Duration: 2018 – 2019
Principal Researcher
Cristina Amaro da Costa
Team Members
Ana M. Aguiar
Celso Pais
Cláudia Chaves
Cristina Parente
Daniela Teixeira
Guadalupe Ribeiro Pinheiro
Helena Esteves Correia
José Barata
Luísa Silva
Mafalda Gomes
Raquel Guiné
Telmo Costa
Institutional and Enterprise Partners
IPV; ADDLAP; U.PORTO; Instituto de Sociologia da U.Porto; A3S; Scotland’s Rural College; Estrategia y Organización S.A.; Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra
Family farming, as a way to ensure agricultural production managed by a family relying on unpaid family labor, plays a fundamental role in rural areas. Of the 570 million farms worldwide, over 500 million are family farms. In Portugal, family farming represents 96% of the approximately 280,000 existing farms on the mainland. Various projects and development models for family farming consider organic agriculture as a key element for implementation, with a direct impact on increasing family incomes.
The adoption of organic agriculture, based on principles such as feeding the soil to nourish the plant, optimizing nutrient cycles, or maintaining close relationships with the market, allows family farmers to incorporate innovative technology aimed at producing healthier and higher-quality food. This is achieved without the use of synthetic chemicals or genetically modified organisms, simultaneously contributing to the reduction of negative environmental impacts.
The identification of technical and technological procedures adopted in family farms allows for the recognition of similarities (closeness) with the theoretical technical itinerary model adopted in organic agriculture. It also helps identify the technical, economic, and social constraints to transitioning to organic farming. This knowledge contributes to the design of an intervention model, both technically and socially, and to the definition of regional or national strategies and policies. These measures aim to promote the adoption of this mode of production by family farmers.
The technical and technological procedures adopted in family farms, along with the social and demographic characteristics of farmers, will be identified through the indirect administration of questionnaires with closed-ended questions, some of which will take the form of multiple-choice checklists. Preceding this survey operation, qualitative information will be collected through group interviews in the form of focus groups. The aim is to explore the technical and technological procedures adopted in family farming, as well as obstacles and resistance to organic farming practices. Additionally, attitudes and behaviors that are more likely to be consensual for encouraging practice change will be explored.
Concurrently, a case study based on the "Lean" methodology will allow a real-world understanding of the practices, attitudes, and behaviors identified in the focus group. The research will culminate in the validation of a set of recommendations at the local and regional policy level, involving key stakeholders, including participants in the focus group. These recommendations aim to achieve more sustainable and healthy production methods through changes in agricultural practices and the adoption of organic farming by family farmers.
The objective of the present project is to define an intervention model, at both technical and social levels, that allows for bridging the gap between family farming and organic agriculture, aiming at the adoption of this production method. Thus, the executive objectives of the proposal include:
1) Develop a theoretical reflection on the proximity between the reality of agricultural practices in family farming and organic agriculture;
2) Define an intervention model, at both technical and social levels, that contributes to changing the practices adopted by family farmers towards organic agriculture;
3) Propose recommendations at the level of public policy guidelines that allow for achieving more sustainable and healthy modes of production.