Prosocial Partnerships – A Scalable Pathway to Sustainable Agricultural Development

Abstract

Successful transition to sustainable agricultural approaches that improve food security is exceedingly complex and requires widespread collaboration from diverse stakeholders. To achieve regenerative goals, practitioners need improved guidance to align individual and group objectives, successfully coordinate collective action and resolve conflicts that inevitably arise. This chapter outlines how concepts drawn from the Nobel Prize-winning work of Elinor Ostrom can enhance cooperation and inspire positive change that fosters social and ecological resilience. To illustrate how the eight prosocial design principles first articulated by (Ostrom,.Governing the Commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action, Cambridge University Press, UK, Poli Econ Instit and Decis, 1990) operate in groups working to promote sustainable agriculture and food security, the paper explores patterns of resilience within a fascinating agricultural community in Costa Rica that has managed to establish itself as a tangible alternative to the extractive global food system. Highlighted stories focus on how both the accomplishments and limitations observable in this case can be traced to the extent that the partnering organization has, or has not addressed the principles Ostrom identified. After exploring observed patterns of both resilience and fragility, the chapter builds on Ostrom’s theory to propose an alternative model for supporting sustainable agriculture and food security through the establishment of multi-shareholder cooperatives that minimize transaction costs between members to support bioregional systems of production and distribution with the potential to increase farmer livelihoods while making locally produced, sustainable food more accessible and affordable to those in need.