Science and story in development: The emergence of non-governmental organizations in agricultural research

Social Studies of Science

Volumn 30, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 95-124

  Shrum, Wesley ^a  

^a LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Agriculture; Alternative agriculture; Extension; Green revolution; NGO; Organic farming; Technology

Indexed keywords

EID: 0034132483     PISSN: 03063127     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/030631200030001004     Document Type: Article

References (92)

1. 52esearch in less-developed countries (LDCs) continues to be neglected by mainstream science and technology studies, in spite of the existence of a heterogeneous body of literature spanning a variety of fields. For an overview, see Wesley Shrum and Yehouda Shenhav, 'Science and Technology in Less Developed Countries', in Sheila Jasanoff, Gerald Markle, James Peterson and Trevor Pinch (eds), Handbook of Science and Technology Studies (London, New Delhi & Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage/4S, 1995), 627-51: I will not continually re-cite this survey paper, which draws on a wide range of literature, reaching conclusions that I will not expound here. In the past ten years, only three of 366 published articles in Social Studies of Science and in Science, Technology, & Human Values (the 4S journal) have dealt with agriculture in LDCs.
2. 52esearch in less-developed countries (LDCs) continues to be neglected by mainstream science and technology studies, in spite of the existence of a heterogeneous body of literature spanning a variety of fields. For an overview, see Wesley Shrum and Yehouda Shenhav, 'Science and Technology in Less Developed Countries', in Sheila Jasanoff, Gerald Markle, James Peterson and Trevor Pinch (eds), Handbook of Science and Technology Studies (London, New Delhi & Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage/4S, 1995), 627-51: I will not continually re-cite this survey paper, which draws on a wide range of literature, reaching conclusions that I will not expound here. In the past ten years, only three of 366 published articles in Social Studies of Science and in Science, Technology, & Human Values (the 4S journal) have dealt with agriculture in LDCs.
3. See, for example, Lawrence Busch, William B. Lacy, Jeffrey Burkhardt and Laura R. Lacy, Plants, Power, and Profit: Social, Economic, and Ethical Consequences of the New Biotechnologies (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991). Agricultural research in LDCs also displays the characteristic and complex features of so-called 'Mode 2' research, including the production of knowledge in the context of its application, transdisciplinarity, organizational diversity, social accountability and reflexivity: Michael Gibbons, Camille Limoges, Helga Nowotny, Simon Schwartzman, Peter Scott and Martin Trow, The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies (London, New Delhi & Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994).
4. See, for example, Lawrence Busch, William B. Lacy, Jeffrey Burkhardt and Laura R. Lacy, Plants, Power, and Profit: Social, Economic, and Ethical Consequences of the New Biotechnologies (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991). Agricultural research in LDCs also displays the characteristic and complex features of so-called 'Mode 2' research, including the production of knowledge in the context of its application, transdisciplinarity, organizational diversity, social accountability and reflexivity: Michael Gibbons, Camille Limoges, Helga Nowotny, Simon Schwartzman, Peter Scott and Martin Trow, The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies (London, New Delhi & Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994).
5. Wiebe Bijker, Of Bicycles, Bakelites, and Bulbs: Toward a Theory of Sociotechnical Change (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995), esp. 273-89.
6. See Stephen Biggs, 'Informal R&D', Ceres, Vol. 13 (1980), 23-26; Biggs and Edward Clay, 'Sources of Innovation in Agricultural Technology', World Development, Vol. 9 (1981), 321-36; Robert Chambers, 'Origins and Practice of Participatory Rural Appraisal', ibid., Vol. 22 (1994), 953-69.
7. See Stephen Biggs, 'Informal R&D', Ceres, Vol. 13 (1980), 23-26; Biggs and Edward Clay, 'Sources of Innovation in Agricultural Technology', World Development, Vol. 9 (1981), 321-36; Robert Chambers, 'Origins and Practice of Participatory Rural Appraisal', ibid., Vol. 22 (1994), 953-69.
8. See Stephen Biggs, 'Informal R&D', Ceres, Vol. 13 (1980), 23-26; Biggs and Edward Clay, 'Sources of Innovation in Agricultural Technology', World Development, Vol. 9 (1981), 321-36; Robert Chambers, 'Origins and Practice of Participatory Rural Appraisal', ibid., Vol. 22 (1994), 953-69.
9. Paul Richards has argued that peasant enterprise (intercropping and shifting cultivation) has produced agricultural revolutions: he makes this point throughout his Indigenous Agricultural Revolution: Ecology and Food Production in West Africa (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1985).
10. Steven Shapin, 'Here and Everywhere: Sociology of Scientific Knowledge', Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 21 (1995), 289-321, at 304.
11. Michael Lynch, 'Laboratory Space and the Technological Complex: An Investigation of Topical Contextures', Science in Context, Vol. 4 (1991), 51-78.
12. Classic references include Nicholas Mullins, 'The Development of a Scientific Specialty: The Phage Group and the Origins of Molecular Biology', Minerva, Vol. 10 (1972), 51-82; Diana Crane, Invisible Colleges: Diffusion of Knowledge in Scientific Communities (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1972); Michel Callon, 'The Sociology of an Actor-Network: The Case of the Electric Vehicle', in Callon, John Law and Arie Rip (eds), Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology: Sociology of Science in the Real World (London: Macmillan, 1986), 19-34; Bruno Latour, Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987). The semiotic approach is more often known as 'actor-network theory' (ANT), but American structuralists also use this term: see Ronald Burt, Towards a Structural Theory of Action: Network Models of Social Structure, Perceptions, and Action (New York: Academic Press, 1982). Even to call the Mullins/ Crane approach 'structural' is to court confusion, since Francophone 'structuralism' bears less resemblance to the Anglophone version than the latter does to semiotic network theory.
13. Classic references include Nicholas Mullins, 'The Development of a Scientific Specialty: The Phage Group and the Origins of Molecular Biology', Minerva, Vol. 10 (1972), 51-82; Diana Crane, Invisible Colleges: Diffusion of Knowledge in Scientific Communities (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1972); Michel Callon, 'The Sociology of an Actor-Network: The Case of the Electric Vehicle', in Callon, John Law and Arie Rip (eds), Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology: Sociology of Science in the Real World (London: Macmillan, 1986), 19-34; Bruno Latour, Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987). The semiotic approach is more often known as 'actor-network theory' (ANT), but American structuralists also use this term: see Ronald Burt, Towards a Structural Theory of Action: Network Models of Social Structure, Perceptions, and Action (New York: Academic Press, 1982). Even to call the Mullins/ Crane approach 'structural' is to court confusion, since Francophone 'structuralism' bears less resemblance to the Anglophone version than the latter does to semiotic network theory.
14. Classic references include Nicholas Mullins, 'The Development of a Scientific Specialty: The Phage Group and the Origins of Molecular Biology', Minerva, Vol. 10 (1972), 51-82; Diana Crane, Invisible Colleges: Diffusion of Knowledge in Scientific Communities (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1972); Michel Callon, 'The Sociology of an Actor-Network: The Case of the Electric Vehicle', in Callon, John Law and Arie Rip (eds), Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology: Sociology of Science in the Real World (London: Macmillan, 1986), 19-34; Bruno Latour, Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987). The semiotic approach is more often known as 'actor-network theory' (ANT), but American structuralists also use this term: see Ronald Burt, Towards a Structural Theory of Action: Network Models of Social Structure, Perceptions, and Action (New York: Academic Press, 1982). Even to call the Mullins/ Crane approach 'structural' is to court confusion, since Francophone 'structuralism' bears less resemblance to the Anglophone version than the latter does to semiotic network theory.
15. Classic references include Nicholas Mullins, 'The Development of a Scientific Specialty: The Phage Group and the Origins of Molecular Biology', Minerva, Vol. 10 (1972), 51-82; Diana Crane, Invisible Colleges: Diffusion of Knowledge in Scientific Communities (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1972); Michel Callon, 'The Sociology of an Actor-Network: The Case of the Electric Vehicle', in Callon, John Law and Arie Rip (eds), Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology: Sociology of Science in the Real World (London: Macmillan, 1986), 19-34; Bruno Latour, Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987). The semiotic approach is more often known as 'actor-network theory' (ANT), but American structuralists also use this term: see Ronald Burt, Towards a Structural Theory of Action: Network Models of Social Structure, Perceptions, and Action (New York: Academic Press, 1982). Even to call the Mullins/ Crane approach 'structural' is to court confusion, since Francophone 'structuralism' bears less resemblance to the Anglophone version than the latter does to semiotic network theory.
16. Classic references include Nicholas Mullins, 'The Development of a Scientific Specialty: The Phage Group and the Origins of Molecular Biology', Minerva, Vol. 10 (1972), 51-82; Diana Crane, Invisible Colleges: Diffusion of Knowledge in Scientific Communities (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1972); Michel Callon, 'The Sociology of an Actor-Network: The Case of the Electric Vehicle', in Callon, John Law and Arie Rip (eds), Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology: Sociology of Science in the Real World (London: Macmillan, 1986), 19-34; Bruno Latour, Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987). The semiotic approach is more often known as 'actor-network theory' (ANT), but American structuralists also use this term: see Ronald Burt, Towards a Structural Theory of Action: Network Models of Social Structure, Perceptions, and Action (New York: Academic Press, 1982). Even to call the Mullins/ Crane approach 'structural' is to court confusion, since Francophone 'structuralism' bears less resemblance to the Anglophone version than the latter does to semiotic network theory.
17. John A. Barnes, 'Class and Committees in a Norwegian Island Parish', Human Relations, Vol. 7 (1954), 39-58; Clyde Mitchell, 'Social Networks', Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 3 (1974), 279-99; James S. Coleman, Elihu Katz and Herbert Menzel, 'The Diffusion of an Innovation Among Physicians', Sociometry, Vol. 20 (1957), 253-70.
18. John A. Barnes, 'Class and Committees in a Norwegian Island Parish', Human Relations, Vol. 7 (1954), 39-58; Clyde Mitchell, 'Social Networks', Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 3 (1974), 279-99; James S. Coleman, Elihu Katz and Herbert Menzel, 'The Diffusion of an Innovation Among Physicians', Sociometry, Vol. 20 (1957), 253-70.
19. John A. Barnes, 'Class and Committees in a Norwegian Island Parish', Human Relations, Vol. 7 (1954), 39-58; Clyde Mitchell, 'Social Networks', Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 3 (1974), 279-99; James S. Coleman, Elihu Katz and Herbert Menzel, 'The Diffusion of an Innovation Among Physicians', Sociometry, Vol. 20 (1957), 253-70.
20. David Edge and Michael Mulkay, Astronomy Transformed: The Emergence of Radio Astronomy in Britain (New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1976); Mulkay, G. Nigel Gilbert and Steve Woolgar, 'Problem Areas and Research Networks in Science', Sociology, Vol. 9 (1975), 187-203.
21. David Edge and Michael Mulkay, Astronomy Transformed: The Emergence of Radio Astronomy in Britain (New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1976); Mulkay, G. Nigel Gilbert and Steve Woolgar, 'Problem Areas and Research Networks in Science', Sociology, Vol. 9 (1975), 187-203.
22. Everett M. Rogers and D. Lawrence Kincaid, Communication Networks: Toward a New Paradigm for Research (New York: Macmillan, 1981).
23. H.M. Collins and R.G. Harrison, 'Building a TEA Laser: The Caprices of Communication', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 5, No. 4 (November 1975), 441-50.
24. The phrase is of course Latour's: op. cit. note 8.
25. Wesley Shrum and Nicholas Mullins, 'Network Analysis in the Study of Science and Technology', in Anthony van Raan (ed.), Handbook of Quantitative Studies in Science and Technology (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1988), 107-43.
26. For an approach based on individual scientists, see Thomas Schott, 'The World Scientific Community: Globality and Globalisation', Minerva, Vol. 29 (1991), 440-62. For an approach based on organizations, see Wesley Shrum and Carl Bankston, 'Organizational and Geopolitical Approaches to International Science and Technology Networks', Knowledge and Policy, Vol. 6 (1993), 119-33.
27. For an approach based on individual scientists, see Thomas Schott, 'The World Scientific Community: Globality and Globalisation', Minerva, Vol. 29 (1991), 440-62. For an approach based on organizations, see Wesley Shrum and Carl Bankston, 'Organizational and Geopolitical Approaches to International Science and Technology Networks', Knowledge and Policy, Vol. 6 (1993), 119-33.
28. For a review of these analytical and methodological techniques, see Stanley Wasserman and Katherine Faust, Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
29. For discussions, see Shapin, op. cit. note 6; Olga Amsterdamska, 'Surely You Are Joking, Monsieur Latour!', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Autumn 1990), 495-504.
30. For discussions, see Shapin, op. cit. note 6; Olga Amsterdamska, 'Surely You Are Joking, Monsieur Latour!', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Autumn 1990), 495-504.
31. 'Embedding' refers to the process of establishing relationships with social actors, particularly in the sense of entering into a pre-existing network or pattern of ties. 'Decoupling' is the converse. 'Embeddedness' simply indicates such a state of connectedness.
32. Although there is much hearsay and gossip on these lines, sound research to substantiate this claim is absent, and what empirical evidence does exist points in the opposite direction: for a discussion of the evidence, see Wesley Shrum and Patricia Campion, 'Are Scientists in Developing Countries Isolated?', Science, Technology & Society (forthcoming, January-June 2000). For a discussion of this issue, using a historical example, see Marilia Coutinho, 'Ninety Years of Chagas Disease: A Success Story at the Periphery', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 29, No. 4 (August 1999), 519-49.
33. Although there is much hearsay and gossip on these lines, sound research to substantiate this claim is absent, and what empirical evidence does exist points in the opposite direction: for a discussion of the evidence, see Wesley Shrum and Patricia Campion, 'Are Scientists in Developing Countries Isolated?', Science, Technology & Society (forthcoming, January-June 2000). For a discussion of this issue, using a historical example, see Marilia Coutinho, 'Ninety Years of Chagas Disease: A Success Story at the Periphery', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 29, No. 4 (August 1999), 519-49.
34. 'Contracts' is perhaps too general a term for a planned study that may be part of a larger programme of research. 'Counterparts' is used in reference to a practice whereby bilateral or multilateral donors fund a developed country research project only if it engages the services of 'nationals' in the conduct of the study.
35. This association ranges from the 'merely' rhetorical - as in the case of an outright lie to a 'proven' claim - that is, a representation of nature based on theory or multiple research studies that garners the assent of all members of the scientific community. These extremes are rare: incorporation, controversy and dissensus are more common. What is now more often appreciated within S&TS is that forms of association are relatively mobile.
36. The GR is widely recognized as a kind of pattern or technological structuring. What I call a 'style' has also been conceptualized as a technological regime, paradigm, or trajectory. For a review of these concepts, see Rene Kemp, 'Technology and the Transition to Environmental Sustainability: The Problem of Technological Regime Shifts', Futures, Vol. 26 (1994), 1023-46. For general surveys of the history and fate of the GR, see, for example, Andrew Pearse, Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Want: Social and Economic Implications of the Green Revolution (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980) and Michael Lipton (with Richard Longhurst), New Seeds and Poor People (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989).
37. The GR is widely recognized as a kind of pattern or technological structuring. What I call a 'style' has also been conceptualized as a technological regime, paradigm, or trajectory. For a review of these concepts, see Rene Kemp, 'Technology and the Transition to Environmental Sustainability: The Problem of Technological Regime Shifts', Futures, Vol. 26 (1994), 1023-46. For general surveys of the history and fate of the GR, see, for example, Andrew Pearse, Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Want: Social and Economic Implications of the Green Revolution (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980) and Michael Lipton (with Richard Longhurst), New Seeds and Poor People (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989).
38. The GR is widely recognized as a kind of pattern or technological structuring. What I call a 'style' has also been conceptualized as a technological regime, paradigm, or trajectory. For a review of these concepts, see Rene Kemp, 'Technology and the Transition to Environmental Sustainability: The Problem of Technological Regime Shifts', Futures, Vol. 26 (1994), 1023-46. For general surveys of the history and fate of the GR, see, for example, Andrew Pearse, Seeds of Plenty, Seeds of Want: Social and Economic Implications of the Green Revolution (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980) and Michael Lipton (with Richard Longhurst), New Seeds and Poor People (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989).
39. Jack Kloppenburg, First the Seed: The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988).
40. The period from 1973 to 1981 has been called the 'golden era' because of a confluence of factors leading to massive increases in support for agriculture in LDCs: L.S. Hardin, 'Whence International Agricultural Research', Food Policy, Vol. 19 (1994), 561-67.
41. This process occurred so rapidly and with such force that a special CGIAR centre was established specifically with the aim of promoting policy and management practices for these new systems. The International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) was founded in 1980.
42. Throughout this paper, the concept of 'story' is employed in Wiebe Bijker's sense: Bijker, op. cit. note 3, 1-5.
43. 'Basic' research, responsive to the problem direction of the specialty community, has never been central to either national priorities or a majority of scientists in LDCs, contrary to the views of both scholars and activists: see note 19.
44. The importance of 'failure' has been well documented by actor-network theorists, for both artefacts and social actors: see, for example, Shapin, op. cit. note 6.
45. The farmer, in the words of one widely accepted account, came first: see Robert Chambers, Arnold Pacey and Lori Ann Thrupp (eds), Farmer First: Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Research (London: Intermediate Technology Publications, 1989).
46. David Kaimowitz, 'The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer in Latin America', World Development, Vol. 21 (1993), 1139-50.
47. D.J. Gustafson, 'Developing Sustainable Institutions: Lessons from Cross-Case Analysis of 24 Agricultural Extension Programmes', Public Administration and Development, Vol. 14 (1994), 121-34.
48. Thomas Eponou, 'Integrating Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer', Public Administration and Development, Vol. 13 (1993), 307-18.
49. There is a parallel to this kind of regress in court determinations to exclude or include scientific testimony. The US Supreme Court has ruled that judges may act as 'gatekeepers' to exclude expert testimony. However, to determine whether certain experts should be including in the trial formation, it has been suggested that other (court-appointed) experts be called, for example in pre-trial hearings. For further discussion, see Shana M. Solomon and Edward J. Hackett, 'Setting Boundaries between Science and Law: Lessons from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Spring 1996), 131-56, and Michael Lynch and Sheila Jasanoff (eds), 'Contested Identities: Science, Law and Forensic Practice', Special Issue, Social Studies of Science, Vol. 28, Nos 5-6 (October-December 1998), 675-868.
50. There is a parallel to this kind of regress in court determinations to exclude or include scientific testimony. The US Supreme Court has ruled that judges may act as 'gatekeepers' to exclude expert testimony. However, to determine whether certain experts should be including in the trial formation, it has been suggested that other (court-appointed) experts be called, for example in pre-trial hearings. For further discussion, see Shana M. Solomon and Edward J. Hackett, 'Setting Boundaries between Science and Law: Lessons from Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Spring 1996), 131-56, and Michael Lynch and Sheila Jasanoff (eds), 'Contested Identities: Science, Law and Forensic Practice', Special Issue, Social Studies of Science, Vol. 28, Nos 5-6 (October-December 1998), 675-868.
51. This is not to claim that plots cannot be divided infinitely - of course they can - but that ecological localization is a social construct based on ownership and agency.
52. Although most of these 'inapplicability' arguments are well known, I find most convincing the case of a farmer in the developed world. Frederick Suppe, the distinguished philosopher, also operates a commercial forage and livestock farm in Virginia. When he tried to determine when to combine legumes with grasses in his pastures and hay fields, he began with a course in forage crop-production. Of course, he had access to the most recent textbooks in the field. He followed the literature on red clover and reproduction rates in sheep, tracking down studies from Australia and New Zealand, asking farmers in his area, and attending extension short courses. Probing these agents for references, he discovered another literature on grassland agriculture, but nowhere did he find a specific study directly relevant to his own situation. That is, a comprehensive search of both formal and informal sources that would be impossible for a subsistence farmer in the Third World did not yield even a probabilistic expectation for his own particular situation. See F. Suppe, 'The Limited Applicability of Agricultural Research', Agriculture and Human Values, Vol. 4 (1987), 4-14.
53. In what follows, I restrict the term 'NGOs' to the midrange of possible uses. Excluded are large international organizations (for example, CARE, World Vision) and membership organizations (such as farmers' associations). The focus on non-membership organizations is common, because they are typically staffed by professionals who are socially distinct from the clients they serve.
54. Theorization of NGOs - that is, their definition as part of a common social category was significant. Without it, 'the real diversity of social life is likely to seem as meaningful as . . . parallelism': David Strang and John W. Meyer, 'Institutional Conditions for Diffusion', Theory and Society, Vol. 22 (1993), 487-511, at 492.
55. John Farrington and Anthony Bebbington, Reluctant Partners? Non-Governmental Organizations, the State, and Sustainable Agricultural Development (London: Routledge, 1993).
56. Although an NGO may provide services to one locality, in areas where NGOs have proliferated, this is no inherent limitation for the reach of the sector. David Kaimowitz (op. cit. note 30) has estimated that 15% of the rural population may be served by NGOs in Honduras, which is not dissimilar to estimates for other Latin American countries.
57. NGOs are sometimes characterized by territorial behaviour when faced with the prospect of other NGOs on their turf.
58. Chambers, op. cit. note 4.
59. The 'validity' of preference is contrasted with the 'importance' of knowledge. Allowing the significance of 'valid preference' does not grant it truth value; this point is central to the argument that follows, because it maintains the regulatory rôle of scientific organizations.
60. This is not to suggest anything about their actual sustainability, which depends in large part on the definition of sustainability employed: see J.A. Dixon and L.A. Fallon, 'The Concept of Sustainability: Origins, Extensions, and Usefulness for Policy', Society and Natural Resources, Vol. 2 (1989), 73-84. Indeed, many NGOs seek to stop excessive use of indigenous practices that produce, for example, rapid soil erosion and deforestation. Still, the argument is that practices that have persisted over long periods have by that fact proven themselves sustainable, even if they are not exactly overemployed.
61. In their study of the relationship between conventional and alternative agriculture paradigms, John Allen and Kevin Bernhardt showed that the largest difference involved is over whether farmers should use natural fertilizers and production methods or synthetic fertilizers and pesticides: J. Allen and K. Bernhardt, 'Farming Practices and Adherence to an Alternative/Conventional Farming Paradigm', Rural Sociology, Vol. 60 (1995), 297-309.
62. William Lockeretz and Molly Anderson argue that 'organics' may be preferable, because its origin lies in the idea that the farm should be understood as a system, rather than in its specifically anti-chemical connotation: see their Agricultural Research Alternatives (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993), 8-30. The diversity among alternatives to GR style is much less significant than their common opposition to that style, which is what is meant by saying that styles are 'defined by contrast'.
63. Sheila Jasanoff, in a seminar paper originally entitled 'Seven Forms of Ambiguity', provides an overview of the origin of such international communities in response to perceived environmental threats, but her account holds generally: it was eventually published as S. Jasanoff, 'Science and Norms in International Environmental Regimes', in Fen Osier Hampson and Judith Reppy (eds), Earthly Goods: Environmental Change and Social Justice (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996), 173-97.
64. One trope common among organic agricultural practitioners is that the principles are ancient, dating 4000 years ago to China or 2000 years ago to Greece, and hence appropriate to a natural relationship between a community and its ecosystem.
65. Note that, consistent with positivist doctrine, the origin of stories does not matter so long as they embed back into research formations.
66. Farrington & Bebbington, op. cit. note 38, 54-55.
67. In what follows, names and details have been altered to protect the anonymity of the organizations involved. All quotations below are from unpublished project reports and interviews with participants. The name employed here - 'Shamba' - denotes a rural home place, with highly positive connotations for Kenyans, and does not sufficiently reflect the colonial origins of the location.
68. Foeken and Tellegen, in their survey of large farms and households in the district, use a 'nearest neighbour' survey technique to show that non-labourers are better off than farm labourers, whether the latter are residents on the large farms or seasonal (non-resident): D. Foeken and N. Tellegen, 'Proletarianisation, Land, Income and Living Conditions of Farm Labourers in Kenya', Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 24, No. 4 (July 1997), 296-313.
69. The land had been primarily controlled by pastoral peoples.
70. The short course for farmers proved more important in the eventual operation of the Centre, because of its duration and cost. The 18-month course did not attract large numbers of students. Discussions with a Kenyan university to upgrade it to a Certificate course were subsequently the subject of a dispute between the California group and the Centre that led to a temporary cessation of funds from abroad. In the words of one observer: 'He has never to my knowledge set foot in the place, and yet he is turning the funds on and off like a tap'.
71. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) maintains a membership of 750 organizations in 103 countries.
72. In standard developmental discourse, this is known as 'funding civil society directly so as to empower it to act as a catalyst to good governance'.
73. The importance of external donors cannot be overemphasized. Using the Kenyan case of opposition by a coalition of NGOs to the government registration act, Stephen Ndegwa effectively illustrates the process by which NGOs oppose the government through the mobilization of collective resources and alliances with oppositional political parties, but even in this case alliances with donors, involving threats to withdraw resources, were ultimately the most effective: see S.N. Ndegwa, 'Civil Society and Political Change in Africa: The Case of Non-Governmental Organizations in Kenya', International Journal of Comparative Politics, Vol. 35 (1994), 19-36.
74. In light of the events that followed, it is important to note that the donor was not wholly unaware of potential problems with accounting systems at the Centre. Such problems are well known, indeed endemic, among NGOs in most parts of Africa. Funding is viewed as an investment in improving an organization with high potential.
75. The most important of these in Kenya was the Organic Matter Management Network (OMMN), formed in November 1993 to promote on-farm research by bringing together NGOs and research institutes. Task forces were funded by Ford and Rockefeller to promote networking, but the group quickly disintegrated.
76. The principal equipment, in keeping with the need to travel to farmers' fields, included two Suzuki 4WD vehicles and a motorbike.
77. It was even proposed to focus future courses on advanced training and leave the training of new groups to the Local Outreach Programme.
78. This technique was then being recognized as characteristic of NGOs, and evidence of their commitment to localities: see Chambers, op. cit. note 4.
79. This account of research results is drawn from the annual reports produced by the Centre.
80. It should not be inferred from this account of Adaptive Research at Shamba that the training programme was in any way misguided, or that its impact on farmers was not positive. One of the most important aspects of training is the use of bio-intensive agriculture for gardens that provide both food and income for households. Since opportunities to earn income from non-agricultural wage labour were declining during the 1980s, and since agricultural labourers (both resident and non-resident) are generally disadvantaged relative to non-labourers (see Foeken & Tellegen, op. cit. note 51), this aspect of the training is particularly useful.
81. The technology itself is often said to be of African origin, which was one of its selling points in California.
82. If there is any one feature of the bio-intensive agriculture heavily promoted in LDCs that is widely recognized and widely ignored, it is that bio-intensive practices are also labour-intensive. This feature is never lost on farmers.
83. The experiment reported was actually conducted in the last year of the grant as a student practicum, just as the research coordinator was leaving. Double-digging trials were continued at the new location, with no reported effect on yield.
84. Most Kenyans, confronted with this story of financial theft and mismanagement, express no surprise whatsoever, assuming that the director himself made away with the funds, that the accounts were cooked, and that it would be naïve and foolish to believe otherwise. However, such an assumption is unwarranted, since there are several other entities that may plausibly have acquired the funds. What is important about this initial transfer of funds is that it was, for practical purposes, both the beginning and the end - at least temporarily - of the research programme at Shamba.
85. Matatus are the most common means of transportation in Kenya, privately owned and operated vehicles that travel on unpublished but regular routes.
86. A new director who enters an organization in a situation of financial chaos, under pressure to restructure and professionalize, often experiences difficulties with the previous staff, who feel that they are being blamed for problems that are actually diffuse.
87. Adaptive Research continues, funded by a new donor in this new NGO. Both of the former Shamba directors now work for NGOs, one of which is new.
88. Alan Fowler, 'The Role of NGOs in Changing State-Society Relations: Perspectives from East and Southern Africa', Development Policy Review, Vol. 9 (1991), 53-84; Ndegwa, op. cit. note 56.
89. Alan Fowler, 'The Role of NGOs in Changing State-Society Relations: Perspectives from East and Southern Africa', Development Policy Review, Vol. 9 (1991), 53-84; Ndegwa, op. cit. note 56.
90. This development is in itself worthy of close attention. In other LDCs, 'local agricultural research communities' consisting of farmers have been organized, such as those established by Jacqueline Ashby of the CGIAR International Centre for Tropical Agriculture.
91. A true subsistence farmer, or the Unabomber's virtuous twin, does not need Society, but there are few of them.
92. A brief characterization of a research programme that is ideological in character is one that can only involve demonstrations.