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Sustainability and peasant farming systems: Observations from Zimbabwe

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  • B.M. Campbell
  • P. Bradley
  • S.E. Carter

Abstract

Many authors suggest the need to define ‘sustainable development’in operational terms. This paper looks at the problems ofattempting to ask whether peasant farming systems are sustainable.Any attempt at sustainability assessment needs to consider issuesrelated to the selected indicators or performance criteria, spatialscale or boundaries, and temporal scale. While there is certainlya need for more rigorous analysis of sustainability issues, thereis limited outlook for an approach based on indicators. Even if themany purely technical problems associated with specific indicatorscan be surmounted, will accurate bio-physical data advance ourknowledge about sustainability? Peasant systems arepolitically-guided management systems, whose boundaries are the state,not the field or the farm. Given the dynamic nature of peasant farmingsystems, where do we draw the line in assessing sustainability?Attempts at sustainability assessment 100 years ago or even 20–30years ago would have been completely superseded by events. We drawattention to the system as a whole, to a web of interconnections,causes and effects – of varying significance over both time andspace. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 1997

Suggested Citation

  • B.M. Campbell & P. Bradley & S.E. Carter, 1997. "Sustainability and peasant farming systems: Observations from Zimbabwe," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 14(2), pages 159-168, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:14:y:1997:i:2:p:159-168
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1007358823524
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lynam, John K. & Herdt, Robert W., 1989. "Sense and sustainability: Sustainability as an objective in international agricultural research," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 3(4), pages 381-398, December.
    2. Scoones, Ian, 1992. "The economic value of livestock in the communal areas of southern Zimbabwe," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 339-359.
    3. Sam Page & Helán Page, 1991. "Western hegemony over african agriculture in Southern Rhodesia and its continuing threat to food security in independent zimbabwe," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 8(4), pages 3-18, September.
    4. Patricia Allen & Carolyn Sachs, 1992. "The poverty of sustainability: An analysis of current positions," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 9(4), pages 29-35, September.
    5. Kathryn George, 1992. "Sustainability and the moral community," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 9(4), pages 48-57, September.
    6. Aaron Harp & Carolyn Sachs, 1992. "Public agricultural researchers: Reactions to organic, low input and sustainable agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 9(4), pages 58-63, September.
    7. John K. Lynam & Robert W. Herdt, 1989. "Sense and Sustainability: Sustainability as an Objective in International Agricultural Research," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 3(4), pages 381-398, December.
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    1. Paumgarten, F. & Shackleton, C.M., 2009. "Wealth differentiation in household use and trade in non-timber forest products in South Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2950-2959, October.

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