Understanding change at farm level to facilitate innovation towards sustainable plant protection: a case study at cabbage production sites in urban West Africa

Abstract

Considering the hazardous use of synthetic pesticides on vegetables in urban West Africa, the rationale behind this research was to analyse factors that drive or constrain changes in farming strategies at urban cabbage production sites. Understanding these factors is relevant to facilitate innovation towards healthier and more sustainable plant protection strategies. Using the cases of Cotonou, Accra and Ouagadougou, we applied qualitative methods to explore in which domains of urban vegetable production changes frequently occurred, how farmers obtained knowledge necessary for these changes and which factors drove or constrained change. We suggest that the production and marketing system of cabbage in the three cities remains in a state of systemic rigidity, in which different factors favour unsustainable and hazardous plant protection strategies. While multi-stakeholder processes create interfaces where change could emerge, farmers’ decision-making processes regarding plant protection were found to be mainly influenced by: (i) their access to knowledge (characterized by education, trust and external interaction); (ii) factors inherent to alternatives (such as cost, tangibility of effect and low economic risk); (iii) reinforcing factors (such as demand and policies); and (iv) mobility factors that enable farmers to move to a different regime (natural, social, financial and physical capital). We conclude that future interventions should analyse and take into account these factors in the project design process.