Farming for change: developing a participatory curriculum on agroecology, nutrition, climate change and social equity in Malawi and Tanzania

Rachel Bezner Kerr (), Sera L. Young (), Carrie Young (), Marianne V. Santoso (), Mufunanji Magalasi (), Martin Entz (), Esther Lupafya (), Laifolo Dakishoni (), Vicki Morrone (), David Wolfe () and Sieglinde S. Snapp ()
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Rachel Bezner Kerr: Cornell University
Sera L. Young: Northwestern University
Carrie Young: Cornell University
Marianne V. Santoso: Cornell University
Mufunanji Magalasi: University of Malawi
Martin Entz: University of Manitoba
Esther Lupafya: Soils, Food and Healthy Communities
Laifolo Dakishoni: Soils, Food and Healthy Communities
Vicki Morrone: Michigan State University
David Wolfe: Cornell University
Sieglinde S. Snapp: Michigan State University

Agriculture and Human Values, 2019, vol. 36, issue 3, No 12, 549-566

Abstract: Abstract How to engage farmers that have limited formal education is at the foundation of environmentally-sound and equitable agricultural development. Yet there are few examples of curricula that support the co-development of knowledge with farmers. While transdisciplinary and participatory techniques are considered key components of agroecology, how to do so is rarely specified and few materials are available, especially those relevant to smallholder farmers with limited formal education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The few training materials that exist provide appropriate methods, such as compost making, but do not explain relationships and synergies between nutrition, social inequalities, climate change and agroecology. Some food sovereignty and agroecology courses aim at popular political education for those with more formal education. Here we describe the process of development of an innovative curriculum, which integrates agroecology, nutrition, climate change, gender and other dimensions of social equity across 2 weeks of training explicitly for smallholders in southern Africa with limited formal education. The curriculum is highly participatory; we use concepts in popular education, transformative and experiential-based learning, and theatre. It is also integrative; we link agroecology with climate change, human and soil nutrition, gender, and related components of social equity. Developed in partnership with Malawian farmers, community development experts and academics from five countries, the curriculum was piloted with 520 smallholder farming households in Malawi and Tanzania, and evaluated using qualitative techniques. Clashes of language, cultural norms, and terminology were as great of a challenge as agreeing on and conveying technical information, to weave into a coherent whole. However, farmers who participated in the curriculum training demonstrated high interest, comprehension of material and interest in immediate application to their lives.

Keywords: Critical food systems education; Agroecology; Transdisciplinary; Food sovereignty; Gender; Critical pedagogy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10460-018-09906-x

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