Projected increases in global food demand as a result of global population growth will see the current 8 billion global population increase to 9.7 billion by 2050 (UN-DESA, 2022). Feeding the growing population will require nutritious food produced through more environmentally sustainable means such as effective organic farming strategies (Aghasafari et al., 2020; Tsvetkov et al., 2018). Sustainable farming and food production systems will require the application of organic farming methods in selected areas to hedge against a modern farming crisis that includes ecosystem degradation and climate change (Udeigwe et al., 2015). Organic farming avoids the use of synthetic fertilisers and agro-chemicals which may cause adverse environmental and health effects when unregulated. Such adverse effects include surface and ground water contamination, emission of greenhouse gases, biodiversity reduction and soil degradation (Bayramov, 2018). Practices and motivation for organic farming stem from statutes and/or policy dictates of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), which was established in 1972, in close ranks with the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) of the United Nations (UN) (Tumbure et al., 2022). These statutes are formed from the principles of good health (soil, plant, animal, and human), ecology (sustenance of natural ecological systems), fairness (common life opportunities) and care (precaution to protect current and future generations and environment) (IFOAM, 2019).
However, organic agriculture (OA) is a broad term that must be unpacked in each context. The successful execution of any farming practice must be led by evidence of the associated merits. Most associated merits vary by region affected by environmental, ecosystem and social value factors. In OA, such merits could be identified as yield maintenance or increase, environmental and food quality enhancement, and social acceptance among others. Research must identify and contribute to closing the gaps in the systems.
Globally at a commercial scale and for organic market establishment, organic farming demands reliable, efficient, and credible standard-setting processes and certification schemes (Lippert et al., 2016). Some of the challenges of organic market gardening include conflicting global harmonisation versus local adaptation, problems of dynamism in the review of policies and standardisation, making establishing opportunities challenging (Fouilleux & Loconto, 2016), ecological justice, supply chain development, and productivity limitations, among others (Halberg et al., 2005). The lack of shared understandings and perceptions of organic agriculture could be why there have been mixed views towards the practice of organic market gardens by farmers, as some have called the practice ideological nonsense (Willer & Lernoud, 2019).
Globally, most rural organic market gardening farmers need more knowledge of organic production, branding, promotion and market development (Hasan et al., 2019). At a national scale, agricultural policy effects on accessibility of OA consultancy and extension services, training and development and value chain development will directly affect farmers' attitudes and adoption of OA technologies (Bhatta & Doppler, 2011; Nandwani et al., 2021). Domestic demand of organic products is essential to drive markets and certification systems and could result in higher expected revenues and profit margins by encouraging better market access to farmers (both physical and digital markets) (Home et al., 2017; Tumbure et al., 2022). At the farmer’s level, production and marketing challenges due to local farmer circumstances could be a significant threat towards adoption of OA technologies especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Organic production challenges in smallholder agriculture such as increased labour needs, initial poor soil fertility, unavailability of agricultural water, low availability of good quality organic inputs, and more laborious preventative pest and disease management measures have been reviewed elsewhere (Tumbure et al., 2022). It is evident that no two regions are the same nor do they present similar challenges at similar levels of intensity. It is therefore essential to assess each region’s environmental, market and production nexus considering all these factors to generate useful information for all stakeholders involved from farmer to politicians and organisations.
When organic farming technologies are poorly practiced without considering local situations, they have been revealed to result in negative environmental impacts, which lower yield performance (Manici et al., 2004). For example, when OA practices are not optimised for local conditions, soil degradation might ensue as observed by Dougill et al. (2002) on low-quality manure-reliant farmers’ fields in Africa. This can be the case for inherently infertile soils which are characterised by low soil organic matter (SOM) content, poor soil structure, low water holding capacity and multiple nutrient deficiencies, all which severely limit agricultural production. Some researchers have therefore argued that OA is not suitable for poor quality soils in most African farming areas that also have insufficient quantities of high-quality organic materials (Tumbure et al., 2022). However, a counter agreement for OA is that sole addition of synthetic fertilisers cannot improve the productivity of such degraded soils and organic material addition has potential to condition such soils and improve their productivity.
The process of conditioning the soil takes time and is depended upon the soil fertility status, quantity and quality of organic materials applied, and other soil management practices employed (which include cropping and tillage type) (Tumbure et al., 2022). These variables are responsible for greater variations in crop yield responses observed after organic material addition in sub-Saharan Africa (Tumbure et al., 2023). In a practical sense most smallholder farmers in Africa rely on multiple sources of organic materials for organic agricultural production. Therefore, results from research where sole or two types of organic materials have been applied such as livestock manure/ plant residues can only be loosely extrapolated to actual conditions.
The increase in the push for the agenda for the adoption of organic farming through market gardening across Zimbabwe, in areas such as Makoni in Rusape, is therefore done with expected benefits such as improved farmer livelihoods and environmental protection. The organic farming drive is taking place in the backdrop of a massive national conventional farming drive that embraces the use of modern farming practices which include enhanced irrigation systems, machinery, and increased synthetic fertiliser use, all for improved social and economic viability (Rukasha et al., 2021; Tumbure et al., 2022). These two drives have fewer areas of overlap and could in time antagonise each other if policy structures are not carefully setup to encourage both.
The challenges in production and marketing of organic produce as previously highlighted, occur in various combinations and degrees of severity in smallholder farming regions affecting farmer attitudes and the long-term continuity of organic market gardens. Research that looks at the whole system in terms of state of market development, access to organic residues, organic cropping patterns, production management and soil fertility trajectories is lacking. Information on OA in southern Africa is lacking and there are vast knowledge gaps of how OA practices employed in the confines of market gardens alter local environmental, social and economic trajectories (Tumbure et al., 2022; Wekeza et al., 2022) Addressing the knowledge gaps of how organic market gardens are performing given the explained challenges and farmers’ attitudes on the significance of these challenges towards their success will allow further optimisation of organic practices to local conditions.
The self-perception theory provided an overarching theoretical backdrop to the phenomena under study (socio-economic challenges, farmer attitudes and perception of success in organic market gardens in Makoni district, Zimbabwe). Self-perception theory was proposed by Daryl Bem in 1967 as a super alternative account of cognitive dissonance theory (Decision Lab, 2023), to which certain conditions result in self-described attitudes that are a function of the individual’s observations of their own behaviour (Fazio et al., 1977). The two major tenets of the self-perception modelling framework are that enjoyable activities are based on intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. For intrinsic motivation, enjoyable activities have no external rewards, and the self-perception is that “I do this because I like it”, while for extrinsic motivation there are external rewards (money, social acceptance etc.) and the self-perception is that “I do this because of the benefit” (Jasmijn, 2023).
In line with the current study, interaction between attitudes and behaviours of farmers and perception of success in organic market gardens in Makoni district, Zimbabwe can be seen as causal sequence that progresses linearly from attitude to behaviour (Sternthal et al., 1976). The organic market gardens farmers’ behaviour leading to attitude can be seen as counterintuitive, when assumed to be a reversal in the sequence of causation (Fazio et al., 1977). In other sense, the organic market gardens farmers tend to observe their behaviour and change their attitude as to be consistent with their behaviour. This could be as a result of the socio-economic challenges that they might be facing leading to the changes in their behaviours towards organic market gardens. It is supported by the views by Wilson and Gilbert (2003), who proposed that people may overestimate the strengths or reaction, to positive and negative life events than they actually felt when the event has taken place. Main causes of the latter is due to the fact that when internal cues are difficult to interpret, people gain self-insight by observing their own behaviour (Bem, 1972; Reibstein & Lovelock, 1980).
Therefore, in this study we sought to snapshot the economic, social and biophysical condition in an ongoing OA system in Zimbabwe and trace trajectories of soil fertility and farmer livelihood. The following were the main research questions that guided the study:
Q.1
What are the socio-economic and bio-physical challenges and farmer perception of success in organic market gardens in Makoni District, Zimbabwe?
Q.2
What are the significant factors that influence market participation and choice of marketing channels and how are the factors associated with farmer perceived success in Makoni District, Zimbabwe?
Q3
What is the influence of OA on soil quality trajectory as measured by soil chemical fertility attributes (SOM content, available P, mineral N, exchangeable bases)