The Diffusion of Sustainable Family Farming Practices in Colombia

There is significant potential for family farming to contribute to several dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper "The diffusion of sustainable family farming practices in Colombia: an emerging sociotechnical niche?" focuses on initiatives that have advanced sustainable family farming innovations in Colombia. The authors analyse the factors and dynamics that have led to the limited penetration of those innovations across the country. To that aim, a transformative methodology is applied involving representatives of farmers' associations, supporting organisations and researchers from various disciplinary fields. The authors analyse the network of initiatives against the conceptual background of sociotechnical niches and identify a stable niche where generic lessons are being systematically identified and used to establish replication projects. However, this niche is still limited in its breadth, which results in a low capacity for expansion and a strong dependency on international donors for reproducing experiences. The paper concludes in specific recommendations that are outlined for broadening the type of actors involved in the interpretation and dissemination of lessons from the niche. Furthermore, outlines for future research are given.

The paper "The diffusion of sustainable family farming practices in Colombia: an emerging sociotechnical niche?" by Willington Ortiz (Research Group Future Energy and Mobility Structures at the Wuppertal Institute), Ulli Vilsmaier (Leuphana University Lüneburg) and Álvaro Acevedo Osorio (Corporación Universitaria Minuto De Dios-Uniminuto) was published in Sustainability Science. It is available for download.