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The Spirit of Food - the transfer of environmental values in an agricultural development project

Karlsson, Martin LU (2011) HEKK01 20102
Human Ecology
Abstract
This dissertation concerns an agricultural development project in Zambia, carried out by the Japanese NGO Shumei International, and MBAWOFA, a Zambian women's cooperative. The project teaches the Shumei agricultural technique “Natural Agriculture”, an organic farming method. The purpose of the dissertation is to study the MBAWOFA-Shumei cooperation and evaluate to what extent, and to what effect, environmental values held by Shumei International as an organization has been transferred to the women of MBAWOFA through the teaching of the Natural Agriculture method. The dissertation is a Minor Field Study Report, based on field work conducted in the summer of 2010. The main method used was qualitative interviews. No transfer of environmental... (More)
This dissertation concerns an agricultural development project in Zambia, carried out by the Japanese NGO Shumei International, and MBAWOFA, a Zambian women's cooperative. The project teaches the Shumei agricultural technique “Natural Agriculture”, an organic farming method. The purpose of the dissertation is to study the MBAWOFA-Shumei cooperation and evaluate to what extent, and to what effect, environmental values held by Shumei International as an organization has been transferred to the women of MBAWOFA through the teaching of the Natural Agriculture method. The dissertation is a Minor Field Study Report, based on field work conducted in the summer of 2010. The main method used was qualitative interviews. No transfer of environmental values is found, but rather a formulation of a different moral framework for the agricultural method. It is also found that the agricultural development goals of the Zambian government is not always in line with the needs of small-scale farmers, and that the Natural Agriculture method does have some real benefits for small-scale farmers in terms of self-sufficiency. Accordingly, the values justifying use of Natural Agriculture were centred around self-sufficiency. The dissertation also discusses the role of values in agricultural development in general, informed by the findings of the field study, and recommends that values underlying development projects should be sincerely showcased to allow development subjects make informed decisions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Karlsson, Martin LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Matens ande: överföringen av naturvärderingar i ett utvecklingsprojekt
course
HEKK01 20102
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
value transfer, agricultural development, environmental values, organic agriculture
language
English
id
1759812
date added to LUP
2011-09-02 11:42:19
date last changed
2011-09-02 11:42:19
@misc{1759812,
  abstract     = {{This dissertation concerns an agricultural development project in Zambia, carried out by the Japanese NGO Shumei International, and MBAWOFA, a Zambian women's cooperative. The project teaches the Shumei agricultural technique “Natural Agriculture”, an organic farming method. The purpose of the dissertation is to study the MBAWOFA-Shumei cooperation and evaluate to what extent, and to what effect, environmental values held by Shumei International as an organization has been transferred to the women of MBAWOFA through the teaching of the Natural Agriculture method. The dissertation is a Minor Field Study Report, based on field work conducted in the summer of 2010. The main method used was qualitative interviews. No transfer of environmental values is found, but rather a formulation of a different moral framework for the agricultural method. It is also found that the agricultural development goals of the Zambian government is not always in line with the needs of small-scale farmers, and that the Natural Agriculture method does have some real benefits for small-scale farmers in terms of self-sufficiency. Accordingly, the values justifying use of Natural Agriculture were centred around self-sufficiency. The dissertation also discusses the role of values in agricultural development in general, informed by the findings of the field study, and recommends that values underlying development projects should be sincerely showcased to allow development subjects make informed decisions.}},
  author       = {{Karlsson, Martin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Spirit of Food - the transfer of environmental values in an agricultural development project}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}