Sustaining Livelihoods through Organic Agriculture in Tanzania - UMB

Chapter Three: Methods
‘A truly alternative agriculture must be based on a truly alternative science
that articulates multiple ways of knowing.’
(Kloppenburg, 1991: 542)
The research strategy adopted in this study of the Tanzanian organic sector has been
informed and inspired by a wide range of different qualitative and reflective
methodological approaches. Applying multiple perspectives to food and farming
systems is characteristic of agroecology, which has been described by Callicot (1988:
6; quoted in Lockeretz & Anderson, 1983: 74) as ‘a vanguard movement in opposition
to the atomism and reductionism, and materialism of the prevailing but obsolete
paradigm ... [providing] a systemic, integrative, holistic understanding of reality at the
level of organic terrestrial nature’. Thus the methods of the research are set within
philosophical frameworks which reflect ‘notions of the way the world is, the nature of
knowledge, and the very disposition and ethical framework which the researcher
brings to bear’ (Bawden; in Zuber-Skerritt, 1991: 19).
In the tradition of agroecology, therefore, the research design has integrated elements
of action research, systems thinking, agroecosystem analysis, farming systems
research, case study research, participatory learning and action, the sustainable
livelihoods framework and other approaches to agricultural research. It is thought that
these approaches and perspectives ‘may accomplish in conversation what none of
them can alone’ (Kloppenburg, 1991: 542).The following discussion outlines the main
theoretical underpinnings of the research strategy, and explains why these particular
approaches have been chosen for this study of the Tanzanian organic sector.
3.1 Action Research
Action research may be defined as ‘an approach in which the action researcher and a
client collaborate in the diagnosis of a problem and in the development of a solution
based on the diagnosis’ (Bryman, 2004). The aim of action research is to allow
knowledge to emerge through collaborative effort by joining forces with people
facing a problem to help them study and resolve it. Put simply, the starting point of
action research is therefore a researcher joining with an individual or group of people
who are concerned about their situation.
The action research approach combines the key attributes of consultancy and research.
In this context, the role of the researcher is more of a reflective consultant or
facilitator who enables problems to be solved through co-learning than of an objective
“outsider”. Thus in action research the investigator is very much part of the field of
study, whilst also being involved in the collection of data. Action research therefore
attempts to combine the two acknowledged tasks of the academic tripod, education
and research, with the third more neglected task of community outreach.
Professional action researchers are challenged to assume some of the skills normally
related to ethnography and community development work in order to sustain projectrelated
learning and participation (Whyte, 1991). Other skills useful in participatory
action research include teaching, communication, scientific enquiry, encouraging
participants to respond critically, working with community groups and coping with
socio-cultural distances.
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