How to foster changes towards farm sustainability?: learning outcomes from a co-innovation project on vegetable-beef cattle family farms in Uruguay

Abstract

Current global challenges for family farmers, such as the deterioration of arable land and low family income, cannot be addressed only by working on single farm components. Improving the sustainability of family farms requires a multi-objective systems approach and may be seen as an evolutionary process composed of iterative learning cycles. We developed a co-innovation project from 2014 to 2017 that involved characterisation, diagnosis, redesign, and implementation and evaluation of the redesigns on farms. Low family income, low labour productivity and the deterioration of soil quality were the main problems impacting farm sustainability. We identified crop management factors and soil fertility deficiencies as the main causes of low yields. After three cycles of diagnosis, redesign, implementation and monitoring, the average family income increased by 32%, labour productivity increased by 22%, and all the farms implemented soil erosion control measurements. Greater implementation of the farm redesign plans resulted in greater improvements in family income, labour productivity, and crop yields. We identified four types of activities that supported learning throughout the co-innovation process: regular farm visits; meetings to discuss diagnosis, planning and evaluation; field days, and reflection workshops. The strategic use of system analysis tools to promote learning eased communication among different actors, allowing shared learning.

Fostering more resilient systems to face climate change challenge: the South Regional Center (CRS) message at the Expo Melilla agricultural exhibition

“…To establish an operational definition of sustainability it is crucial to identify properties or attributes of agroecosystems that allow guiding the analysis of relevant aspects and select sustainability indicators for evaluation. The main properties of an agroecosystem are: productivity; stability; resilience, reliability and adaptability; equity, and self-management (6) (8)(9)(10) .…”

Ecological intensification pathways for vegetable production systems in south Uruguay

“…1.1-E, F), water pollution (Barreto et al, 2017;Rodríguez-Bolaña et al, 2023), biodiversity loss (MVOTMA, 2016), and human health hazards (Burger & Pose Román, 2012;Burger, 2013). Despite the high external input levels, there are yield gaps of around 50% (Berrueta et al, 2019;Colnago et al, 2023;Dogliotti et al, 2014;Scarlato et al, 2017), resulting in low labour productivity and family income (Berrueta et al, 2019;Colnago & Dogliotti, 2020;Colnago et al, 2023;Dogliotti et al, 2014). Therefore, the intensive vegetable production model and the associated adverse side effects jeopardise the long-term sustainability of vegetable production, food security and food sovereignty in Uruguay.…”

“…The reasons for the low farmers' income and crop yield gaps are not related to input use or resource availability but to general farm organisation and management, e.g. sowing and planting dates and crop cycles length, soil management and quality, the timing of operations, high weed, pests and diseases pressure (Berrueta et al, 2019;Berrueta et al, 2021;Colnago et al, 2023;Dogliotti et al, 2014;Scarlato et al, 2017). Adjustment of specific practices, such as through input substitution, will not solve the magnitude of sustainability problems faced by vegetable farms in south Uruguay.…”

“…resource availability (Berrueta et al, 2021;Colnago et al, 2023;Dogliotti et al, 2014). Therefore, improving farm system sustainability requires thinking about the farm systematically while promoting social learning.…”

“…In Uruguay, the intensification of vegetable production systems has contributed to soil erosion and the decline of soil fertility (Alliaume et al, 2013;Dogliotti et al, 2014), water pollution (Barreto et al, 2017;Rodríguez-Bolaña et al, 2023), biodiversity loss (MVOTMA, 2016), and human health hazards (Burger & Pose Román, 2012;Burger, 2013). Furthermore, despite the high external input use, crop yield gaps average 50% and most farms have low labour productivity and family incomes (Berrueta et al, 2019;Colnago & Dogliotti, 2020;Colnago et al, 2023;Dogliotti et al, 2014;Scarlato et al, 2017). In response to these problems, interest by farmers, consumers and society in general in agroecology has increased over the past decade (Bizzozero, 2020;Blum et al, 2006;Chiappe et al, 2003;CNFR, 2016CNFR, , 2017FAO, 2015;Poder Legislativo ROU, 2018).…”