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Analyzing antifragility among smallholder farmers in Bihar, India: An assessment of farmers’ vulnerability and the strengths of positive deviants

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/12122/
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/experimental-agriculture/article/analyzing-antifragility-among-smallholder-farmers-in-bihar-india-an-assessment-of-farmers-vulnerability-and-the-strengths-of-positive-deviants/66B2E61F9C8263919091FEE52C1B877C
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479723000017
 
Title Analyzing antifragility among smallholder farmers in Bihar, India: An assessment of farmers’ vulnerability and the strengths of positive deviants
 
Creator Toorop, R A
Lopez-Ridaura, S
Jat, M L
Eichenseer, P
Bijarniya, D
Jat, R K
Groot, J C J
 
Subject Smallholder Farmers
India
 
Description Farmers around the world are increasingly vulnerable: climate variability is identified as the primary
stressor, but unfavorable biophysical circumstances and disturbances in the socioeconomic domain (labor
dynamics and price volatility) also affect farm management and production. To deal with these disturbances,
adaptations are recognized as essential. Antifragility acknowledges that adaptations and volatility are
inherent characteristics of complex systems and abandons the idea of returning to the pre-disturbance
system state. Instead, antifragility recognizes that disturbances can trigger reorganization, enabling selection
and removal of weaker system features and allowing the system to evolve toward a better state. In this
study, we assessed the vulnerability of different types of smallholder farms in Bihar, India, and explored the
scope for more antifragile farming systems that can ‘bounce back better’ after disturbances. Accumulation
of stocks, creation of optionality (i.e., having multiple options for innovation) and strengthening of farmer
autonomy were identified as criteria for antifragility. We had focus group discussions with in total 92 farmers
and found that most expressed themselves to be vulnerable: they experienced challenges but had limited
adaptive capacity to change their situation. They mostly made short-term decisions to cope with or mitigate
urgent challenges but did not engage in strategic planning driven by longer-term objectives. Instead,
they waited for governmental support to improve their livelihoods. Despite being confronted with similar
challenges, four positive deviant farmers showed to be more antifragile: their diverse farming systems were
abundant in stocks and optionality, and the farmers were distinguished in terms of their autonomy, competence,
and connectedness to peers, the community, and markets. To support antifragility among regular
farmers, adaptations at policy level may be required, for example, by shifting from a top-down toward a
bottom-up adaptation and innovation regime where initiative and cooperation are encouraged. With a
more autonomous orientation, farmers’ intrinsic motivation is expected to increase, enabling transitions
at the farm level. In this way, connected systems can be developed which are socioeconomically and biophysically
adaptive. When practices, knowledge, and skills are continuously developed, an antifragile system
with ample stocks and optionality may evolve over time.
 
Publisher Cambridge University Press
 
Date 2023-01-03
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights cc_attribution
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/12122/1/Experimental%20Agriculture_59_4_1%E2%80%9317_2023.pdf
Toorop, R A and Lopez-Ridaura, S and Jat, M L and Eichenseer, P and Bijarniya, D and Jat, R K and Groot, J C J (2023) Analyzing antifragility among smallholder farmers in Bihar, India: An assessment of farmers’ vulnerability and the strengths of positive deviants. Experimental Agriculture, 59 (4). 01-17. ISSN 1469-4441