"Before there were no diseases" - Perceiving the Coffee Rust Epidemic in the Intersection of Knowledge Systems
Type
Master thesisNot peer reviewed

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Date
2016-06-04Author
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Show full item recordAbstract
In January 2013, Costa Rica declared a state of
emergency to combat the spread of a fungus
manifesting itself on coffee plants. The fungus
(Hemileia vastatrix) is called roya in Spanish
(rust). Between 2012 and 2013, a rust-epidemic caused
severe damages and yield losses throughout Central-
America. However, its repercussions would continue in
the ensuing years, creating socio-economic impacts on
small-scale coffee farmers who, in many cases,
depended mainly on coffee cultivation to provide for
their respective families. This thesis is about how
the rust epidemic of 2012-2013 and its aftermath were
experienced and conceptualised by small-scale coffee
farmers in Turrialba, Costa Rica. The perceptions and
experiences of agronomists too, have been an interest
of mine, as they interacted with coffee producers in
trying to combat roya. By treating the epidemic as an
event" (Kapferer, 2005), the thesis explores the
fungus as a social-, rather than a biological
phenomenon. As such, it analyses the different
agents, social relations, knowledge systems, and
various practices that are set into motion by the
fungus. More importantly, the thesis aims to
contribute to a more symmetrical study of knowledges,
by discussing how smallholders are increasingly
relying on technological tools in their daily
management practices. It exemplifies how farmers are
continuously shifting between local/globe
perspectives (Ingold, 1993), technique/technology
(Ingold, 1993) looking/seeing (Okely 2001), and
approaching the coffee plant as a subject/object. In
short, the thesis illustrates the need for new
concepts to grasp the knowledges in between such
static categories.
Publisher
The University of BergenCollections
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