challenges it poses for the realization of Fairtrade’s development aspirations. It argues firstly that whilst tea producers have experienced tangible benefits from Fairtrade’s social premium, these development ‘gifts’ have been conferred through processes marked less by collaboration and consent than by patronage and exclusion. These contradictions are often glossed by the symbolic force of Fairtrade’s key tenets - empowerment, participation, and justice - which simultaneously serve to neutralize critique and mystify the functions that Fairtrade performs for the political economy of development and neoliberalism. Second, building on recent critiques of corporate social responsibility, the paper explores how certain neoliberal rationalities are emboldened through Fairtrade, as a process of mainstreaming installs new metrics of governance (standards, certification, participation) that are at once moral and technocratic, voluntary and coercive, and inclusionary and marginalizing. The paper concludes that these technologies have divested exchange of mutuality, as the totemic features of neoliberal regulation - standards, procedures and protocols - increasingly render north south partnerships ever more virtual and depoliticized.     

Placing voluntarism within evolving spaces of care in ageing rural communities

Guided by a theorisation of voluntarism as a critical process shaping local outcomes of changes underway in health care systems and in rural communities, this paper re-analyses qualitative results from previous case studies of rural ageing to deconstruct the multifaceted role of the voluntary sector in facilitating the emergence of homes and communities as ‘new’ spaces of care. The specific focus is on the lived experience of voluntary sector care providers from the perspectives of non-profit organisations, community groups and families as well as elderly residents of rural communities in Canada and New Zealand. The findings confirm the local dynamics of voluntarism as a crucial yet neglected component of sustainable rural services and communities. More importantly, they reveal the voluntary sector as a major source of resistance to both the short-term changes mandated by restructuring and longer-term changes associated with rural ageing and service decline. It is through resistance that voluntary organisations and volunteers are seen to be engaging most intensely with the challenge of ageing in place within evolving spaces of care. A more nuanced understanding of their complex role is a prerequisite for developing informed policy on rural ageing and care provisioning.     

Identifying farmer attitudes towards genetically modified (GM) crops in Scotland: Are they pro- or anti-GM?

The GM debate in the European Union has been consistently presented as being conflictual and contentious, characterised as being polarised into those who are pro-GM and those who are anti-GM. This is largely based on the positions adopted by the public (consumers), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and industry and corporate bodies. One group largely lacking from this debate is farmers, and yet their decisions about whether or not to cultivate GM crops will be crucial to the future of the technology in European agriculture. This paper reports findings from a study investigating farmers’ attitudes to GM crops in Scotland using Q methodology. Results reveal three discourses, one inclined to be positive towards the idea of GM and demonstrating an expectation of benefits, the second representing a more uncertain position, wary of the potential risks of the technology but likely to be reluctant adopters, and the third describing a group who demonstrate a somewhat fatalistic attitude towards the issue of GM technology adoption and impact. These findings contribute to the GM debate by elaborating the views of this important stakeholder group and suggest that they may be less profoundly pro- or anti-GM than other groups involved in the debate. This is significant if they represent the ‘middle ground’ between the biotechnology industry and the public.     

Catchment contrasts: Comparing young people’s experiences and knowledge of a river environment

Early geographies focussed on children have recorded their environmental and spatial perceptions. Contemporary theoretical and methodological advances in, and beyond, children’s geographies have supported a more complex engagement with environmental topics. Complementing this work, a study of young people’s experience and knowledge of a river in southern New Zealand is presented. Data were gathered from four contrasting locations within one, 5650 sq. km, catchment, employing child-oriented, multi-method approaches. Data analysis confirms existing literature highlighting how young people are competent knowledge producers with varying experiences and understandings. Some of this variation can be appreciated by focussing on factors of age, gender and catchment location. Together these findings are relevant to both academic and planning circles and implications for young people’s participation in catchment management are noted as a key area for further development of work of this kind.     

Recognising geodiversity and encouraging geoconservation—Some lessons from Callander,Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park,Scotland

In the past decade progress has been made recognising the contribution that geodiversity makes to biodiversity and society. Scotland's Geodiversity Charter, launched in 2012 and revised in 2017, has attracted the support of almost 100 organisations and encourages signatories to work together to recognise the value of geodiversity and ensure it is managed appropriately and safeguarded. The case study presented here highlights that while there is a real desire to protect sites that are scientifically valuable, significant challenges exist to balance this with societal demand for resources and development. There are also challenges for geoscientists and geoconservation groups to communicate effectively with planning authorities and local communities. The case study also sheds light on the problems associated with the systems of designating geosites of national and regional importance, the maintenance of these systems, and how the value of these sites is conveyed beyond the scientific community. Scotland's Geodiversity Charter offers a framework that stakeholders can use to work in partnership to increase awareness of the issues and help achieve the sustainable management of geosites. Case studies such as Callander provide lessons and solutions to overcome the challenges that arise and highlight the need for the participation of both national and local stakeholders.     

Participation in payments for ecosystem services: Case studies from the Lacandon rainforest, Mexico

Understanding people’s willingness to participate in projects and programmes of payments for ecosystem services (PES) has not been a key analytical concern of the scholarly literature around this new field of environmental policy and practice. This paper analyses participation in four communities benefiting from payments for biodiversity and carbon fixation in Mexico, and contrasts the results for each case with neighbouring communities that do not receive payments. We take a holistic approach that accounts for procedural rules, actors’ interactions, institutions and values, and individuals’ characteristics. We show that the nature of PES rules and the effectiveness of communication with government officers and NGOs influence resource managers’ ability and willingness to participate. We highlight community size, resource managers’ ability to diversify livelihood activities and local perspectives on the conservation of common forests, particularly sacred values and intergenerational concerns on forest conservation, as critical participation drivers. This analysis provides insights on why and how these new institutions may be attractive for some resource managers and permits to draw some recommendations for the future design of PES projects and programmes.     

Genetic geographies. A historical comparison of agrarian modernization and eugenic thought in Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States

The article deals with the role of genetics in the state-led agricultural modernization efforts that took place in different industrialized countries during the course of the 1920s and 1930s. A comparison between Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States shows substantial similarities in their attempts to increase the productivity of agriculture on different geographical scales. Following advances in scientific knowledge about the geography of cultivated plants, these countries sent out numerous expeditions to collect plant breeding material from all over the world. At the same time, states tightened their grip on farmers’ and breeders’ activities inside the country by establishing legal rules for the use of plant varieties and seed. But this was only one side of a larger “genetic modernization” project. In all three countries, concepts of agricultural modernization were substantially linked to social-darwinist thought which embraced programs of eugenics and “racial hygiene”. These links are outlined for each of the cases, highlighting the widely differing intermingling of scientific concepts and terminologies with political ideologies. It is then discussed what role geography and in particular geopolitical thinking of the time were to play in the development of “genetic modernization”, and more specifically, with regard to the nexus between agriculture and eugenics. While the discipline’s involvement in both fields remained comparably marginal in practical terms, clearly there were conceptual contributions toward the development of the broader field. Going back to Ratzel’s and Kjellén’s work, it is argued that geography had an important role in the establishment of a political field in which ideas of managing human reproduction were fused with concepts of economic development and environmental determinism.     

Land conservation campaign in China: integrated management, local participation and food supply option

In an effort to halt soil erosion, desertification and sandstorms, the Chinese government has recently launched a series of land conservation programs targeted at the country’s north, northwest and southwest areas where problems are severe. This paper provides an overview of the current status of the major land conservation projects and their environmental and social-economic significance, as well as the challenges encountered. Conflicts of interests and objectives among different administrative entities involved and problems associated with the lack of local participation are addressed. Impacts on the food economy and implications for the environment are discussed in light of the options for meeting the country’s increasing food demand. The analysis highlights the necessity of improving cooperation and integration across different administrations and the imperative of participation of local communities in the planning and management process for achieving the goals of land conservation campaign. The importance of internalizing the environmental externality of land degradation and stipulating sustainable national food supply strategies is also stressed.     

Urban networks, community organising and race: an analysis of racial integration in a desegregated South African neighbourhood

The paper addresses the question of racial integration in Delft South, a desegregated low-income neighbourhood in Cape Town developed through the provision of state funded housing to families previously classified coloured and African. Through a qualitative analysis, the research examines the effect relocation has had on the racial character of economic and social networks around which resident families construct their everyday activities. In light of the importance of race in shaping these networks, the paper then examines the relationship between access to housing and practices of social and spatial integration, in particular organisation of and participation in street- and neighbourhood-level organisations. I demonstrate that in Delft South legacies of segregation persist in residents’ reliance on economic and social networks built on long, durable histories and geographies of racial segregation. Although physical relocation has not led to a lessening of the importance of racial identities, other identities built around issues such as neighbourhood norms, housing politics, and issues of criminality and legality manifest according to circumstances and residents’ interests. Context and situation therefore are significant for whether and to what degree race and place matter in the post-apartheid context.     

Property matters: Agricultural restructuring and changing landlord-tenant relationships in England

Little research has been conducted on the restructuring activities of tenant farmers in response to changing tenancy legislation and recent CAP reforms. This paper examines the geography of farm tenancy agreements in England since 1995 and presents some findings from postal and telephone surveys on the possible future business trajectories of tenant farmers and the changing nature of landlord-tenant relationships. A clear north-south divide is identified in terms of farm tenancy agreements and a complex array of different tenancy agreements is demonstrated. The relationships between landlords and tenants are changing and the increasing variety of agreements provides evidence of a more fluid (post-feudal) system of agricultural leases. Nevertheless, high levels of uncertainty and negativity characterise tenant farmers’ views on the impacts of CAP reforms. Crucially, the very identity of a tenant farmer is changing, towards an owner-occupier who rents additional land, and there is an urgent need for more detailed research on the ‘consequential geographies’ of farm property rights and the changing nature of landlord-tenant relationships.     

Beyond techno-science: Transgenic maize in the fight over Mexico’s future

Disputes about genetically engineered crops are linked to wider debates about the globalization of agro-food systems and its consequences for food security, social equity, and rural life. Biotechnology expert discourse rarely addresses these wider issues. An exception is the assessment of transgenic maize by the NAFTA Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC), which recommended a moratorium on Mexican imports of US-grown maize. Controversy about “contamination” of indigenous maize varieties by US-grown transgenic corn has been intensified by rising Mexican discontent with the terms of regional economic integration. In this context, scientists and officials were pressured to consider not only risks to maize biodiversity but also the ecological, and cultural characteristics of maize in its Mexican settings and the implications of asymmetric power in North American agricultural trade. In contrast to most narrowly-framed biotechnology risk assessments, the review took account of interventions by rural social movements. While the new moratorium was not adopted by the state, continuing conflicts over GMOs in Mexico have blocked introduction of transgenic maize and have enlarged the political space for debate over Mexico’s development direction. These conflicts reflect the differing interests of various state actors and economic sectors with regard to trade liberalization. They also reveal contrasting food-system paradigms: further agricultural modernization, export competition, and food-import dependence versus an alternative vision of revitalized rural life, farmers’ rights, and national food sovereignty.     

The community morphology of skilled migration: the changing role of voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) in the grounding of British migrant identities in Paris (France)

Research into skilled migrant communities tends to emphasize the grounding of identities through transnationalism and mobility. Less research has been conducted into how skilled migrants actually ground their identities within the city through everyday social networks. The paper addresses this imbalance by examining the changing significance of British voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) in Paris, France. Combining qualitative and quantitative data, findings show local migrant networks to be important focal points for the British even though migrants’ lives may increasingly be transnational in orientation. The research also shows that in situ social networks are evolving. Specifically, traditional forms of elite expatriate communality are not as omnipotent as they once were, with the popularity of some high-profile British VCOs in Paris declining over recent decades. The paper argues that the link between social dynamism and communal morphology helps explain this shift: as British middle-class lifestyles have fragmented, and as the British migrant population in Paris has grown in scale and scope, so the range of VCOs and associated informal networks has grown. Whilst some skilled migrants still embed within traditional expatriate organisations, Britishness is increasingly grounded elsewhere; both within the city through alternative social networks, and located beyond the city through transnational ties.     

State power and environmental initiatives in China: Analyzing China’s green building program through an ecological modernization perspective

This paper applies the ecological modernization (EM) framework to analyze China’s green building program. EM focuses on the effective institutionalization of environmental objectives into respective political and economic systems, and thus provides valuable insights into the roles of the state and other stake holders in environmental regulation. Since the mid-2000s, the Chinese government has advanced an aggressive green building campaign, which is distinguished by its speed, scale, and evolution from one of voluntary participation to a top-down implementation through administrative hierarchies. While this has resulted in a remarkable growth of green building projects, questions remain about the effectiveness and sustainability of such a state-centered approach. Though interviews with officials, planners, architects, real estate developers, and property managers in several Chinese cities, data analysis of the green building stock, and surveys of architects, this paper analyzes Chinese green building patterns and situates such patterns among the contradictory motivations of different levels of government and their relationships to different stake holders. This research finds that the top-down state apparatus is not sufficient to overcome these contradictions and the profit motives of the property developers. However, many under-developed opportunities exist to leverage property developers, building professionals, and the public to engage in green building practices. In the end, I argue that the state must embrace reform to build flexible and collaborative movements with other parties with strong public participation. China’s ecological modernization process may feature a stronger state and faster changes, but it is not exempted from the need of political modernization.     

Protected geographical indications: Institutional roles in food systems governance and rural development

This paper examines the importance of national-level institutional arrangements for promoting the EU’s Protected Geographic Indication scheme (PGI). Taking the example of Ireland, for which PGI designations remain comparatively low, it explores whether the approach to providing institutional supports to the PGI scheme is influenced by top-down technocratic governance structures that pertain to food safety and quality certification that encompass the broader operating environment for food production in Ireland. Although the regulation of food safety and quality certification are distinct remits to the administration of the PGI scheme, in the Irish context the same institutional bodies are involved in governance of both. Using a discourse analysis interpretative framework, this paper draws on interviews with Irish producer group members and institutional representatives to examine how governance of the PGI scheme reflects management perspectives and practices more in keeping with a regulatory environment for food safety and quality than with development of place-based food product links. It suggests that incentives to avail of the PGI scheme as a means of realising value-added for producers are not well established because they require the development of more subjective, context-dependent processes and practices linked to geographical place and place identity. These are not easily accommodated under current institutional arrangements that also incorporate food safety and quality remits because these are in turn strongly established through nationally and internationally recognised systems of regulation and benchmarking. The findings point to the benefits to be gained from a more layered governance structure for PGI; devolving operation of the scheme to relevant regional and local development organisations that possess the expertise and relevant local knowledge to (a) incentivise the formation of producer groups, and (b) prioritise mentoring and support for PGI concept development as a clearer reflection of bottom-up rural sustainability policy.     

Keeping the stress off the sheep? Agricultural intensification, neoliberalism, and ‘good’ farming in New Zealand

Under neoliberal schemes like audit systems, consumer demands born of concerns about food safety, the environment and animal welfare are theoretically poised to influence agricultural production systems (Campbell and Le Heron, 2007). Whether such influences might reverse or redirect the trend toward environmentally-damaging rampant productivism of the 20th century hinges in part on the subjective positions of farmers and the ways in which they inform how farmers respond to policy and market signals.In this paper we argue the need for a genuine engagement with both the complexities of farmer subjectivity and the interactions amongst farmer subjectivity and agro-ecologies, and animal bodies in particular. This paper presents a case study of sheep farmers on the South Island that reveals contestation and transitions in traditional markers of “good farming”, particularly animal health. We observe how such transitions arise from reconfigurations of the relationships between agro-ecological, political and social histories. In this paper’s formulation, neither state subsidies nor neoliberalism in agriculture is primary cause or ultimate effect of the transformation of agricultural practice. Rather, changes in the political economy expose contradictions in farmer subjectivities, the resolution of which may block or reinforce trends suggested by the political economy. We suggest that contested ideas about animal health within the social field of pastoral farming in New Zealand makes it possible that New Zealand’s sheep growers may take the high road of best environmental practice via highly audited environmental standards of production demanded by elite consumer markets, or that they may remain in the intensifying trajectory of continuing to drive the sheep’s body to its maximum possible intensity of production. The mixed legacy of neoliberal reform is that it has simultaneously enabled both of these contradictory trajectories in New Zealand pastoralism.     

New approaches to environmental monitoring: the use of ICT to explore volunteered geographic information

Citizen participation in environmental monitoring is not a new idea. However, recent developments in information and communication technologies (ICT), such as the social web and the miniaturization of sensors, have created new opportunities to promote citizen participation in environmental monitoring. The analysis of existing citizen initiatives that use ICT tools, identified the need for a framework conceptualizing ways to increase the contribution of volunteered geographic data in environmental monitoring. Environmental Collaborative Monitoring Networks (ECMN) are proposed in this paper as a framework that combines the concepts of traditional environmental monitoring networks with the ideals of the open source movement. Such framework can guide the creation of fixed and mobile monitoring networks and is organized based on three building blocks: (1) Motivated Citizens; (2) Sensing Devices; and (3) Back-End Information Infrastructure. To illustrate the issues involved in the implementation of the building blocks of ECMN, the Senses@Watch project is presented, which explored the use of sensory data as a source of monitoring data.     

Transboundary aquifer mapping and management in Africa: a harmonised approach

Recent attention to transboundary aquifers (TBAs) in Africa reflects the growing importance of these resources for development in the continent. However, relatively little research on these aquifers and their best management strategies has been published. This report recapitulates progress on mapping and management frameworks for TBAs in Africa. The world map on transboundary aquifers presented at the 6th World Water Forum in 2012 identified 71 TBA systems in Africa. This report presents an updated African TBA map including 80 shared aquifers and aquifer systems superimposed on 63 international river basins. Furthermore, it proposes a new nomenclature for the mapping based on three sub-regions, reflecting the leading regional development communities. The map shows that TBAs represent approximately 42 % of the continental area and 30 % of the population. Finally, a brief review of current international law, specific bi- or multilateral treaties, and TBA management practice in Africa reveals little documented international conflicts over TBAs. The existing or upcoming international river and lake basin organisations offer a harmonised institutional base for TBA management while alternative or supportive models involving the regional development communities are also required. The proposed map and geographical classification scheme for TBAs facilitates identification of options for joint institutional setups.