**2. Rationale for local action in designing sustainable agricultural production systems**

Forces operating in the current global economic and political environments tend to favor and catalyze local community action in solving problems affecting local communities—especially those having their genesis in the local political, social, economic and natural environments. For example, market failure, devolution due to the pressures of globalization [17], a shift to open macro economies and the inability of the state to offer protection from powerful global market forces [18] have combined to create opportunities for local action by civil society, for example CBOs. Under these conditions, governments at all levels are too preoccupied with trade issues, security issues, global financial markets, competing for investments to create jobs and balancing budgets to shepherd local communities. In such situations, many local communities are left to fend for themselves [19].

Additionally, a reflective and proactive citizenry living in the same information-rich environment as their leaders realize that neither the church nor the state nor other bulwarks of authority are omnipotent, and that leaders are more or less ordinary people. Consequently, citizens living in a global world assign less significance to the guidance of their leaders and institutions and have opted to become more self-regulating [20]. Proactive and reflective citizens in a complex globalizing political and social environments are more concerned with economic and political questions and issues about which they feel politicians neglected to address. In this situation, people turn to groups which promise to offer what conventional politics is unable to deliver. Thus, people are increasingly becoming more involved in single issue groups, which play a pivotal role in raising important issues and problems that may otherwise go unnoticed in conventional political circles until it is too late [21]. Since sustainable agricultural practices are specific to local conditions, and since there are many diverse stakeholders with a vested interest in sustainable agricultural systems, decisions regarding the design and development of sustainable agricultural production systems are best made utilizing participative approaches. Therefore, to advance organic agriculture/sustainable food system in the current context, it is not likely that top down solutions would be prescribed, and, it if they were prescribed, it is unlikely that they would produce desirable outcomes. Thus, under the current socio-political context, locally based participative action seems more likely to succeed in advancing the development of a sustainable agricultural production system. Two other reasons for local bottom up action make clear the indispensable role of CBOs in promoting and sustaining the practice of organic/sustainable food system. First, from an evolutionary perspective, [8] explains that adaptive instincts tend to dictate human behavior. That is, humans tend to exhibit patterns of behavior adapted to our past environment but which behavior is inappropriate in our present one. For example, humans prioritize their self-interest at the expense of cooperating with the group. Thus, our adaptive instincts would dictate that we cooperate with and imitate behavior that is practiced by those with whom we share a kindred spirit or kinship relationship [22]. Accordingly, because of the kindred spirit that exist and is fostered in a CBO, a network of local CBOs would be more effective in promoting organic/sustainable production practices than top down prescriptions that originate from organizations and agencies to which people do not feel a special connection. Modern communities with a densely connected and codependent social networks resembling those that would exist in ancestral communities are found to be more effective in preserving communal resources, and by implication promoting sustainability [9, 23]—Note italics our emphasis. We believe that CBOs provide the substrate for nurturing such networks.

**87**

*Accounting for the Impact of Sustainable Agriculture: The Role of Community Based…*

[24, 25] community framework offers a rationale for the role of communitybased organizations in supporting a sustainable food production system. It posits that communities are embodied rather than abstract, i.e., residents are attached to place by several institutions and community-based organizations [26]. Businesses are linked via a web of institutional and community-based organizational networks [27, 28], which form an integral part of the community's problem solving capability [24, 25]. From our perspective, an embodied community provides valuable institutional support for sustainable food production system via a community network of CBOs—their mode of governance facilitates collective or participatory decision-making. CBOs serve as a repository of community experience, values and indigenous knowledge because they are well connected to the community. Such a repository provides a readily available reference which establishes a context for interpreting and evaluating information and action with respect to addressing current or future problem situations. As community agents, CBOs provide a critical mass for action by serving as the hub that brings community members together to

Designing and supporting a sustainable food system is a complex process. It involves synthesizing knowledge from different sources, working within a complex and dynamic natural and social environment, and dealing with several stakeholders with competing interests. Complex phenomena are not amenable to rule of thumb or recipe-like solutions. Because a sustainable agricultural production system is linked to local conditions-closely tied to social, economic and political infrastructure—developing a sustainable food production system means working with a process that accommodates many different perspectives and value systems, and attracts information, expertise and other resources from diverse sources. Additionally, the process must be participative, which means honoring openness, trust, transparency [28, 29], and must include a willingness to accommodate conflicting value positions [30]. Finally, to negate our evolutionary tendencies toward prioritizing and pursuing selfish ends, participants must feel a sense of belonging or kinship with the group or strongly identify with the group. Strong group identity will likely encourage greater self-sacrifice for the communal good by activating a psychological sense

In summary, CBOs are ideally suited for mobilizing support for developing organic/sustainable agricultural food system throughout communities for these reasons: (1) CBOs have unique knowledge of and connections with the community; (2) CBOs provide a platform on which strategies that support sustainable behavior can be developed to overcome ancestral tendencies that discourage sustainable behavior; (3) the character of a sustainable food production system is determined by local conditions, which requires significant local resources—CBOs with their unique knowledge of community have the potential to mobilize local support and resource; (4) CBOs adaptive governance structure equips them to deal with a dynamic and uncertain environment; ad (5) a network of CBOs informed by the same perspective, working from a collective agenda, learning together and sharing

Governance may be viewed from several perspectives: (1) the creation or adoption of means and processes for guiding planning, decision-making, implementing decisions, and ensuring accountability and responsibility for actions taken [31]; (2) as the capacity of an organization to stay on course in a turbulent and changing

world [28], (3) self organizing inter-organizational networks [32]; and

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84385*

deal with problems.

of kinship [9].

ensures collective impact.

**3. Relevance of governance structures**

*Accounting for the Impact of Sustainable Agriculture: The Role of Community Based… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84385*

[24, 25] community framework offers a rationale for the role of communitybased organizations in supporting a sustainable food production system. It posits that communities are embodied rather than abstract, i.e., residents are attached to place by several institutions and community-based organizations [26]. Businesses are linked via a web of institutional and community-based organizational networks [27, 28], which form an integral part of the community's problem solving capability [24, 25]. From our perspective, an embodied community provides valuable institutional support for sustainable food production system via a community network of CBOs—their mode of governance facilitates collective or participatory decision-making. CBOs serve as a repository of community experience, values and indigenous knowledge because they are well connected to the community. Such a repository provides a readily available reference which establishes a context for interpreting and evaluating information and action with respect to addressing current or future problem situations. As community agents, CBOs provide a critical mass for action by serving as the hub that brings community members together to deal with problems.

Designing and supporting a sustainable food system is a complex process. It involves synthesizing knowledge from different sources, working within a complex and dynamic natural and social environment, and dealing with several stakeholders with competing interests. Complex phenomena are not amenable to rule of thumb or recipe-like solutions. Because a sustainable agricultural production system is linked to local conditions-closely tied to social, economic and political infrastructure—developing a sustainable food production system means working with a process that accommodates many different perspectives and value systems, and attracts information, expertise and other resources from diverse sources. Additionally, the process must be participative, which means honoring openness, trust, transparency [28, 29], and must include a willingness to accommodate conflicting value positions [30]. Finally, to negate our evolutionary tendencies toward prioritizing and pursuing selfish ends, participants must feel a sense of belonging or kinship with the group or strongly identify with the group. Strong group identity will likely encourage greater self-sacrifice for the communal good by activating a psychological sense of kinship [9].

In summary, CBOs are ideally suited for mobilizing support for developing organic/sustainable agricultural food system throughout communities for these reasons: (1) CBOs have unique knowledge of and connections with the community; (2) CBOs provide a platform on which strategies that support sustainable behavior can be developed to overcome ancestral tendencies that discourage sustainable behavior; (3) the character of a sustainable food production system is determined by local conditions, which requires significant local resources—CBOs with their unique knowledge of community have the potential to mobilize local support and resource; (4) CBOs adaptive governance structure equips them to deal with a dynamic and uncertain environment; ad (5) a network of CBOs informed by the same perspective, working from a collective agenda, learning together and sharing ensures collective impact.

## **3. Relevance of governance structures**

Governance may be viewed from several perspectives: (1) the creation or adoption of means and processes for guiding planning, decision-making, implementing decisions, and ensuring accountability and responsibility for actions taken [31]; (2) as the capacity of an organization to stay on course in a turbulent and changing world [28], (3) self organizing inter-organizational networks [32]; and

*Multifunctionality and Impacts of Organic and Conventional Agriculture*

local communities are left to fend for themselves [19].

provide the substrate for nurturing such networks.

**production systems**

**2. Rationale for local action in designing sustainable agricultural** 

Forces operating in the current global economic and political environments tend to favor and catalyze local community action in solving problems affecting local communities—especially those having their genesis in the local political, social, economic and natural environments. For example, market failure, devolution due to the pressures of globalization [17], a shift to open macro economies and the inability of the state to offer protection from powerful global market forces [18] have combined to create opportunities for local action by civil society, for example CBOs. Under these conditions, governments at all levels are too preoccupied with trade issues, security issues, global financial markets, competing for investments to create jobs and balancing budgets to shepherd local communities. In such situations, many

Additionally, a reflective and proactive citizenry living in the same information-rich environment as their leaders realize that neither the church nor the state nor other bulwarks of authority are omnipotent, and that leaders are more or less ordinary people. Consequently, citizens living in a global world assign less significance to the guidance of their leaders and institutions and have opted to become more self-regulating [20]. Proactive and reflective citizens in a complex globalizing political and social environments are more concerned with economic and political questions and issues about which they feel politicians neglected to address. In this situation, people turn to groups which promise to offer what conventional politics is unable to deliver. Thus, people are increasingly becoming more involved in single issue groups, which play a pivotal role in raising important issues and problems that may otherwise go unnoticed in conventional political circles until it is too late [21]. Since sustainable agricultural practices are specific to local conditions, and since there are many diverse stakeholders with a vested interest in sustainable agricultural systems, decisions regarding the design and development of sustainable agricultural production systems are best made utilizing participative approaches. Therefore, to advance organic agriculture/sustainable food system in the current context, it is not likely that top down solutions would be prescribed, and, it if they were prescribed, it is unlikely that they would produce desirable outcomes. Thus, under the current socio-political context, locally based participative action seems more likely to succeed in advancing the development of a sustainable agricultural production system. Two other reasons for local bottom up action make clear the indispensable role of CBOs in promoting and sustaining the practice of organic/sustainable food system. First, from an evolutionary perspective, [8] explains that adaptive instincts tend to dictate human behavior. That is, humans tend to exhibit patterns of behavior adapted to our past environment but which behavior is inappropriate in our present one. For example, humans prioritize their self-interest at the expense of cooperating with the group. Thus, our adaptive instincts would dictate that we cooperate with and imitate behavior that is practiced by those with whom we share a kindred spirit or kinship relationship [22]. Accordingly, because of the kindred spirit that exist and is fostered in a CBO, a network of local CBOs would be more effective in promoting organic/sustainable production practices than top down prescriptions that originate from organizations and agencies to which people do not feel a special connection. Modern communities with a densely connected and codependent social networks resembling those that would exist in ancestral communities are found to be more effective in preserving communal resources, and by implication promoting sustainability [9, 23]—Note italics our emphasis. We believe that CBOs

**86**

(4) multi-level governance, which represents the dispersion of authority to supranational, e.g. the UN, sub national authorities (states, counties, local municipalities, development districts) and informal networks (non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations) [33].

Implicit in all the above views of governance is the authority, official or otherwise bestowed, to make decisions with regards to the allocation of resources for the production of goods or services for a particular constituency. We regard the definition by [31] as generic process views of governance, since it identifies the core concepts of governing without suggesting how these activities should be prosecuted. Conceptually, one can locate the way governance as a process activity is practiced on a continuum. At one end would be a highly bureaucratic regulatory approach to enacting governance, at the other would be a participative open approach to governance. [29] concept of governance is a process view of governance, which specifies a participative approach for discharging governance activities. In the participative model, decision-making is decentralized; freedom, autonomy, trust, transparency, continual learning and creativity are nurtured. In contrast, in the bureaucratic regulatory process model, decision making is centralized; freedom, autonomy, trust, transparency and learning are constrained. The two perspectives by [32, 33] offer a structural political view of governance, i.e., the relationship among the entities involved in discharging the process of governance. Any of these structural forms could conceivably discharge their governance function in either a bureaucratic regulatory or participative mode. Considering the above background and the work of [34, 37]; we use the term governance in this chapter to mean action taken by groups or communities to address problems in the public sphere that cannot be handled either by individuals acting alone or by markets and government.

In our field studies across the southeastern states we have observed many community-based organizations (CBOs) and neighborhood groups that provide valuable and indispensable social services for community residents. CBOs such as North Carolina Coalition of Rural Farm and Families, Alabama Watch, Rural Georgia Development Collaborative, Friends of Children of Mississippi exemplify governance as self-organizing inter-organizational networks. They are selforganizing because they are autonomous and self-governing [32]; implying that they are not controlled by any superior power and were not brought into being by official edict. These networks operate to fill a void in the provisioning of goods and services resulting from the failure of the state and market to provide similar goods and services. In other words, they are self-organizing inter-organizational networks which practice governance as per [31] process definition. They operate in the public sphere without the designated formal authority of government. The network status of these groups derives from the fact that they interact with each other and with government agencies and private entities in exchanging information and garnering resources; they depend on this interaction to survive. An example would be the Georgia rural development collaborative comprising eight independent CBOs agreeing to work in a partnership. The collaborative also interacts with government agencies and foundations as they practice governance in rural Georgia. They receive technical assistance and funding from foundations and government agencies and share information among themselves, government agencies and foundations. Another example would be The North Carolina Coalition of Rural Farms and Families, a grouping of six small CBOs. In their case, they interact with cooperative extension, USDA agencies, with each other and with foundations as they work to provide services to small farmers in Eastern North Carolina. Many scholars of political science believe that this form of governance—the interactive, social, political network mode of governing—is evolving to be the dominant form of governance, eclipsing governing by a super-ordinate authority as in conventional

**89**

**services?**

**Figure 1.**

*Accounting for the Impact of Sustainable Agriculture: The Role of Community Based…*

government [32, 33]. Within these networks, it is conceivable that groups may

*Schematic representation of the relationship among concepts, process and structure of governance.*

Multilevel governance may be viewed as being similar to the networks described above with one minor difference; some members of the network are not self-organizing since they were establish under the auspices of federal, state, or local government or some other influential entity, e.g., a foundation. Nonetheless, they interact in a network fashion and discharge the role of governance described above. So then, multilevel governance can include self-organizing networks as well as quasi governmental groups (groups established under the auspices of government or government agencies) or groups established under the auspice of large foundations. Community action agencies would be good examples of community-based organizations established under the auspices of government, these agencies were established under the economic opportunity act of 1964. The relationship among the various concept of governance may be depicted as shown in **Figure 1**. Generic concepts describe the activities that are the focus of governance in general. Entities may operationalize these functions of governance either as a bureaucratic top-down or participative process. The actual operations of governance may be carried out by entities organized in a multi-level governance or self-organizing inter-organizational network structure.

**4. What difference does it make which governance model a community or organization adopts to coordinate the production of goods and** 

What difference does it make which governance model a community or organization adopts to coordinate the production of goods and services? Many scholars of organizational theory believe that the particular form of governance process adopted by a particular entity affects their ability to adapt to changes in the environment in which they operate—their task environment. Organizational theorists believe that organizations that adopt the perspective of governance as coordination and controlthe bureaucratic regulatory model—are inflexible and unresponsive to their task environment. Bureaucratic organizations lack the participative culture that nurtures freedom, transparency, commitment, creativity and continuous learning among members. These latter qualities are indispensable for promoting participation, innovation and responsiveness in addressing complex diverse issues and the varied perspectives of an increasingly heterogeneous stakeholder—these are key capabilities for survival in a continually changing, complex and turbulent environment. An

adopt a bureaucratic or a participative form of governance.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84385*

*Accounting for the Impact of Sustainable Agriculture: The Role of Community Based… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84385*

#### **Figure 1.**

*Multifunctionality and Impacts of Organic and Conventional Agriculture*

and community-based organizations) [33].

(4) multi-level governance, which represents the dispersion of authority to supranational, e.g. the UN, sub national authorities (states, counties, local municipalities, development districts) and informal networks (non-governmental organizations

Implicit in all the above views of governance is the authority, official or otherwise bestowed, to make decisions with regards to the allocation of resources for the production of goods or services for a particular constituency. We regard the definition by [31] as generic process views of governance, since it identifies the core concepts of governing without suggesting how these activities should be prosecuted. Conceptually, one can locate the way governance as a process activity is practiced on a continuum. At one end would be a highly bureaucratic regulatory approach to enacting governance, at the other would be a participative open approach to governance. [29] concept of governance is a process view of governance, which specifies a participative approach for discharging governance activities. In the participative model, decision-making is decentralized; freedom, autonomy, trust, transparency, continual learning and creativity are nurtured. In contrast, in the bureaucratic regulatory process model, decision making is centralized; freedom, autonomy, trust, transparency and learning are constrained. The two perspectives by

[32, 33] offer a structural political view of governance, i.e., the relationship among the entities involved in discharging the process of governance. Any of these structural forms could conceivably discharge their governance function in either a bureaucratic regulatory or participative mode. Considering the above background and the work of [34, 37]; we use the term governance in this chapter to mean action taken by groups or communities to address problems in the public sphere that cannot be handled either by individuals acting alone or by markets and government. In our field studies across the southeastern states we have observed many community-based organizations (CBOs) and neighborhood groups that provide valuable and indispensable social services for community residents. CBOs such as North Carolina Coalition of Rural Farm and Families, Alabama Watch, Rural Georgia Development Collaborative, Friends of Children of Mississippi exemplify governance as self-organizing inter-organizational networks. They are selforganizing because they are autonomous and self-governing [32]; implying that they are not controlled by any superior power and were not brought into being by official edict. These networks operate to fill a void in the provisioning of goods and services resulting from the failure of the state and market to provide similar goods and services. In other words, they are self-organizing inter-organizational networks which practice governance as per [31] process definition. They operate in the public sphere without the designated formal authority of government. The network status of these groups derives from the fact that they interact with each other and with government agencies and private entities in exchanging information and garnering resources; they depend on this interaction to survive. An example would be the Georgia rural development collaborative comprising eight independent CBOs agreeing to work in a partnership. The collaborative also interacts with government agencies and foundations as they practice governance in rural Georgia. They receive technical assistance and funding from foundations and government agencies and share information among themselves, government agencies and foundations. Another example would be The North Carolina Coalition of Rural Farms and Families, a grouping of six small CBOs. In their case, they interact with cooperative extension, USDA agencies, with each other and with foundations as they work to provide services to small farmers in Eastern North Carolina. Many scholars of political science believe that this form of governance—the interactive, social, political network mode of governing—is evolving to be the dominant form of governance, eclipsing governing by a super-ordinate authority as in conventional

**88**

*Schematic representation of the relationship among concepts, process and structure of governance.*

government [32, 33]. Within these networks, it is conceivable that groups may adopt a bureaucratic or a participative form of governance.

Multilevel governance may be viewed as being similar to the networks described above with one minor difference; some members of the network are not self-organizing since they were establish under the auspices of federal, state, or local government or some other influential entity, e.g., a foundation. Nonetheless, they interact in a network fashion and discharge the role of governance described above. So then, multilevel governance can include self-organizing networks as well as quasi governmental groups (groups established under the auspices of government or government agencies) or groups established under the auspice of large foundations. Community action agencies would be good examples of community-based organizations established under the auspices of government, these agencies were established under the economic opportunity act of 1964. The relationship among the various concept of governance may be depicted as shown in **Figure 1**. Generic concepts describe the activities that are the focus of governance in general. Entities may operationalize these functions of governance either as a bureaucratic top-down or participative process. The actual operations of governance may be carried out by entities organized in a multi-level governance or self-organizing inter-organizational network structure.
