Excerpt
RECENT attention concerning low-input, sustainable agriculture systems brings to the forefront concern that conventional agricultural production methods result in a “social trap.” The term refers to situations in which an individual or society starts in a direction or relationship that later proves to be unpleasant or lethal, with no easy way to change or avoid the situation (7, 10, 11). A social trap typically occurs when conflicts exist between highly motivating, short-run rewards and long-run consequences.1 A social trap also occurs when a personal reward or punishment conflicts with a group's goals. In this case an individual acts for his or her personal gain and in the process prevents the group from obtaining a reward or objective. In designing public policy to encourage sustainable agriculture, a major consideration is the tendency of individual behavior to be motivated more by immediate personal gain than by the long-run public interest—which leads to a social trap.
Current agricultural production methods may lead to social-trap problems. Producers use fertilizers and pesticides to increase short-run production levels and profits, with encouragement by current agricultural policies that attempt to maintain low food prices and …
Footnotes
Jeffery R. Williams is a professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 66506. The author thanks Andy Barkley for comments on this article.
- Copyright 1990 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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