Socio-technical lock-in as alignment process: tracing the joint development of pesticide dependency and vegetable production in Senegal (1900–2024)

Abstract

Lock-in mechanisms are common explanations for the persistence of undesirable system configurations in the present. However, studies often analyse lock-ins statically, without tracing and explaining underlying processes. In this article, we explore the development of lock-in over time, by analysing the case study of pesticide lock-in the Senegalese vegetable sector. To this end, we draw on extensive archival document analysis. We trace pesticide lock-in through four periods (from the 1900s to 2024) and explain it as the result of alignment processes across multiple heterogenous dimensions: agricultural policy, input supply, scientific and technical knowledge, on-farm production, and vegetable commercialisation & consumption. These dimensions have aligned in stages, fuelling a dynamic of growing dependence on chemical control. To date, this overall alignment has only been partially challenged, stimulating several adaptations, reinforcing the chemical intensification process, and marginalising attempts to reduce pesticide use. The paper ends with a discussion of conformities and deviations in a case study from the existing literature on lock-in within the agri-food sector in the Global South, before suggesting ways out of the current pesticide lock-in.