One of the major issues we are facing nowadays is food insecurity for a booming global population. By 2050 we will reach an estimated 10 billion people, which have to be fed under the current agricultural industrial system, unless the sector will go through a transition (Foley et al., 2011). As the population and at the same time the demand for food is rising, challenges and externalities, such as ecosystem degradation coming from the current industrial agricultural system will most likely be enhanced.
Sustainable Design Engineers, have the capacity and expertise to face wicked problems, such as the food crisis, the loss of ecosystems and the decline of biodiversity. These wicked problems are addressed in the thesis and a solution is presented with the help of strategic niche management and socio-technical experimentation. Here a consortium from Uganda which focus on regenerative agriculture is being used as a case and where socio-technical experimentation used, in order to enhance a transition in the agricultural sector of Uganda.
I will first introduce you, regenerative agriculture as a solution for the wicked problems mentioned before and a short summary of the formation of the Ugandan Permaculture Consortium (UPC). Afterwards I will present you the methods and theory complementing strategic niche management. Following theory and methods, I will outline the general agricultural system, narrow down to the Ugandan agricultural sector and hypothesise what would be necessary in order to change the system.
Lastly, I will present you a multi-level perspective and the case of the UPC and its members as well as the strategy used by the consortium in order to bring about a change, through socio-technical experimentation. Here, different projects started by the UPC are being showcased. In the end I will present you some of the network difficulties the UPC is facing and present you a design solution in which the projects are being put into the context in order to create a more stable network with the help of working groups, interessement devices and the creation of mutual activities across the projects.