The Shennan Lab Group

What we do

In the Shennan Lab research group we study agricultural sustainability using participatory approaches in contrasting contexts: high input, high capital intensive vegetable/strawberry production in California; low input, resource poor systems in sub Saharan Africa; and most recently in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam and avocado plantations in Chile.

In California sustainability issues include reliance on controversial toxic soil fumigants, and issues related to inefficient and overuse of inputs that result in non-point source pollution. Our work targets the development of alternatives to soil fumigants for soil borne disease management, strategies for improved nutrient use and disease suppression in high intensity organic strawberry /vegetable rotation systems and the potential for landscape diversification to enhance biological control of arthropod pests.

We have also examined sustainability and agricultural development issues facing sub-Saharan Africa in three different systems: maize production in Malawi, rice production in Senegal, and traditional diverse systems in the highlands of Ethiopia. Currently, we are looking at soil management, rural livelihoods and use of farmer teams and information technology for promoting adoption of new agricultural technologies in Senegal. Each illustrates challenges in designing sustainable systems for resource poor farmers in the face of variable climate, soils and fluctuating input costs. In the absence of adequate resource availability, capital, or economic safety nets; sustainability also involves complex trade-offs to balance short-term livelihood needs, risk management, and long term soil quality improvement.