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Christof den Biggelaar

Associate Professor

Office: 217 LLA

Phone: (828) 262-7268

Fax: (828) 262-6400

Christof is orginally from the Netherlands, where he received an Agricultural Engineer's degree in Agronomy (equivalent to a B.Sc.) from the Hogere Agrarische School in 's Hertogenbosch. He then spent 6 years in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), the (then) People's Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic as an agricultural teacher and extension agronomist. He obtained his M.S. degree in Agricultural and Extension Education at Michigan State with a certificate in African Studies ('89). Before embarking on his Ph.D. studies, Christof participated in a post-graduate training program on development-oriented research in agriculture (ICRA) in the Netherlands, which included a 3-month interdisciplinary field study on research-extension-farmer linkages in Southwest Province, Cameroon. He obtained a Ph.D. in Forestry (Michigan State, ‘94), where he studied social and cultural dimensions of agroforestry systems in Rwanda. After completing his Ph.D., he spent two years in Kenya as a consultant for ICRAF and FAO 's Forest, Trees and People Programme.

From April 1997 through August 1998, he worked as Visiting Assistant Professor at the Center for Evaluative Studies at Michigan State University. At the Center, Christof coordinated the evaluation activities for the Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program and was the co-PI for an evaluation of the Producer Grant Program of the North-Central Region SARE. Responsibilities included survey design, writing of data entry programs, data entry and analysis, writing of reports and articles based on the findings, and advising county and district groundwater technicians on the evaluation of their programs.

During the 1998-99 academic year, he was a lecturer of sustainable agriculture and food systems at the Center for Regenerative Studies, California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, teaching classes in sustainable agricultural systems, agroecology, sustainable community development, as well as agriculture and animal husbandry labs. From October 1999 through June 2000, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Ohio State University, researching the effect of erosion and other forms of soil degradation on soil productivity.

Christof joined the Interdisciplinary Studies faculty at Appalachian State University in August 2000, where he teaches courses in agroecology and sustainable development, and manages the Teaching and Research Farm in Valle Crucis. He is a member of ASU's Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Program and Appalachian Studies Faculty, and of the Board of Directors of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (Vice-President 2003-4, President 2005-present) and Maverick Farms.

In addition to his knowledge and skills in agriculture, agroforestry and organic gardening, his areas of expertise include endogenous knowledge systems, farmer experimental practices and knowledge generation processes in agroforestry systems, participatory (RRA/PRA) and survey research methods, and qualitative and quantitative data analysis.

Selected publications:

Christoffel den Biggelaar, Rattan Lal, Keith Wiebe and Vince Breneman. 2004. The global impact of soil erosion on productivity I: Absolute and relative erosion-induced yield losses. Advances in Agronomy 81: 1-48.

Christoffel den Biggelaar, Rattan Lal, Keith Wiebe, Hari Eswaran, Vince Breneman and Paul Reich. 2004. The global impact of soil erosion on productivity II: Effect on crop yields and production over time. Advances in Agronomy 81: 49-95.

Rattan Lal, Christoffel den Biggelaar and Keith Wiebe. Measuring On-site and Off-site Effects of Soil Erosion on Productivity and Environmental Quality. Proceedings of the OECD Expert Meeting on Soil Erosion and Soil Biodiversity Indicators, Rome (Italy), 25-28 March, 2003.

Christoffel den Biggelaar, Rattan Lal, Hari Eswaran, Vince Breneman and Paul Reich. 2003. Crop yield losses to soil erosion at regional and global scales: Evidence from plot-level and GIS data. In: Keith Wiebe (ed.), Land Quality, Agricultural Productivity, and Food Security: Biophysical Processes and Economic Choices at Local, Regional, and Global Levels, pp. 262-279. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar.

Murari Suvedi, Christoffel den Biggelaar and Shawn Morford. 2003. Conceptual Framework for Evaluating Sustainable Agriculture Programs. Journal of Crop Production 9 (1/2) 433-454.

Christoffel den Biggelaar. 2000. Identifier avec les paysans des agriculteurs experts en agroforestrie: Une expérience de l‚utilisation des méthodes participatives au Rwanda. In: N. Sellamna, M. Mathieu and P. Lavigne-Delville, Les enquetes participatives en milieu rural: Pratiques, débats et enjeux, pp. 227-250. Paris: Editions Karthala-GRET-ICRA.

Christoffel den Biggelaar, Rattan Lal, Keith Wiebe and Vince Breneman. 2001. Impact of Soil Erosion on Crop Yields in North America. Advances in Agronomy 72: 1-52.

Christoffel den Biggelaar and Murari Suvedi. 2000. Definitions, Goals and Bottlenecks of Sustainable Agriculture as Perceived by Farmers in the North-Central Region. Agriculture and Human Values 17 (4): 347-358.

Mureithi, William, Christoffel den Biggelaar, Edward Wanambisi, Kuria Kamau and Catherine Gatundu. 2000. Mursik Production in Trans-Nzoia District, Kenya: A Traditional Method of Treating Milk for Preservation and Palatability. Journal of Ethnobiology 20 (1): 75-91.

Christoffel den Biggelaar. 1996. Farmer Experimentation and Innovation: A Case Study of Knowledge Generation Processes in Agroforestry Systems in Rwanda. Community Forestry Case Study No. 12. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization.

Christoffel den Biggelaar. 1996. Linking Actors in the Agricultural/Agroforestry Knowledge System in Embu District: Developing a Collaborative Model for the Promotion of Agroforestry Technologies for Sustainable Development in Humid and Semi-arid Lands of Eastern Kenya. AFRENA Report No. 103. Nairobi: ICRAF.

Christoffel den Biggelaar. 1994. Farmer Knowledge and Experimentation with Trees and Tree Cultivation in Agroforestry Systems in Rwanda. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing.

Christoffel den Biggelaar. 1991. Farming Systems Development: Synthesizing Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge Systems. Agriculture and Human Values 8 (1/2): 25-36.

Arze, J., C. den Biggelaar, W. Brinkman, E. Frimpong, J. Kimemia, E. Lazaro and M. Timmermans. 1990. Agricultural Research and Extension: A Contribution to the Understanding of Linkages with Small-Scale Farmers. A Case-Study in Kumba Corridor Agro-Ecological Zone, SWP, Cameroon. Farming Systems Analysis Paper No. 9 and Working Document No. 10. Wageningen, Netherlands: ICRA.

Christoffel den Biggelaar. 1989. The Impact of Agricultural Extension Activities of Five Rural Development Projects on Food Crop Production in the People's Republic of the Congo. MS Thesis, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1989.

Agroecology is defined as the application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of agricultural systems. At ASU, two sequential Agroecology courses are offered:

In “Principles of Agroecology,” students learn about the various biophysical, ecological, social and economic factors and processes related to food production.
“Agroecology Practices, Systems and Philosophies” explores (1) the ethical and philosophical roots of conventional and alternative agriculture, and (2) the biological, economic and social aspects of different agricultural systems and practices (biodynamics, permaculture, nature farming, biointensive, agroforestry, among others) developed in response to perceived shortcomings of conventional agricultural practices.

Hands-on (group) projects are an integral part of these courses. In addition, students can get their hands dirty at the SD Teaching and Research Farm in Valle Crucis, where they have an opportunity to learn organic gardening techniques, collect and analyze (agro)ecological data, and get to eat the fruits of their work.

Course syllabi

Agroecology courses
IDS 3251 Principles of Agroecology (Fall 2007)
IDS 4251 / 5251 Agroecology Practrices, Systems and Philosophies (Spring 2006)
IDS 4532/5532 Agroecology Practicum (Summer; internship-like course at the Teching & Research Farm)

Sustainable Development courses
IDS 2440 Intro to Sustainable Development (Spring 2004)
IDS 3100 Science and Sustainable Development (Spring 2003)
IDS 3100 World Hunger, Biotechnology and the Future of Food (Spring 2001)
IDS 3100 Education for Sustainability (Spring 2002)

Agroecology Lab Manual and Readings
Farm Code of Conduct
Soil sampling
Soil texture by feel chart
Soil profile measurement and description
Farmer interviews

Soil quality information
Soil biology primer
Intro to Soil Health (slide show)
Living Mulches for Vegetable Production in the South
Why do No-Till?
Impact of Cover Crops

Information on the following Soil Management and Soil Fertility topics can be found at http://www.attra.org/soils.html

Sustainable Soil management
Sustainable Management of Soil borne Plant Diseases
Alternative Soil Amendments
Notes on Compost Teas
Manures for Organic Production
Cover Crops and green Manures
Rye as a Cover Crop
Vermicomposting
Soil Moisture Monitoring

Information on Pest, Disease and Weed Management can be found at http://www.attra.org/pest.html

NCSU Fruit tree pruning brochure
NCSU Grafting techniques brochure

Information on farm scaping, pest and beneficial insects: Dr. Richard McDonald's' Symbiont Biological Pest Management Company
Insect identifcation: BugGuide

The ASU Teaching & Research Farm

DISSERTATION ABSTRACT

    FARMER KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIMENTATION
    WITH TREES AND TREE CULTIVATION IN AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS
    IN RWANDA

Although Rwandan farmers have used trees for numerous purposes for centuries, the active planting and management of woody vegetation on-farm has been a relatively recent innovation. The goal of this research was to determine and understand the processes of agroforestry knowledge generation by farmers underlying these changes in resource management and usage. In particular, the study focused on farmer experimental methods related to the integration of trees on the farm. As agriculture is both a social and technico-economic endeavor, and as knowledge generation is embedded within productive processes, a social-constructivist perspective of science and technology was used as a framework for this study.

The research focused on a group of 44 locally identified tree experts, chosen in a two stage process using a ranking game and community interviews. A comparison group of 71 farmers was chosen randomly from those identified in the game as less-knowledgeable about agroforestry. In-depth methods used to study knowledge/technology generation included biographical case studies of tree experts, tree inventories, a socio-economic survey, participant observation and focus group interviews.

Ranking game informants identified tree experts as farmers cultivating a diversity of trees on their farm in accordance with the philosophical meaning of knowledge: knowing a plurality of objects or notions. Ranking game and socioeconomic survey results showed agreement on key variables used to distinguish farmers. Tree experts had more land, trees and tree species, but the tree density on comparison farms was more than two times higher. This points to a differentiation in knowledge between expert and comparison farmers. Consultants identified the lack of local communication and information exchange networks as the major drawback to advancing endogenous agroforestry knowledge.

The study concludes that collaboration between knowledge systems may beneficial for both. A synthesis between systems will increase the effectiveness of ongoing scientific agroforestry research and development but, more importantly, it will empower, legitimize and enhance the existing endogenous capacities for identifying problems and developing solutions, which will be an important step towards enabling rural people themselves to alleviate their poverty.