View article

Organic agriculture is often promoted as a means to achieve sustainable agriculture and livelihoods. Yet, the evidence is mixed on the outcomes of organic adoption. We conducted a case study in the South Indian state of Kerala to understand farmer motivations to adopt organic agriculture, their livelihood characteristics, and outcomes of adoption. To do so, we designed a conceptual framework bringing together key constructs from the theory of planned behaviour and the sustainable livelihoods framework. Focusing on the two districts of Thrissur and Wayanad, our work is informed by semi-structured interviews and focus groups with organic and conventional farmers and key informants. Based on this study, we developed a typology of organic farmers that we found to be analytically powerful: three core groups were identified -- wealthy “hobby farmers”; poorer “non-certified farmers”; and middle class “export …