Systems approaches to agricultural development : the Hawkesbury experience

This paper describes the rationale and major features of a unique systems approach to agricultural and rural development at one of Australia's oldest institutions for agricultural education. Concerned by the inadequacies of the philosophies, theories and practices of reductionist science and technology as exposed by their own experiences, academics at that institution have adopted systemic alternatives in developing a new paradigm for agricultural development. In apparent contrast to the majority of systems approaches for the development of a better agriculture, the Hawkesbury group shifts the focus of the systems perspective from reality to ways of dealing with reality. The emphasis in this approach lies in the establishment of learning or researching systems rather than research on farming systems. The central thesis of the Hawkesbury approach is that, if there are to be new ways of farming developed which will be more socially and environmentally responsible, then this will be predicated by the development of ‘new ways’ of thinking, knowing and learning. For more than a dozen years, this group has been translating this philosophy into innovative curricula, research methodologies and extension strategies. Indeed it is claimed that the continuing development of the entire organization reflects the pervasiveness of the systemic paradigm.