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Abstract

Thomas,T. W., O. A. Yeboah, J. Bukenya, B. Gray, V. Ofori-Boadu, 2007. Accounting for socio-cultural factors in designing sustainable agricultural production systems. JEMREST 3:127-139.

DOI: 10.4029/2007jemrest3no18

Ecological and agricultural modernization are the dominant paradigms directing thinking and guiding action geared toward fashioning sustainable forms of agricultural production. These two world views are essentially linear forms of thinking and acting since both rely heavily on the epistemology of positive science; believing that more and more sophisticated technologies will fully reconcile and integrate food production systems with natural and human systems. In this paper we contend that both agricultural and ecological modernization fail to give sufficient credence to a holistic approach that integrates human systems (socio-cultural factors) in formulating sustainable agricultural production systems. We present a rationale for integrating socio-cultural factors in the design of sustainable production systems and present preliminary data from a regional survey of five southern states regarding attitudes toward small community-based farms and organic agriculture.