Structures of Sustainability: A Regenerative Model for Community Agriculture Development

Structures of Sustainability: A Regenerative Model for Community Agriculture Development

Summary

The goal of this planning project is to design a study that will implement and test a community-based model for addressing social and economic obstacles to sustainable agriculture. The project is driven by four key questions:
1. What are the forces influencing the structure of the agro-food system in the communities of Puerto Rico’s central region?
2. What are the effects of these forces on possibilities for strengthening the sustainabiltiy of these agricultural systems?
3. How can communities respond to these changes and regenerate their agricultural sectors in a sustainable way?
4. What is the role of “community” in meeting these goals?

During the initial phase of the project, we will convene a community working-group in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico. Over a series of meetings, the working-group and principal investigators will determine the structural problems facing local agriculture through a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) process and discuss meaningful criteria for measuring the impact of community based interventions to enhance “structures of sustainability.” In addition, the group members and other participants will assist the investigators in determining potential partner communities elsewhere in the Caribbean and mainland U.S. South with the goal of finding meaningful comparative cases. With this preliminary design complete, the working group and other project participants will then hold five educational events to share the experience and outcomes of the PRA process and to solicit comments from farmers and other stakeholders in Barranquitas and elsewhere in Puerto Rico. The planning project will conclude with the preparation of a final multidisciplinary project proposal.

Objectives
Thus, the specific objectives of this planning project are as follows:
1. Convene a community working group in Barranquitas, PR.
2. Conduct a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) of the structural problems facing sustainable agriculture in Barranquitas.
3. Identify potential partner communities in the Caribbean or in the U.S. mainland south.
4. Identify meaningful criteria for evaluating the impact of community-based interventions on both farm and community levels.
5. Hold five educational events to share the results of the PRA and solicit feedback.
6. Design a multidisciplinary research proposal to implement and test the community- based model for enhancing “structures of sustainability” in agriculture.

Approach
Currently, we are working with local extension agents and NGO collaborators to plan the first orientation meeting of the community working-group provisionally scheduled for early or mid-December, 2000. We are also making contact with the leaders of relevant community organizations including a youth environmental group, a chamber of commerce, and an emerging farmers’ market association in order to find potential working-group members. A third source of potential members is a sign-up sheet with 15 names and addresses from a recent local agricultural festival. Shortly after the start of the new year, we will begin the PRA process and preliminary project design. We plan to hold the educational sessions in May, 2001 and meetings with members of potential partner communities later in the summer. The final proposal will be complete by the end of August, 2001.

Ultimately, this project will provide farmers and farming communities with a more comprehensive and actionable understanding of the socioeconomic aspects of agriculture and ways in which community-based interventions can enhance structural support for sustainable farming practices. By providing a process through which community groups can envision and then actualize a more locally integrated farming sector, this project will help consumers take a more active role in using food purchases to support the local economy.

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