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Research that focuses on changing problems of poverty, inequality, and food security may not always listen to what people who live in areas with sustainability problems need in order to make those changes. In our analysis of development research projects, we reflect on the challenges of participation faced by different actors in transdisciplinary science. For a decolonial turn, people need to be involved in making decisions about resources, research topics, and how to use knowledge.Transdisciplinary research is considered to offer contributions of science to sustainability transformations, partly because transdisciplinary approaches aim to increase the relevance, credibility, and legitimacy of scientific research by ensuring the active participation of non-academic actors in research. However, the possible impact of transdisciplinary research on decolonial sustainability science ‐ understood as actively undoing Euro-North American centricity, dispossession, racism, and ongoing power imbalances in inequitable social-ecological systems ‐ and simultaneous response to scientific rigor remain under debate. Thus, this article assesses the contributions of transdisciplinary research projects to decolonial sustainability science based on empirical information. To do so, we analyze a sample of 43 development research projects of the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development (r4d programme) in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We found that despite significant differences in approaches, Global-North-dominated sustainability science still has far to go to achieve the decolonial potential of transdisciplinarity, enabling different actors’ participation.

Are there aspects of complexity that are characteristic for research for development projects? Our study shows what are these aspects, how they affect research and what practices seem to be promising for dealing with the increasing levels of complexity.The need to deal with complexity is getting increasingly attention in research for development projects implemented through transboundary research partnerships between organisations from the Global North and the Global South. However, less is known about aspects beyond the systems under study that still affect complexity in the research project. We conducted an experience capitalization of five transboundary research partnerships undertaking research in 14 countries in the Global South. We found that the combination of multiple contexts, the cultural and disciplinary diversity of the transboundary research partnerships, and the set of rules and proceedings from the funding mechanism affect the levels of complexity. We further identified that a transdisciplinary approach and several related practices, like intercultural communication or integrative partnerships, are promising ways of dealing with complexity. Current structures in research for development need to improve in order to fully use the potential of transdisciplinarity for sustainability transformation.

Political ecology approaches are relatively absent from food systems research. With deep inequalities in food production, distribution and consumption, the study of power asymmetries is central to food justice and the co-creation of alternative futures.

Food systems face pressures related to global environmental change and agricultural intensification that make access to productive resources difficult for many actors. Social self-organization is one of the measures taken by actors to enable them to increase their capacity to mitigate challenges and increase their influence as well as build resilience against risks. The objectives of this study were to assess the level of social self-organization in food systems, to identify forms of social self-organization and the motivations behind them, and to analyze the benefits to food systems social-ecological resilience. We collected data from various actor groups at different levels of food systems using mixed methods. Analysis involved six indicators that were scored on a Likert scale. The study observed that smallholders in Kenya organized in women’s self-help groups, agro-ecological movements, and cooperatives, while in Bolivia the Guaraní indigenous people organized in movements addressing territorial integrity. Social self-organization was found to be important in resilience building at a community level and has potential to contribute to more sustainable food systems. However, more research on the link between social self-organization and policy change across scales would provide additional interesting insights., Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 10 (1), ISSN:2160-1933, ISSN:2160-1941

This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on how to attribute and evaluate the contribution of transdisciplinary research to sustainable development. As co-created knowledge is a key product of transdisciplinary research, we tested the hypothesis that the extent to which this knowledge is utilized beyond the project consortia, in different areas – from scientific methods and insights to policy decisions – and across a continuum of geographical scales can be used to identify potential impact pathways. For this purpose, we developed an analytical framework that links the transdisciplinary process to six possible utilization stages, which we used as indicators of the usability of co-created knowledge. We gathered data from 22 research projects active in 36 countries using a survey and semi-structured interviews. Our results show that even during implementation of the projects, co-created knowledge is utilized by multiple actors at different stages, in all areas and at all scales simultaneously, suggesting multiple impact pathways. Project knowledge is predominantly utilized for national-level policymaking, and research partners named co-creation of knowledge with key stakeholders as the most frequently used mechanism for promoting knowledge utilization. Closer analysis revealed different understandings of and approaches to knowledge co-creation. These can be linked to weaker or stronger definitions of transdisciplinarity. The analysis shows that researchers using strong transdisciplinarity approaches typically face challenges in encompassing multiple epistemologies and facilitating dialogue. Some results suggest that inclusion and collaboration in co-creating knowledge can empower actors otherwise excluded. Our research shows that although transdisciplinary projects have nonlinear impact pathways, these can be partially assessed using the proposed analytical framework. Further, our results indicate a link between usability, inclusion, and collaboration in transdisciplinary research. We conclude with the observation that transdisciplinarity and its requirements still need to be better understood by actors within and beyond the research community.

Food system sustainability depends, among other aspects, on the resilience of different components of food systems. By resilience, we mean the ability of a food system to withstand stress and shocks, recover, and adapt to change. In this study, we examined the resilience of food systems, firstly, by compiling the risks perceived by different food system actors in the Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia, and the northwestern Mount Kenya Region, Kenya—two regions that are important to their respective national food supply. Secondly, we evaluated whether and under what circumstances these perceptions translate into adaptive or preventive strategies that benefit food system resilience. Among all actors, the most frequently perceived risks relate to production levels. Further, the many (sometimes contradictory) perceptions of risk and uncertainty among different actor groups do not necessarily translate into adaptation strategies. Reasons for this include structural factors as well as the “risk perception paradox”, particularly regarding preventive strategies. However, we also observed many implicit strategies illustrating how different actors develop responses within their possibilities. However, most such strategies were insufficient to mitigate, much less to adapt to, the perceived risks. To build resilience, existing innovative policies need to be enforced in both countries. These include disaster risk reduction programs and programs to reduce the vulnerability of marginalized groups who are crucial to food systems, such as smallholder farmers, pastoralists, and food workers.

Resilience is often considered a precondition for sustainable social-ecological systems. But how can this understanding of resilience be applied to food systems? We operationalized the concept by subdividing it into different resilience dimensions, namely: buffer capacity, self-organization, and capacity for learning and adaptation. Specific indicators were defined for each dimension: (1) agrobiodiversity and livelihood assets for buffer capacity; (2) decentralization and independence, local consumption of production, interest groups, ecological self-regulation, and connectivity for self-organization; and (3) knowledge of threats and opportunities, reflective and shared learning, feedback mechanisms, existence and use of local-traditional knowledge, and a shared food system vision for capacity for learning and adaptation. Next, we applied the resilience indicators to different food systems (agroindustrial, local, and agroecological) in Kenya and Bolivia, including assessment of the interaction and coexistence of food systems. While the contexts in the two countries differ greatly, we identified several common trends that appear to be undermining food system resilience in both settings. These trends include low ecological buffer capacity and self-regulation in agroindustrial food systems; strong disparities in income and access to productive resources; competition for water, land, and labor; exclusion from markets; and low human capital and feedback mechanisms in locally based, traditional food systems. Taken together, these trends cast doubt on food system coexistence narratives. Finally, the results enable us to identify leverage points in the food systems – e.g., regarding learning and feedback mechanisms – that could be used to foster food system transformations linked to goals of sustainability and justice.

Jahrtausendelang war die Ernährungssicherheit und Widerstandsfähigkeit des Menschen dank Tausenden von Kulturpflanzensorten, Dutzenden von Haustierarten sowie der grösseren Biodiversität, der sie entstammen, gewährleistet. Mit dem Ausbau der industriellen Landwirtschaft und der globalisierten, standardisierten Nahrungssysteme hat sich diese biologische Vielfalt jedoch drastisch verringert. Heute liefern nur drei Pflanzenarten die Hälfte aller pflanzlichen Nahrungskalorien, und nur vier Tierarten machen den Grossteil der Fleischversorgung aus. Die Wiederherstellung der Agrobiodiversität – die Vielfalt dessen, was wir anbauen, züchten, konsumieren und in freier Wildbahn erhalten – ist von entscheidender Bedeutung, um widerstandsfähige Nahrungssysteme vor dem Hintergrund des Klimawandels sicherzustellen. Dabei gilt es, den «Hütern der Agrobiodiversität» - die rund 500 Millionen kleinen landwirtschaftlichen Betriebe auf der ganzen Welt, vor allem im globalen Süden - den Lebensunterhalt zu sichern. Dieses Faktenblatt beschreibt Ursachen und Folgen des Agrobiodiversitätsverlusts, und zeigt auf, welche Wege Politik und Forschung einschlagen könnten., Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz (2020) Vielfalt ist die Quelle des Lebens: Herausforderungen und Handlungsbedarf für die Förderung der Agrobiodiversität. Swiss Academies Factsheet 15 (1)

BMJ, 372, ISSN:0959-8146, ISSN:1756-1833

Farms in the global South show heavy use of pesticides such as herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. Some of these substances are banned in Switzerland and the European Union but are often produced and exported from there. Our messages draw on research findings from Kenya. They make the link to international conventions, highlight alternatives to pesticide-intensive agricultural practices, and call for phasing out “highly hazardous” substances in line with human rights and the precautionary principle.

Cocoa production in Alto Beni, Bolivia, is a major source of income and is severely affected by climate change impacts and other stress factors. Resilient farming systems are, thus, important for local families. This study compares indicators for social–ecological resilience in 30 organic and 22 nonorganic cocoa farms of Alto Beni. Organic farms had a higher tree and crop diversity, higher yields and incomes, more social connectedness, and participated in more courses on cocoa cultivation. Resilience was enhanced by local farmers’ organizations, providing organic certification and supporting diversified agroforestry with seedlings and extension, going beyond basic organic certification requirements.

Agricultural and forest productive diversification depends on multiple socioeconomic drivers—like knowledge, migration, productive capacity, and market—that shape productive strategies and influence their ecological impacts. Our comparison of indigenous and settlers allows a better understanding of how societies develop different diversification strategies in similar ecological contexts and how the related socioeconomic aspects of diversification are associated with land cover change. Our results suggest that although indigenous people cause less deforestation and diversify more, diversification is not a direct driver of deforestation reduction. A multidimensional approach linking sociocognitive, economic, and ecological patterns of diversification helps explain this contradiction.

Agroforestry often relies on local knowledge, which is gaining recognition in development projects. However, how local knowledge can articulate with external and scientific knowledge is little known. Our study explored the use and integration of local and external knowledge in agroforestry projects in Bolivia. In 42 field visits and 62 interviews with agroforestry farmers, civil society representatives, and policymakers, we found a diverse knowledge base. We examined how local and external knowledge contribute to livelihood assets and tree and crop diversity. Projects based predominantly on external knowledge tended to promote a single combination of tree and crop species and targeted mainly financial capital, whereas projects with a local or mixed knowledge base tended to focus on food security and increased natural capital (e.g., soil restoration) and used a higher diversity of trees and crops than those with an external knowledge base. The integration of different forms of knowledge can enable farmers to better cope with new challenges emerging as a result of climate change, fluctuating market prices for cash crops, and surrounding destructive land use strategies such as uncontrolled fires and aerial fumigation with herbicides. However, many projects still tended to prioritize external knowledge and undervalue local knowledge—a tendency that has long been institutionalized in the formal educational system and in extension services. More dialogue is needed between different forms of knowledge, which can be promoted by strengthening local organizations and their networks, reforming agricultural educational institutions, and working in close interaction with policymakers.

Migration from the Bolivian Altiplano to the Amazonian lowlands poses a number of challenges related to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Alto Beni, located in the Bolivian Yungas at the interface between two altitudinal zones, is a critical area in this respect. Unsustainable land use practices are leading to soil erosion, shallow landslides, as well as forest and biodiversity loss. Settlers from the Altiplano see themselves confronted with an ecosystem that does not support the agricultural systems they were once used to. Soil degradation and government incentives have promoted migration further into the rainforest, creating pressure on local indigenous groups and biodiversity. The best-suited land use system for the fragile soils and ecosystems in Alto Beni is diversified agroforestry, which is often combined with a cash crop such as cocoa or coffee. Many farmers practising such a system have organic certification and achieve a premium price for their cash crops. However, cocoa farmers in Alto Beni face many challenges. Prolonged droughts, heavy rains, floods, increased heat, and plant diseases are mentioned most by cocoa farmers. In this study we compile results from a research project on the resilience of organic and nonorganic cocoa farms to external risk factors and discuss them in the context of climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and migration. Cocoa farmers who belong to a cooperative and had organic certification achieved higher resilience indicators than others, because they tended to cultivate cocoa in diversified agroforestry systems. Cooperatives fostered agroforestry through capacity-building, knowledge exchange, extension services, and awareness-raising. They also provided social insurances and enhanced mutual support among their members. Challenges within established cooperatives such as lack of technical support to farmers and knowledge exchange within and between organizations can hamper resilience building. Finally, the inclusion of new farmers into cocoa cooperatives seems critical to reducing outmigration and the reproduction of non-sustainable practices in other fragile areas. Multiple challenges remain to be addressed, however, including the enhancement of solidarity economy networks and their extension sectors other than export crops.

La soberanía alimentaria es una concepción integral y sistémica de implementación y análisis de las dinámicas productivo-alimentarias. Sus postulados se resumieron en diez parámetros con los que se analizaron cualitativamente tres sistemas alimentarios del Departamento de Santa Cruz en Bolivia: agroindustrial, indígena y agroecológico. El sistema agroindustrial reveló las menores contribuciones a la soberanía alimentaria, mientras que en el agroecológico, los aportes son más claros y avanzados. A pesar de estas diferencias, el sistema agroindustrial es el más dominante y expansivo, particularmente sobre el indígena. Los hallazgos levantan preguntas sobre los conflictos entre los sistemas alimentarios agroindustrial e indígena con la soberanía alimentaria en las condiciones actuales.

The growing demand for cocoa beans and products worldwide has been met by expanding the area under cocoa production while productivity per hectare has stagnated at a low level of around 450 kg/ha per year in the last decade. Throughout the tropics cocoa has increasingly been cultivated in full-sun monocultures in order to maximize short-term productivity and profitability, which has been associated with soil erosion and degradation, biodiversity loss, as well as increased susceptibility to climate change impacts and pests and diseases. Dynamic agroforestry systems are an alternative production method which has long been practiced in Latin American countries such as Bolivia. Through mimicking natural forests, these systems offer multiple benefits such as soil fertility enhancement, reduction in pest and disease pressure, erosion control, and revenue diversification. In Côte d’Ivoire, where most cocoa is still produced in monocultures, dynamic agroforestry systems were recently introduced on a small scale. Here we use different research projects conducted in Bolivia and Côte d’Ivoire as case studies to review productivity, soil fertility as well as pests and diseases in dynamic agroforestry systems and monocultures, and outline factors influencing the adoption of dynamic agroforestry systems from the farmers’ perspective. We found productivity under agroforestry systems to be either similar or higher compared to monocultures. We recorded 161 % higher total system yields in an on-station field trial and an on-farm study in Bolivia, and in an on-farm study in Côte d’Ivoire. Cocoa yields were 12–46 % higher in agroforestry systems compared to monocultures. In addition, cocoa in dynamic agroforestry systems exhibited significantly less incidences of witches’ broom, Moniliophthora perniciosa, compared to monocultures in Bolivia. Farmers in Bolivia and Côte d’Ivoire observed more soil-related problems and incidences of pests and diseases in monocultures than in agroforestry systems, and they showed high interest to learn dynamic agroforestry management practices. However, adoption was strongly limited to project areas where dynamic agroforestry plots had been installed with farmers’ participation. This highlights the importance of local organizations such as Ecotop, Ecosaf, El Ceibo and Biopartenaire Ltd., who implement such interventions on the ground. However, we found that there is space for improvement in the way organizations interact with farmers, especially in Côte d’Ivoire. Interactive knowledge sharing methods such as farmer field schools may help to stimulate farmers’ protagonism and give scientists and external consultants the role of facilitators who integrate different forms of knowledge and make them visible to different stakeholders. Such a social learning process requires transdisciplinary research for the development of decision support tools which facilitate the determination of both optimal planting densities and shade levels, as well as adequate combinations of trees and accompanying species in order to achieve effective regulation of pests and diseases while ensuring favourable growing conditions.

This study compares aboveground and belowground carbon stocks and tree diversity in different cocoa cultivation systems in Bolivia: monoculture, simple agroforestry, and successional agroforestry, as well as fallow as a control. Since diversified, agroforestry-based cultivation systems are often considered important for sustainable development, we also evaluated the links between carbon stocks and tree diversity, as well as the role of organic certification in transitioning from monoculture to agroforestry. Biomass, tree diversity, and soil physiochemical parameters were sampled in 15 plots measuring 48 × 48 m. Semi-structured interviews with 52 cocoa farmers were used to evaluate the role of organic certification and farmers’ organizations (e.g., cocoa cooperatives) in promoting tree diversity. Total carbon stocks in simple agroforestry systems (128.4 ± 20 Mg ha−1) were similar to those on fallow plots (125.2 ± 10 Mg ha−1). Successional agroforestry systems had the highest carbon stocks (143.7 ± 5.3 Mg ha−1). Monocultures stored significantly less carbon than all other systems (86.3 ± 4.0 Mg ha−1, posterior probability P(Diff > 0) of 0.000–0.006). Among shade tree species, Schizolobium amazonicum, Centrolobium ochroxylum, and Anadenanthera sp. accumulated the most biomass. High-value timber species (S. amazonicum, C. ochroxylum, Amburana cearensis, and Swietenia macrophylla) accounted for 22.0 % of shade tree biomass. The Shannon index and tree species richness were highest in successional agroforestry systems. Cocoa plots on certified organic farms displayed significantly higher tree species richness than plots on non-certified farms. Thus, expanding the coverage of organic farmers’ organizations may be an effective strategy for fostering transitions from monoculture to agroforestry systems.

Cocoa-based small-scale agriculture is the most important source of income for most farming families in the region of Alto Beni in the sub-humid foothills of the Andes. Cocoa is grown in cultivation systems of varying ecological complexity. The plantations are highly susceptible to climate change impacts. Local cocoa producers mention heat waves, droughts, floods and plant diseases as the main impacts affecting plants and working conditions, and they associate these impacts with global climate change. From a sustainable regional development point of view, cocoa farms need to become more resilient in order to cope with the climate change related effects that are putting cocoa-based livelihoods at risk. This study assesses agroecosystem resilience under three different cocoa cultivation systems (successional agroforestry, simple agroforestry and common practice monocultures). In a first step, farmers’ perceptions of climate change impacts were assessed and eight indicators of agroecological resilience were derived in a transdisciplinary process (focus groups and workshop) based on farmers’ and scientists’ knowledge. These indicators (soil organic matter, depth of Ah horizon, soil bulk density, tree species diversity, crop varieties diversity, ant species diversity, cocoa yields and infestation of cocoa trees with Moniliophthora perniciosa) were then surveyed on 15 cocoa farms and compared for the three different cultivation systems. Parts of the socio-economic aspects of resilience were covered by evaluating the role of cocoa cooperatives and organic certification in transitioning to more resilient cocoa farms (interviews with 15 cocoa farmers combined with five expert interviews). Agroecosystem resilience was higher under the two agroforestry systems than under common practice monoculture, especially under successional agroforestry. Both agroforestry systems achieved higher cocoa yields than common practice monoculture due to agroforestry farmers’ enhanced knowledge regarding cocoa cultivation. Knowledge sharing was promoted by local organizations facilitating organic certification. These organizations were thus found to enhance the social process of farmers’ integration into cooperatives and their reorientation toward organic principles and diversified agroforestry.

Este artigo discute as ciências endógenas como um sistema de conhecimentos que pode contribuir para a segurança e a soberania alimentar. Toma como premissa fundamental o reconhecimento de que todos os sistemas de conhecimentos milenares do mundo são ciências com suas próprias epistemologias e ontologias e isto implica em diferentes visões de vida e valorações, como é o caso dos conceitos de alimento e medicina. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar e promover marcos teóricos e metodológicos que levem ao diálogo intercientífico de saberes entre os diferentes sistemas de conhecimento do mundo, considerando o pluralismo epistemológico e o surgimento e/ou recriação de paradigmas das ciências e o desenvolvimento, e propondo delineamentos a partir da praxis para fortalecer o corpus cognitivo das ciências endógenas que aportem à sustentabilidade alimentar e ao desenvolvimento sustentável. Pode-se afirmar que o diálogo de saberes que parte da revalorização da sabedoria das nações e povos indígenas camponeses do mundo (que chamamos de intraculturalidade) e a transdisciplinaridade (acadêmica), tem sido a base para sustentar um marco teórico-conceitual e metodológico que permite aportar à construção de novos paradigmas das ciências e o desenvolvimento que se concretiza no diálogo intercientífico.