- 4.1 Origins of study design
- 4.2 Review of literature
- 4.3 Finding out how stakeholders learn about organics and implement organic farming practices
- 4.4 Exploring how stakeholders accessed and maintained definitions of organics
- 4.5 Identifying barriers to the adoption of organic agriculture and facilitating ways of dealing with these
4. The research process
This section outlines the origins of the study design, prior to describing the phases of activity involved in the study.
4.1 Origins of study design
The design of this study originates from two sources: MAF interests in sustainable agricultural systems, and prior research into organics being conducted at the University of Otago. In the first instance, past MAF work showed that agricultural sustainability involves more than environmental and economic factors: social dimensions are also vital (MAF 1995; Pomeroy 1997). It is in recognition of this social dimension that this study deliberately concentrates on the importance of knowledge, gender and industry decision making processes as factors affecting the adoption of organics.
The second influence on this study was the ongoing organics research being conducted at the University of Otago (see Campbell 1996; 1997; Fairweather and Campbell 1996). This research was influential in three ways, in that:
i) it uses organic agriculture as a form of sustainable production which already exists and is being practiced by a number of producers;
ii) it identifies a range of stakeholders that influence (or seek to influence) the definition and adoption of organic production; and
iii) it identifies gender as a significant variable in these processes of adoption.
4.2 Review of literature
The first phase of activity involved a review of literature in order to inform the study both in terms of the organisation of agriculture and organic production, and broader issues about farmers’ experiences of learning and implementing different farming practices. A summary of the findings from this phase can be found in Appendix 1 and a discussion of the literature is provided by Liepins and Campbell (1997).
4.3 Finding out how stakeholders learn about organics and implement organic farming practices
In order to explore the first of the study’s objectives, two methods were used.
- Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants representing four different stakeholder groups within the industry including producers, educators and facilitators, and the certification agency BIO-GRO. The interviews explored how men and women learn about organics as a farming option; how men and women use different forms of information; how men and women move from learning about organic farming to practicing it as a farming system; and how men and women have different interests and contributions in organic farming.
- Individuals and couples from 45 properties which held some form of BIO-GRO certification in the past year were contacted and invited to participate in an interview. Producers from 30 units agreed to be interviewed in their homes either face to face or over the telephone. The same semi-structured schedules were completed for each interview.
4.4 Exploring how stakeholders accessed and maintained definitions of organics
Three techniques were used to investigate the second study objective.
- A survey of stakeholders was used to find out how organics was defined by a variety of players in the industry. The survey also sought interpretations of these definitions, and accounts of decision making and community relations within the industry. The survey was conducted by telephone with twelve representatives from the industry’s production, education, certification, media, processing and retail sectors. An additional stakeholder chose to respond in writing.
- A range of twenty-three stakeholders were invited to send representatives to one of two focus group meetings. A structured discussion was conducted during each session to explore questions together as a group. These sessions compared individual stakeholders’ meanings of organics and identified the ways in which certain definitions were, or were not, considered to be legitimate and credible.
- Intensive interviews were conducted with three stakeholders representing the certification, processor, and retail sectors of the industry. These interviews investigated the ways in which each organisation developed relationships with other stakeholders as it conducted ‘business’ and consequently affected the adoption of farming practices in the region. These interviews also dealt with the issue of gender, exploring the way in which the organics industry is currently operating as a male domain, and how the operation and direction of the industry might alter if women were involved more fully in the industry.
4.5 Identifying barriers to the adoption of organic agriculture and facilitating ways of dealing with these
The third objective of this study involved establishing an opportunity for industry participants to reflect on the identified barriers to increased adoption of organic farming practices. This proved to be easier than originally planned as industry networks became independently active during the study.
During 1997, the Christchurch City Council supported the establishment of the Organic Garden City Trust - originally based around the conversion of the Christchurch Botanical Gardens to organic management in 1996/97. In July 1997, the Trust expanded its activities to include a ‘Commercial Section’, to bring together organic producers, processors, retailers and consumers to discuss and strategically plan for the further development of organic production in Canterbury. This study intersected with the Commercial group since its initial meeting provided an effective platform for the ‘community reporting’ phase of the research. The preliminary findings of the study contributed to the discussion and planning which took place at this event. It was decided that: the Commercial Section had an important planning role to play in the industry and should therefore meet regularly; and that the research findings from Otago University should be presented on an ongoing basis to the Section meetings during 1997. Details of this discussion are given in Section 5.3.
Contact for Enquiries
Kay Brown
Sector Performance Policy
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 4 894 0695
Fax: +64 4 4 894 0746
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