Organic farming and international exchange: participant perceptions of North–South transferability

Abstract

ABSTRACTInstitutions of higher education and work–study abroad programmes have been instrumental in internationalizing sustainable agriculture education. Informal educational opportunities in the form of internships and apprenticeships have become relatively common features of the organic agriculture landscape in the USA. This research examines an international agricultural exchange programme that effectively combines these two emerging fields of study exploring how exchange participants perceive the transferability of their organic farming experience in the USA, to their home countries in Peru and Ecuador. Learning experiences and host farms vary considerably, with some participants being more optimistic than others about how well organic farming practices on their respective farms could be adopted to their home country contexts. While the cross-border/transnational nature of the exchange programme examined is not unique, the inverse flow of people in the exchange (from South to North) examined in this study allows for a new perspective on the value of agricultural exchanges and the perceived transferability of organic farming ideas and practices. Ultimately, this study suggests that the most valuable elements of international agricultural exchange reside not with the diffusion of agricultural innovations, but with how cross-cultural experiential learning promotes critical reflection on place-appropriate production.