Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Results of the first year's workshops were published in the
Journal
of
Sustainable
Agriculture
(Francis and Carter 2001), and titles of the four workshops are indicative of the increasing
spatial level of scale for each succeeding workshop:
• 1994: Everyone a Teacher, Everyone a Learner;
• 1995: Shared Leadership, Shared Responsibility;
• 1996: Linking People, Purpose, and Place: an Ecological Approach to Agriculture; and
• 1997: Facing a Watershed: Managing Profitable and Sustainable Landscapes in the 21st
Century.
These extension workshops helped to set in motion the sustainable agriculture training
programs in our individual states. The methods used were participatory and hands-on in the
field where possible. Discussion and active learning was strongly encouraged throughout the
programs. Groups in the host states that had previously not known each other found common
ground and began to plan cooperative education programs. These were emergent properties,
or unexpected successes, that were realised as a result of the SARE workshops in the USA.
Many of the participants were exposed for the first time to successful organic farming opera-
tions during the workshops.
These practical examples of farmer education programs in the Nordic countries and the
USA are all characterised by a high level of farmer participation, and by shifting ownership
and decision making in the program to the farmer members of each group. Although they are
not exclusively organic programs, they represent many examples of participatory networks,
and these serve to illustrate the principles of dispersed leadership and empowerment of
groups.
Discussion and conclusions
Organic production systems are complex out of necessity, since soil fertility and plant protec-
tion are provided by applying the principles of ecology and lessons from natural ecosystems. It
is this complexity, in part, that makes the need for unique education and training opportuni-
ties so important for organic farmers. In addition, the lack of institutional support with infor-
mation from universities and government agencies in most countries makes this a valuable
area to explore and for which to seek appropriate educational options.
Based on the case studies described in Finland, Norway and the USA, the authors conclude
that building networks of multiple agencies and groups, enhancing participation and using a
variety of learning tools for discussion and ref lection appear to be important strategies for
organic farmers' training. These strategies will also provide potential for knowledge creation.
The participatory form of planning seems particularly appropriate for education and
training for organic farmers, since there is a need to generate new knowledge by combining the
experiences of farmers with the science developed by formal research projects. The power of
such synergies has been described and illustrated by programs in several countries. The idea of
combining theory with practice for knowledge advancement is being implemented through
cooperative on-farm research activities, such as the cases in Iowa and Nebraska, USA. What
the authors conclude from long experience with farmers and examining their information
needs in organic farming, is that site and farm specificity is a large issue, and the homogenised
types of practices being promoted in conventional agriculture are not appropriate for sustain-
able systems using organic techniques.
Based on experience, the authors see that current education and training for organic
farmers is primarily focused on those scale-specific technologies that are appropriate to
medium and small farms. However, industrial-sized organic farms also exist, especially in the
USA, and choices of farming practices that are appropriate for these large-scale and intensive/
