Project Description

IndORGANIC aims at analysing the current state and potential of organic farming to improve food sustainability in Indonesia in the long run. We propose organic farming as a necessary transition of the food system, which we see as a subsystem of the ecosystem. Organic farming might be a possible answer to the eminent societal changes after energy supplies will get increasingly costly. Proposing organic farming as way to achieve sustainable food production implies transformation processes touching upon distributive questions, conflicts about values and which demands institutional change. IndORGANIC analyzes organic farming as an alternative to contested conventional agriculture from an anthropological, social and economic perspective in an inter- and transdisciplinary approach. For this end we integrate the analysis of belief systems motivating human behavior, of gendered institutions regulating the organic sector and evaluate the favorable conditions for converting to organic farming by local farmers.

‘Transformation’ is understood as societal change and an inter- and transdisciplinary process, inducing a broad shift in behaviour. In the long run it has to be supported by institutionalised policies and national strategies. Therefore, IndORGANIC analyses these societal changes at the case of organic farming in Indonesia from different, yet supplementary perspectives. IndORGANIC asks for values and belief systems, institutions and organisations, economic success and failure pertaining to organic farming. Consisting of four work packages, disciplinary contributions from anthropology, development sociology and development economics feed into its analysis. An overarching work package aims from the very beginning at integrating these fields of expertise throughout the research phases. The inter- and transdisciplinary project combines qualitative and quantitative empirical research with field experiments.  

IndORGANIC researches the potential and current state of organic farming in the light of debates around food security, food sovereignty and food sustainability in Indonesia. Three levels of transdisciplinary knowledge are tackled:

1. System knowledge. To understand the current state of organic farming in its social, economic and ecological dimensions

2. Target knowledge: To envision the scenario of a bioeconomy based farming, identify sustentative belief systems and their adequate scientific framing

3. Transformation knowledge: To identify the necessary areas of societal change, conflict and innovation to attain a reconfiguration of fundamental conditions for sustainable agriculture

IndORGANIC’s scientific goal is to increase the knowledge on the complexity of transformation processes related to a ‘bioeconomy’. Systematic solutions require an integration of social sciences, economics and the humanities. By naming the necessary social and structural changes, IndORGANIC provides normative and legitimate foundations for such an eminent change. The results will be actively shared and distributed among the relevant actors in Indonesia as well as in the scientific community. This ensures IndORGANICs linkage to scientific and societal discourses.

The scientific relevance of IndORGANIC grows out of the innovative development of disciplinary debates on food security and food sovereignty via an interdisciplinary integration of the research design. The transdisciplinary integration of central stakeholders from the very beginning promises to secure a social relevance of the research endeavour.

IndORGANIC relates to several international discourses. Beside a substantial contribution to a critical and emancipatory reading of bioeconomy as societal transformation, IndORGANIC refers to international sustainability science as outlined in the global programme of FUTURE EARTH. IndORGANIC drives the transdisciplinary conceptualisation of organic farming in social sciences, economics and the humanities, pursues theory development and interdisciplinary cooperation.

On a practical level, IndORGANIC identifies successful measures to enhance organic farming, names supportive institutions and assists formulating a legitimate base founded on Javanese cosmovisions/worldviews. Special attention is given to communication with practitioners from government, activists and farmers through transdisciplinary workshops. By means of translation from scientific to everyday language we provide outputs in accessible language in Bahasa Indonesia as well as in English.