Abstract
Malagasy ‘players’—farmers, middle men, organic organisations and policy makers—see in export-orientated organic agriculture a way for Madagascar to build upon its historic export strengths: spices, essential oils, medicinal plants and tropical fruits. They point to the de facto organic status of most farming in the country and view organic production strategies as a means for Malagasy farmers to differentiate their produce in the highly competitive world market (Ramboatiana and Randriamanantena 2000; Randriamanantena 1998; Vallée 2000). However, producing for the export market poses significant challenges for Malagasy farmers. Despite its apparent ‘fit’ with existing farming practice, ‘true’ certified organic practice does not necessarily offer a means towards achieving a Malagasy farmer-defined ‘good life’. Smallholders can be disempowered through their incorporation into wider systemic relationships whose more powerful actors—such as buyers and consumers—and their ‘rules’ about what ‘organic’ is, for example, are necessarily unfamiliar. Yet farmers are very interested in the significant opportunities for much-needed cash that organic farming offers. This paper argues that strengthening farmer agency, and thus their presence as actors in international food chains, can be partially achieved if farmers are involved in devising the rules for organic and social certification. I set out eight principles that I have developed which seem important when trying to capture and measure ‘quality of life’ for the purposes of social certification. My theoretical and empirical work, detailed here, is set within a methodological discussion on how to best ensure that research is ‘respondent-led’. Respondent-led research is, I argue, critical for ensuring that an understanding of the components of ‘quality of life’, and their operationalisation as standards and indicators, is truly meaningful to the target group.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
According to the ‘Principal Aims of Organic Production and Processing’ in the IFOAM Basic Standards 2002 [which was valid at the time of research], IFOAM aims (1) to recognise the wider social and ecological impact of and within the organic production and processing system, (2) to provide everyone involved in organic farming and processing with a quality of life that satisfies their basic needs, within a safe, secure and healthy working environment, and (3) to support the establishment of an entire production, processing and distribution chain which is both socially just and ecologically responsible.
Horticultural commodity chains are typically ‘buyer-led’: retailers exert significant control over all aspects of the chain. See Gereffi 1999, for a conceptual framework of global commodity chains, and Barrientos et al. 2003 for a discussion on how just-in-time production methods, adopted by retailers, pass the costs of demand instability to producers. This drives labour costs down and avoids many of the non-wage costs of employment. Informal, highly gendered work arrangements are the norm in many horticultural chains.
My research in the UK with a community group showed how swiftly a particular group grasped the potential of chapatti (venn) diagrams to indicate their perceived exclusion from decision-making processes. They also clearly understood that they could use us, the researchers, to convey their grievances to other parties rather than having to speak for themselves—simply because they realised we would present our ‘findings’ at some point to various decision-makers (Farnworth 1998). This experience strongly influenced my desire to employ local researchers in Madagascar, but as shown this decision raised new issues.
This has tremendous implications for social certification and social labelling initiatives, among others.
Quote from a poem ‘Ambulances’ by Larkin (in Jones 1999, p. 134).
Naess (1973) bases his ideas in part upon gestalt theory. He insists upon ‘rejection of the man-in-environment image in favour of the relational, total field image. Organisms as knots in the biospherical net or field of intrinsic relations. An instrinsic relation between two things A and B is such that the relation belongs to the definitions or basic constituents of A and B, so that without the relation, A and B are no longer the same things.’
The fieldwork took a year to plan. It was necessary to learn about the organic landscape in Madagascar: government policy, the local and export markets, the organisations and individuals involved, the location of organic farms and plantations, climatic factors and, once willing project partners had been identified, several preparatory visits to the research areas with partners. The research team was put together with the help of Dr. Karen Freudenberger, who has written widely on the use of participatory methodology. Living on the island, she was able to help me find a team member with whom she had worked extensively. Another team member had lived in the research area for several years, and was therefore proficient in the local dialect. As she was older she was critical in enabling us to gain the respect of respondents. Finally, our driver became a team member due to his obvious ability interact well with respondents. He supported the other male team member and joined all our debriefing sessions, which we conducted each evening. The fieldwork itself took 2 months.
It would be interesting to compare the thematic apperception test approach with that of photo elicitation interviews (Epstein et al. 2006 for a useful sample text).
Ekejiuba (in Bryceson 1995) discusses a range of studies elsewhere in Africa that show how women manipulate the gender of division of labour in their own interests. She describes the case of her maternal aunt in Nigeria who emerged from a ‘failed’ childless marriage. The aunt was discouraged from remarrying, but in time she married another woman, who, in time, produced four sons. The aunt also produced a son of her own. In this way the women’s access to various resources was enabled.
References
Ahluwalia, M. (1997). Representing communities: The case of a community-based watershed management project in Rajasthan, India. Institute of Development Studies Bulletin, 28, 23–36.
Ashley, C., & Carney, D. (1999). Sustainable livelihoods: Lessons from early experiences. London: Department for International Development.
Ballet, J., Dubois, J-L., Mahicu, F-R. (2003, September). Le Développement Socialement Durable: Un moyen d’intégrer capacités et Durabilité. Paper presented at Communication for the Third Conference on the Capability Approach, University of Pavia, 6–9 September 2003.
Barrientos, S., Dolan, C., & Tallontire, A. (2003). A gendered value chain approach to codes of conduct in African horticulture. World Development, 31, 1511–1526.
Beyene, A. (1999). Soil degradation and dynamics of land use in mixed farming systems: A users’ perspective study in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Unpublished Procedural Paper. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Bryceson, D. F. (Ed.). (1995). Women wielding the hoe: Lessons from rural Africa for feminist theory and development practice. Oxford/Washington, DC: Berg Publishers.
Capra, F. (1997). The web of life: A new synthesis of mind and matter. London: Flamingo.
Chambers, R. (1994a). Challenging the professions: Frontiers for rural development. London: ITDG Publications.
Chambers, R. (1994b). Foreword. In I. Scoones & J. Thompson (Eds.), Beyond farmer first: Rural people's knowledge, agricultural research and extension practice. London: ITDG Publications.
Clark, D. (2002). Development ethics: A research agenda. International Journal of Social Economics, 29, 830–848.
Cook, I. (2004). Positionality/situated knowledge. In D. Atkinson, P. Jackson, D. Sibley, & N. Washbourne (Eds.) Cultural geography: A critical dictionary of key ideas. (forthcoming, to be published by IB Tauris, London). Draft downloaded from http://www.gees.bham.ac.uk/downloads/gesdraftpapers/iancook-situatedknowledge.pdf.
Cooper, D. E. (1992). The idea of environment. In D. E. Cooper & J. A. Palmer (Eds.), The environment in question: Ethics and global issues. London: Routledge.
Des Jardins, J. R. (2001). Environmental ethics: An introduction to environmental philosophy (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Eckermann, L. (2000). Gendering indicators of health and well-being: Is quality of life gender neutral? Social Indicators Research, 52, 29–54.
Epstein, I., Stevens, B., McKeever, P., & Baruchel, S. (2006). Photo elicitation interview (PEI): Using photos to elicit children’s perspectives. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5, 1–9.
Farlinger, S. (1996). Quality of life for women. Social Indicators Research, 39, 109–119.
Farnworth, C. R. (1998). Chapati diagrams in a norwich community centre. participatory learning and action notes, No. 31. London: International Institute for the Environment and Development.
Farnworth, C. R. (2004). Creating quality relationships in the organic producer to consumer chain: From Madagascar to Germany. Published Doctoral Dissertation, Agraria 483, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala. www.sol.slu.se/publications/theses.asp.
Farnworth, C. R., & Jiggins, J. (2003). Participatory plant breeding and gender analysis CGIAR/PRGA PPB monograph 4. Columbia: CGIAR.
Feldstein, H., & J. Jiggins (Eds.). (1994). Tools for the field: Methodologies handbook for gender analysis in agriculture. London: ITDG Publications.
Firouz, A. (2002). In the walled gardens: A novel. Boston MA: Little, Brown and Company.
Gereffi, G. (1999). A commodity chains framework for analysing global industries. Downloaded from www.ids.ac.uk/ids/global/pdfs/gereffi.pdf.
Grown, C. A., & Sebstad, J. (1989). Introduction: Toward a wider perspective on women’s employment. World Development, 17, 937–952.
Hamilton, C. (1999). The genuine progress indicator: Methodological developments and results from Australia. Ecological Economics, 30, 13–28.
Ho, M. W. (2000). The entangled universe. YES! A Journal of Positive Futures, Spring 2000.
Jones, G. R. (1999). The nation’s favourite poems. London: BBC Worldwide Ltd.
Kabeer, N. (2000). Resources, agency, achievement: Reflections on the measurement of women’s empowerment. In Power resources and culture in a gender perspective. Sweden: Uppsala Universitet.
Kavka, G. (1978). The futurity problem. In R. I. Sikora & B. Barry (Eds.), Obligations to future generations. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Mikkelsen, B. (1995). Methods for development work and research: A guide for practitioners. London: Sage Publications.
Ministère de l’ Agriculture. (1998). Monographie des Régions de l’Est (provisoire). Secrétariat général, direction générale des activités techniques et l’unité de politique pour le développement rural. Direction Inter-Regionale de l’Agriculture de Toamasina.
Murray, C. L. (1991). Development data constraints and the human development index. Geneva: UNRISD.
Naess, A. (1973). The shallow and the deep, long-range ecology movement. A summary. Inquiry, 16, 95–100.
Nazarea, V., Rhoades, R., Bontoyan, E., & Flora, G. (1998). Defining indicators which make sense to local people: Intra-cultural variation in perceptions of natural resources. Human Organisation, 57, 159–169.
Neumayer, E. (2000). On the methodology of ISEW, GPI and related measures: Some constructive suggestions and some doubt on the ‘threshold’ hypothesis. Ecological Economics, 34, 347–361.
Nussbaum, M. (2000). Women’s capabilities and social justice. Prepared as part of UNRISD’s work for Beijing + 5 Review: Gender justice, development and rights. UNRISD, Geneva.
Nussbaum, M. C. (2001). Woman and human development: The capabilities approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nussbaum, M. C., & Sen, A. K. (1993). The quality of life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ramboatiana, R., Randriamanantena, A’I. (2000). Produits Biologiques. In Défis et Enjeux de la Mondialisation pour Madagascar: Cas du système financier, des produits biologiques et de l’écotourisme. (Madagascar: PNUD, Antananarivo).
Randriamanantena, A’I. (1998). Rapport de Mission a la 68 eme Foire Internationale et Gastronomique de Dijon, et la Visite de l’Interprofession et Associations Professionnelles similaires Européennes du 27 octobre au 17 novembre. Madagascar: PNUD, Antananarivo.
Rapley, M. (2003). Quality of life research: A critical introduction. London: Sage Publications.
Richmond, L., Filson, G. C., Paine, C., Pfeiffer, W. C., & Taylor, J. R. (2000). Non-farm rural Ontario residents’ perceived quality of life. Social Indicators Research, 50, 159–186.
Said, E. (2003). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
Saith, A., & Harris-White, B. (1998). Gender sensitivity of well-being indicators. Discussion Paper 95. Geneva: UNRISD.
Salmon, P. (2003). How do we recognise good research? The Psychologist, 16, 24–27.
Shepherd, A. (1995). Participatory environmental management: Contradiction of process, project and bureaucracy in the Himalayan foothills. Public Administration and Development, 15, 465–479.
Pretty, J. N., Guijt, R., Thompson, J., & Scoones, I. (1995). Participatory learning and action: A trainer’s guide. London: IIED Participatory Methodology Series.
Vallée, O. (2000). Mondialisation et Développement a Madagascar. In Défis et Enjeux de la mondialisation pour Madagascar: Cas du système financier, des produits biologiques et de l’écotourisme. Madagascar: PNUD, Antananarivo.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Farnworth, C.R. Well-Being is a Process of Becoming: Respondent-Led Research With Organic Farmers in Madagascar. Soc Indic Res 90, 89–106 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9314-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-008-9314-8