Agriculture and Human Values

Abstract This article outlines a middle-range theory of pastoralist/rancher identity, offering a framework for analyzing the meanings, symbols, and practices associated with four interrelated dimensions of pastoralist identity: identification with livestock, place, family and community, and occupation. Poetic analysis of interviews from pastoral systems in transition in Mongolia’s Khangai and Gobi regions, the Spanish Pyrenees, and Colorado, USA shows how theorizing pastoralist identity, animated by place-based knowledge and emotion, may support deeper understanding of livestock-keepers’ social conflicts and responses to change. Even in capitalist systems, livestock-keepers are often primarily motivated by maintaining identities and lifeways rather than by profit maximization.

Abstract This paper investigates how the business models adopted by single-owner women farmers are impacted by the entrepreneurial ecosystem in which they operate. We explored these interactions from the perspective of entrepreneurial capital to better understand the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs starting their own farms. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 single-owner women farmers in Quebec. Our results indicate that single-owner women farmers often start farming at a mid-point in their careers, are motivated by strong social and agroecological values, but must navigate a traditional and gendered entrepreneurial ecosystem that limits opportunities to leverage financial, social and symbolic capital to grow their mostly alternative business models. However, single-owner women farmers also mobilize entrepreneurial capital and innovative business strategies to assert their identity as women farmers and grow their businesses with varying degrees of success. This was often achieved by developing strong partnerships with key stakeholders and by marketing through alternative channels, such as short food supply chains. We derive several research propositions to guide future research on this topic.