Social-institutional problem dimensions of late blight and bacterial wilt of potato in Ethiopia: The contribution of social learning and communicative interventions to collective action

Despite previous attempts by governmental, non-governmental and research organizations, potato late blight and bacterial wilt are still rampant in Ethiopia, compromising potato production in the country. This thesis starts with the argument that to be able to effectively manage such disease, it is imperative to have a fresh perspective and a deep enough understanding of the problem situation which, in turn, can inform the type of disease management strategy that needs to be put in place. With this objective in mind, the study set out to understand the problem of late blight and bacterial wilt with a social-technical lens, and to explore the roles that different social-technical interventions play in the management of crop diseases, particularly late blight. Consequently, the first two empirical chapters (Chapters 2 and 3) of the diagnostic phase examine the multidimensional problem situation of late blight and bacterial wilt management. In the intervention phase (Chapters 4 and 5), different types of learning and communicative interventions are studied.

The central tenet of Chapter 2 is that the management of late blight and bacterial wilt is a complex problem, and that addressing complex challenges require actors to understand the multi-dimensional problem aspect of crop diseases, such as late blight and bacterial. The study assesses actors’ understanding of the technical and institutional dimensions of the complex problem situation of late blight and bacterial wilt management, and how their understanding of the situation facilitates or hinder collective action in the management of the two diseases. The chapter highlights how actors essentially overlooked key systemic problems while their management responses are mainly geared towards uncoordinated short-term reactions. Limited recognition of interdependency and a generally top-down intervention approach stand out to be key systemic factors. The chapter concludes that a bottom-up and participatory disease management approach can serve as a ‘local’ solution to a wider systemic problem and can facilitate collective action to deal with the problem. The chapter also suggests that more insights into farmers’ knowledge and associated practices can lead to the elaboration of specific recommendations to catalyze learning and collective action at the community level.

Chapter 3 adds to the understanding of the problem situation and further explores requirements for a bottom-up, collective management strategy for the two diseases. The study assesses the knowledge and associated practices of farmers, providing insights into relevant knowledge and practice gaps and ideas for the types of learning processes that might be required. The chapter argues that farmers’ practices are informed by their knowledge about the diseases and demonstrates how farmers’ limited knowledge is influencing their ability to effectively deal with the diseases. The study emphasizes that learning approaches which reveal the technical aspects of the diseases and learning 190 processes that highlight interdependency and the benefits of collective action are an important requirement if communities are to forge an effective management strategy.

Chapter 4 takes late blight as a case, arguing that learning has to simultaneously address the social and technical features of crop disease management if it is to foster collective action at the community level. On the one hand, relevant technical knowledge of the biophysical and epidemiological nature of diseases and of available management options is key in informing technical management practices while, on the other hand, the management of shared problems requires a re-ordering in social organizations that shape and modify social practices. We found that learning about the life-cycle and mobility of the late blight pathogen played a key role in stimulating collective action. Farmers were able to reach agreements on novel social-technical practices, such as team field scouting for late blight detection, monitoring individual management practices and sanctioning non-compliance. The chapter also demonstrates that regulatory institutions can emerge as part of a social learning process. Accordingly, the chapter highlights that institutional arrangements in the form of monitoring systems and sanctions would best stimulate collective action if they emerge and evolve within communities rather than being imposed externally.

Taking a ‘public bad’ perspective to crop disease such as late blight, Chapter 5 investigates the role of different types of communicative intervention on collective action performance of farmers in their efforts to manage late blight. Three types of communicative practices were experimented with in a game experiment that discerns the role of information provision from that of interactive communication that appears to be woven together in social learning processes.

The chapter highlights that the provision of technical information about the risk and benefits of collective management practices, and monitoring information about the management practices of other farmers can be counterproductive for collective action unless it is complemented with interactive communication that is internally governed or managed by communities. It concludes that expert advisory services and expert provision of relevant technical and social information has to be supported with deliberation processes. These deliberation processes would help in making the best of advisory services and monitoring practices that could otherwise negatively affect collective action performance in managing crop diseases.

With its empirical chapters, the thesis demonstrates the complex, multi-dimensional and collective nature of crop disease management in general and that of late blight management in particular. A good understanding of the complexity is a useful starting point to explore options and leverage points for disease management interventions. In this regard, stimulating social learning processes and re-configuring communicative practices are shown to be promising interventions towards collective action in the management of crop diseases.