Sociology of Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

Sustainability is the core element of government policies, university research projects, and extension organizations worldwide. Yet, the results of several decades of attempt to achieve sustainable agriculture have not been satisfactory. Despite some improvement conventional agriculture is still the dominant paradigm. Pollution of water, soil, and air, degradation of environmental resources, and loss of biodiversity are still the by-product of agricultural systems. In light of these crises, based on review of current literature, it is argued that in promoting sustainable agriculture our perception should shift from a technocratic approach to a social negotiation process that reflects the social circumstances and the power conditions. Agriculture should be regarded as an activity of human; therefore, it is social as much as it is agronomic and ecological. Therefore, here we explore the contribution of sociology toward achieving agricultural sustainability. The review reveals that agricultural sustainability can no longer ignore the human dimension and social dynamics that are the core elements of agricultural development. Although the agricultural and ecological sciences are vital, social sciences must play their role to analyze the human dimension, which is central to understanding and achieving agricultural sustainability. The contributions of sociology of sustainable agriculture are exploring the relationship between farmers' attitudes and their sustainable farming practices, understanding the gender impact, offering different sustainability paradigms, providing different models of predicting adoption of sustainable practices, and finally informing decision makers regarding the social impacts of their sustainability decisions. Major findings are discussed and appropriate recommendations are provided.

‘Slow to change’: Farmers’ perceptions of place-based barriers to sustainable agriculture

“…That is, although farmers may be motivated by a sense of stewardship, adopting conservation measures is also a business decision, so must be practical and cost-effective to the farmer's operation to be successful (Hoag et al, 2012). Overall, motivational studies stress that farmers balance a number of factors when trying to achieve ‘good practice’ (as defined by each individual) on their farms (Lemon and Park, 1993; Karami and Keshavarz, 2010).…”

Investigation of drought in the northern Iraq region

“…Decreasing food production abnormally leads to rising food prices, and lack of access to appropriate jobs reduces the access of rural people to food; the occurrence of such problems, especially for small farmers and landless workers, is clear (Paul, ). So, in a time of drought, unpleasant and unusual uses of existing water resources, along with the weakness of water distribution systems, exacerbate the crisis (Karami and Keshavarz, ).…”

Agricultural water poverty in Marvdasht County, Southern Iran

“…Water is an important component in measuring the sustainability of each agricultural system, but it is not recognized well by the currently available tools (Forouzani & Karami, 2010). Sustainability seriously questions our conventional way of solving agricultural problems and challenges (Karami & Keshavarz, 2010). The crisis in agricultural development has demonstrated that conventional development strategies are fundamentally limited in their ability to promote sustainable agricultural development in Iran (Karami, 1993).…”