Exploring farm development strategies : a study on organic farming strategies of farmers located in the North island of New Zealand

Summary

The environmental damage, due to agricultural farming practices, is a lively discussion in the global political spheres. Discussions on polluting water sources, global warming, soil degradation and the decrease of biodiversity are an upcoming threat to our food systems. A counter movement to these industrial agricultural food industries is the organic agricultural trend, which started around the 19th century, as pioneers and visionaries gathered and demonstrated against the dominant agricultural order. Since then, many streams of organic farming started, such as the so-called Organic 1.0 , 2.0 and 3.0 movements. This thesis is exploring the diversity in organic agricultural patterns by studying farm development strategies. Focus is on farmers located on the North island of New Zealand. Moreover, the country New Zealand is chosen as agricultural activity there is largely present and has an extensive history. In order to explore farm development strategies in this study, 19 farms were visited, whereby three elements were studied; the cultural repertoire, the farming practices and the resource relations. These elements were investigated through qualitative ethnographic research methods which included semi structured interviews, participant observation and discussions. The findings were analysed, which resulted in four fully defined farm development strategies, illustrating the current situation in the organic sector. This study emphasises the diversity in the farm development strategies of farmers on the North island of New Zealand.