Our project brings together academics from different disciplinary backgrounds and farmers in a series of workshops to explore the human experiences associated with farming and agriculture as a sector facing great change. We seek to develop an inclusive research agenda, which gives voice to the traditionally silenced experience of farmers.
The core purpose of this project is to open the conversation and create a collaborative space around the human experience of change towards sustainable agriculture. This will enable innovative research questions to be developed and interdisciplinary research directions to be set, which can then form the basis of larger research bids. Historically, supply chain sustainability initiatives have been initiated and dominated by large multinational corporations across the supply chain (i.e. manufacturers, retailers). Typically these have focused on the implementation of technology, codes of conduct and standards.
Our primary conceptual innovation is to shift the focus from a primarily technology-centric view of sustainability in agriculture towards one that values and encompasses the human experiences of farming communities. This, we hope, will enable giving voice to these communities, who have been mostly marginalised from the supply chain and policy discourse, and therefore allow the co-exploration of solutions to address economic, social and environmental challenges. In order to do so, we connect several disciplines including sustainable development, food studies, geography, sociology, psychology and art.
Methodologically, our approach is rooted in engaged scholarship. We promote a participative, democratic and reflexive process to the development of knowledge for sustainable agriculture, which places the human experience at its core. From our previous research in different agricultural sectors we have found that in the pursuit of developing the image and practice of ‘sustainable agriculture’ there have been silent and silenced voices. Through this project we seek to open research avenues into a more inclusive sustainable agriculture agenda.