Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
5
Soft System Methodology
in the Management of
Agroecosystem Health
and Sustainability
Concerns of a Tropical
Highlands Agroecosystem
5.1 IntRoductIon
Hard system methods (also known as first-order cybernetics) are concerned with
problem situations in which there is correspondence between the holon and things
or phenomena in the real world. Soft system methods (second-order cybernetics),
on the other hand, deal with situations in which such correspondence may not exist,
with the holons articulated solely for the purpose of understanding and as shorthand
for the mental framework of an individual with a unique experiential or cognitive
history on the relevant real-world situation (Ison et al., 1997).
The objectives of a soft system analysis in agroecosystem health (AESH) and
sustainability assessment are threefold. The first is to reveal the different, and some-
times conflicting, perspectives of stakeholders and the rationale behind each percep-
tion of a problem situation. This prepares the ground for mutual understanding and
negotiation among the stakeholders, a prerequisite to any sustainable improvements.
The second objective is to serve as the basis for evaluating potential management
options. As the agroecosystem evolves over time, new aspects of the messy prob-
lem situation emerge, requiring new analysis and synthesis as well as rethinking the
management options. The third objective is the evaluation of agroecosystem perfor-
mance. This can be done by comparing and contrasting holon characteristics over
time and space.
Several soft system approaches have been proposed (Flood and Carson, 1993),
but the best documented is soft system methodology (SSM). SSM is a set of orga-
nized principles—based on systems thinking—that guide action in trying to manage
messy problem situations. SSM follows two interacting modes of inquiry that together
lead to the implementation of changes to improve the situation. One of these, the
cultural stream, consists of three examinations of the problem situation (Checkland
and Scholes, 1990). The first examines the intervention itself. The second examines
the situation as a social system; the third examines it as a political system. The basic
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