We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
讓作物映上農人的臉: 臺灣北部一個農村的人類學觀察.
- Authors
林俊宏
- Abstract
In this ethnographic case study of an agricultural village in contemporary northern Taiwan I attempt to explain that ‘crops with the farmer’s face on them’ is a revival of traditional agricultural techniques. It is also the diversification and transformation of the meaning of contemporary agriculture as a way of making a living and as a way of life. During the 1990s, the village of Shueitou in northern Taiwan adopted a comprehensive revitalization policy based on organic agriculture, including training local residents in the cultivation and marketing of organic rice and vegetables. Their efforts have met with considerable success, and a number of novice farmers have rented agricultural land to practice natural farming in Shueitou since 2012. The rural revitalization program based on organic agriculture adopted by the village of Shuitou in the 1990s has led to a revival of traditional agricultural techniques amongst both returning farmers and novice farmers, all of whom take pride in the fruits of their labor. In shifting from conventional to organic and natural agriculture, the emphasis has been on diversification and transformation. These local sustainable smallholders have their own dreams and they have their own farming to make a living on the land in Shuitou. I explain that this is the process of ‘crops with the farmer’s face on them’, not ‘food with the farmer’s face on it’. The process of ‘crops with the farmer’s face on them’ is just their self-realization. It means these local sustainable smallholders want to shift their farming in order to see agriculture as a way of life and as a way of making a living, but they don’t yet have a reciprocal relationship with their customers. They adopted a comprehensive revitalization policy based on organic and natural agriculture. The decision to adopt this approach to rural redevelopment was made mainly in light of the fact that the local farmland was of good quality but had become divided into exceedingly small parcels, as well as the general lack of cooperation between local farmers. Both of these factors made the cultivation of high-value crops the only viable alternative for those who wanted to continue farming for a livelihood. Already well advanced due to the traditional division of family property amongst successive generations, the excessive fragmentation of farmland was exacerbated when the government expropriated large tracts of local farmland to build the Baoshan II Reservoir and its delivery channels, which provided a steady water supply for industry and domestic use, but made it increasingly difficult to make a living by engaging in agriculture. In addition, Shuitou Village has a strong notion that “where there is land, there is wealth,” which, coupled with steady outward migration and the influence of entrenched local factions, has weakened the traditional clan organization and the sense of connection to the land, hindering the efforts of local social organizations to agglomerate these small parcels into the larger ones required by an economy of scale, and making it difficult to implement courses in joint production and marketing. In addition to increasing concerns about food safety and the growing market for organic products, the decision to launch the program also took into consideration the needs of the local environment, social organization, and national policies. Moreover, organic and natural farming boosts the value and sales volume of the crops grown by farmers seeking to make a living on increasingly small plots of land. Despite the continuing tension between ‘production first’ and ‘multifunctional agriculture’, the case of Shuitou demonstrates the diversification and transformation of the meaning of contemporary agriculture as way of making a living and as a way of life, all of which can be seen as the result of the interaction between environmentalism, kinships, national policies, and market mechanisms.
- Publication
Taiwan Journal of Anthropology, 2023, Vol 21, Issue 1, p77
- ISSN
1727-1878
- Publication type
Article