Developing a sociotechnical approach to study agrifood systems: an ethnographic analysis of plant diseases management in the Andes
Short description
The food we eat every day relies on a complex system that is more vulnerable than many people realize. One of the major challenges is the spread of plant diseases that threaten key crops such as potatoes, wheat, and olives. This research project examines how small-scale farmers in the Andes and researchers collaborate to manage diseases in potato farming, a key crop in agrifood systems. By studying how knowledge about plant diseases is created and used by farmers, the project aims to contribute to more sustainable and resilient food systems.
Background
Notwithstanding the increasing research on agrifood systems vulnerabilities, a major area of concern to be studied by the social sciences is the management of plant diseases. This is a pressing issue, since plant diseases have the potential of turning into epidemics which could affect crops and threaten the global access to food.
The project seeks to develop an empirical approach that attends to the technical, practical, and social specificities of the interrelations between technological systems and social factors that shape the basis for plant diseases management strategies. In that way, the project stresses the importance of analysing what sociotechnical systems include and what they do not take into account, and how that affects the ability of certain kinds of knowledge to count and of certain kinds of actors to act in the management of plant diseases.
Combining science and technology studies theories and ethnographic methods, the project systematically documents the activities of Andean peasant communities and scientists from the International Potato Center involved in the management of potato plant diseases, a key crop in agrifood systems. The project then investigates how management responses in relation to plant diseases are shaped by sociotechnical infrastructures, that is, the situated arrangements of people, knowledge and technologies that shape specific forms of action. This approach will be crucial in changing, managing, and improving agrifood systems.
Research questions
To guide this project we need a better understanding of how sociotechnical infrastructures and agrifood systems are connected. To this end, the following research questions are posed:
- How do sociotechnical infrastructures ensure the detection of potato plant diseases?
- How is knowledge mobilized by different stakeholders involved in these infrastructures to generate specific management responses to potato plant diseases?
- What kind of challenges and which strengths do these infrastructures provide when managing potato plant diseases?
Method
This project uses ethnography to study how potato plant diseases are managed across different actors and scales. Fieldwork is conducted with scientists at the International Potato Center (CIP) in Quito, Ecuador, and small-scale farming communities in Colombia’s Sumapaz region. These groups are central to the potato agrifood system and its transformation. The study combines observations of everyday practices, in-depth interviews with at least 20 scientists and farmers, and analysis of documents such as technical reports, policy guidelines, and scientific literature. This approach provides detailed insight into how knowledge and practices around plant disease management are produced, shared, and applied in real-world contexts.