On field...

Science goes beyond numbers. In agricultural sciences, a lot of disciplines and dimensions are involved. In the interface of all these disciplines, such as natural sciences, social sciences, economic or politics, one must truly engage with the interpersonal dimension to truly understand the diversity that our food system has to offer. Our studies were part of the project “Enhancing the resilience of food systems” conducted in the Sustainable Agroecosystem Group at ETH Zürich. At the centre of our research: farmers and their families facing a changing climate. We worked in three countries: Morocco, Ghana and Ethiopia. Our purpose was to collect data from surveys with farmers on how they experience and deal with drought. This process became all the more vibrant as we got to connect with hundreds of human beings and truly listen to the most intimate subjects of their daily lives. For weeks we moved around in rural areas of these countries, constantly experiencing and learning and gaining new insights. Throughout these weeks, we kept on questioning ourselves. How can our research, the methodologies we use and our interactions with different worldviews, be coherent with our core values? 

Adapted version from the book of Adam Kahan: Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities.

Spheres of a dialogue

Every person can engage in various ways while listening and talking to people.  The following chart illustrates quite well those many spheres of a dialogue. While a survey can quickly take place on a ‘downloading level’: simply recording the answers to prepared questions, each one of us dived more and more into a generating dialogue with farmers. We rather wanted to engage in a ‘generative dialogue’. As the flip clinic describes it: a generative dialogue allows a group of individuals to discover its deeper shared purpose. Fully present during our dialogues with farmers, we were appreciating each other’s different perspectives and also experienced a moment of collective understanding. A generative dialogue is vital for the success of deep change initiatives. In face of climate crisis and its devastating impacts on farmers’ livelihoods, it is RADICAL CHANGE that ALL OF US NEED.

Art installation ‘On field…'

Still, we realized quite fast that the numbers we’ll get through our research won’t show it all. We felt the need to express more than what will be shown in our reports and papers and to share this with YOU - the consumers and active participants of our diverse and connected food system. Share some stories of those human beings, impressions, feelings and how interconnected this world is. We also felt the need to present our research beyond the expected “success stories” that are usually published. We wanted to provide a platform to show a glimpse of the human dimension in food system research. For that, we decided to free our mind a bit and build an installation where people would immerse themselves into the eyes of three farmers, hear their stories and the questions and reflections of the three researchers on the situation. We provided a safe space for people to reflect, react and comment on their experience. Planting a seed in peoples mind to show how connected we are and how we all have a role to play in this very much needed Food System Change. Our installation was exposed in the Art-Sci exhibition and at the WFSC Research Symposium 2019.

Art-Sci exhibition in May 2019 - This has become the story of tomato farmers in Morocco and Ghana, tef farmers in Ethiopia, cocoa farmers in Ghana and three researchers reflecting on their field experience.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Kenza Benabderrazik is a doctoral candidate at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Her research focuses on the resilience of tomato producers in face of weather events and markets instability in Morocco and Ghana. Although her great enthusiasm and interest for this project, she particularly loves to spend her time discovering new music, places and tastes.

Luzian Messmer is an agricultural scientist with a passion for the people who are involved in food systems in the tropics. He loves to listen to people patiently and give them the attention they deserve - whether for a minute on the bus or for hours over a cold local beer. As a committed eyewitness, he also respectfully captures these astonishing diverse systems and their actors with his camera.

Braida Thom works for the World Food System Center and the Sustainable Agroecosystems Group at ETH Zurich where she evaluates a project that aims to counter risks along the cocoa value chain and implement sustainability initiatives in Côte d’Ivoire. She is particularly interested in the stories of the people she works with, loves to spend time in the field and exchange with farmers.