CRPR External Seminar

Whilst the concept of ‘good farming’ has been widely used to study farmers’ behaviours, its popularity raises two questions: what are the most appropriate methods to understand good farming; and what is the relevance of the concept in non-western countries? This paper explores both these issues in the context of pig farmers’ biosecurity decisions and daily disease management practices in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Specifically, we need (1) to broaden the relevance of the good farming concept, and (2) devise specific methodologies to capture the relational practices among farmers, non-human life forms and substances that construct ‘good farming’ meaning in different cultural contexts. Firstly, we consider the language of ‘good farming’, its possible translations, potential meanings and alternative phrases used amongst Chinese-speaking farmers. Secondly, drawing on the participatory mapping literature, we develop a method of ‘mental mapping’ in which the creation of farm maps acts as a device to illustrate and talk about biosecurity and disease management of their farm directly.

From this, we show how farm mapping exercises enable farmers to reflect on Chinese good farming values, and help farmers to express their emotional, spiritual and personal motivations in relation to their farm biosecurity practices. Specifically, we show how Chinese good farming values entangle gender politics, and modernist thinking that construct farming identities as industrious and entrepreneurial, with farmers spiritual relationships with environment and farm animals. The paper therefore contributes to methodological debates and geographical relevance of the good farming concept.