Agroecology is an applied science that involves the adaptation of ecological concepts to the structure, performance, and management of sustainable agroecosystems.Altieri, Miguel A., Peter Rosset, and Lori Ann Thrupp. "The Potential of Agroecology to Combat Hunger in the Developing World." A 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment.(1998). Brief 55. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. In Latin America, agroecological practices have a long history and vary between regions but share three main approaches or levels: plot scale, farm scale, and food system scale. Agroecology in Latin American countries can be used as a tool for providing both ecological, economic, and social benefits to the communities that practice it, as well as maintaining high biodiversity and providing refuges for flora and fauna in these countries.Altieri, Miguel A. "Part 1." Agroecological Innovations: Increasing Food Production with Participatory Development. By Norman Thomas. Uphoff. London: Earthscan Publications. (2002): 3-71. Due to its broad scope and versatility, it is often referred to as "a science, a movement, a practice."
Background
History Agroecological methods have been practiced in Latin America for centuries, but the term agroecology in reference to the combination of agronomy and ecology was coined in 1928 by B.M. Bensin in the U.S. Until the 1960s, it mainly focused on the scientific aspects of agronomy and ecology and remained relatively unknown. However, due to the increasing awareness of the harmful effects of pesticides and the burgeoning environmental movement in the 1970s, agroecology gained momentum globally and began to integrate a much wider range of issues on top of ecological ones, such as the social, political, economic implications of agroecosystems. In this context, the scientific aspect of agroecology began to engage in dialogue with traditional local farming practices and experimentation in many regions. The relationship between agronomists and traditional practitioners, often subsistence farmers, has been termed an "exchange of wisdoms." Latin America's agroecological movement should be set against the historical backdrop of colonial exploitation, social inequities, and ecological challenges. During colonialism, land ownership and land use were restructured, with export crops replacing local food needs. Postcolonial government policies, in an effort to modernize agriculture, further entrenched these disparities and continued the export-orientation of food production. The newly independent governments of South America were often capitalist regimes, established by the United States; these governments continued colonial policies and regimes, in the name of integrating their economies into the ‘global markets’. This continued the dependent and exploitative relationship between state and farmers/farm workers, while harming local ecosystems as well. In Latin America specifically, agroecology spread more widely during the period of structural adjustment policies in the 1970s. In this time, many Latin American countries took up loans from the International Monetary Fund with strict conditions of trade liberalization that allowed large transnational corporations to grab large swaths of land and out-compete local markets."The role of Agroecology on the future of agriculture and the food system", Sociedad Científica Latinoamericana de Agroecología, 2017. While many small farmers were negatively impacted, many others had joined to form cooperatives, social movements, or global organizations.
In Latin America specifically, agroecology spread more widely during the period of structural adjustment policies in the 1970s. In this time, many Latin American countries took up loans from the International Monetary Fund with strict conditions of trade liberalization that allowed large transnational corporations to grab large swaths of land and out-compete local markets. While many small farmers were negatively impacted, many others have joined to form cooperatives, social movements, or global organizations.
Since the 1970s, agroecology has been deeply entwined with Latin America's social movements, which have often framed agroecology as a form of resistance against neoliberal agricultural policies. These movements have fostered a uniquely Latin American form of agroecology, marked by its grassroots nature and emphasis on food sovereignty. This version of agroecology challenged the prevailing industrial agricultural model by promoting practices that are ecologically sustainable, socially just, and integrate indigenous knowledge systems. Latin American agroecology differs from other regional approaches in its focus on decolonization, anti-patriarchal values, and autonomy for farmers and indigenous groups. Some key features of Latin American Agroecology are: emphasizes critical engagement with political and social issues; integrates local and indigenous knowledge systems; promotes a dialogue of knowledge ("diálogo de saberes"); and, is closely associated with social movements and resistance against neoliberal agricultural policies.
Benefits Traditional farming systems of Latin America were forged from a need to subsist on limited means. These techniques were developed from centuries of cultural and biological evolution by combining experiences and methods of other peasant farmers using locally available resources. Due to its origins Latin American, agroecology represents a low impact form of agriculture. Modern agriculture had become a process of "artificialization of nature" producing a monoculture of a very few crop species. Agroecology contrasts industrial agriculture in its use of polyculture, lack of synthetic fertilizers, minimal machinery and incorporation of successional stages. Agroecology attempts to benefit both people and the environment by maximizing crop yield, but also preserving the natural environment. It is often practiced by forming agroecosystems which are communities of plants and animals interacting with their physical and chemical environment that have been planted and harvested by people.
Economic benefits Agroecological principles allow farmers to save many in several important ways: becoming independent from large corporations' inputs such as GMO seeds and fertilizers; having a more diversified and thus more resilient crop system where income does not depend on one single crop; using simple, cost-effective techniques to increase productivity; having solidarity markets with local communities and thus a steady source of income; having a democratized method of knowledge and seed exchange.
Specific examples of economically successful agroecological systems include stabilizing hillside farming in Honduras. World Neighbors, an NGO, partnered with Honduran farmers to implement a program that helped practice soil conservation using techniques such as drainage and contour ditches, grass barriers, rock walls, and organic fertilization (e.g., use of chicken manure and intercropping with legumes). These changes allowed for an increase in grain yield of three to four times more than in previous years as well as supplied 1,200 families with grain.
Another example, from the Andean region in Peru where a partnership of NGOs and locals lead to the implementation of a Pre-Columbian indigenous technique called Waru Warus. This technique involved raising the fields and surrounding them with dug out ditches filled with water, which regulates the soil temperature allowing for an extended growing season. In the district of Huatta, this method of using waru-warus have increased annual potato yields by 4-10 metric tons per hectare.
A final example from the Andean region where some peasant communities in Cajamarca and NGOs planted more than 550,000 trees and reconstructed terraces as well as drainage and infiltration canals. This change allowed for about half the population in the area - 1,247 families - to have land under conservation measures. For these people, potato yields have increased from 5 to 8 tons per hectare and oca (wood sorrel) yields have jumped from 3 to 8 tons per hectare.
Ecological benefits The benefits of agroecology are not only economic, but also important ecologically. There is evidence to indicate that the agroecosystems with overstory shade trees like coffee or cacao plantations can rival the biodiversity of natural forests. The diversity is so high in these systems because the overstory is structurally and floristically complex which allows for many different niches to be available resulting in refuges. It is possible that shade coffee plantations are already serving as refuges, as seen in Puerto Rico where tremendous deforestation has occurred and yet the avian extinction rate is relatively low. Another system that is ecologically important is neotropical kitchen gardens. Kitchen gardens or home gardens are common in tropical and subtropical areas and they provide food and income for the family. Some kitchen gardens like the Mopan Mayan of southern Belize contain dozens of tree and plant species of different stories mimicking a natural forest. These patches, much like shade plantations, serve as refuges for flora and fauna such as in Belize where they are used by migratory birds.
Agroecological farms and methods also contribute to reducing the effects of climate change as they have more plants and thus greater carbon sequestration as well as limited emissions from farm management and crop transportation. Agroecology in Latin America also includes many ecological areas such as water conservation, soil health, and maintaining seed diversity, among others.La ViaCampesina's Brochure. Web. October 20. 2017. viacampesina.org https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-organisational-brochure-edition-2016/
Social benefits The principles of agroecology are also cultural and social. Agroecology is the “transformation of rural realities through collective action” for the goal of food sovereignty. Thus it is not just science and principles, but also a practice, which produces many social benefits as it is a combination of efforts between farmers, social movements, scientists, and NGOs, as well as occasionally local governments.
Food sovereignty is a core component of agroecology that increases social power. The definition of food sovereignty as defined by La Via Campesina, the social movement that articulated it, is the following:"Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through sustainable methods and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It develops a model of small scale sustainable production benefiting communities and their environment. Food sovereignty prioritizes local food production and consumption, giving a country the right to protect its local producers from cheap imports and to control its production. It includes the struggle for land and genuine agrarian reform that ensures that the rights to use and manage lands, territories, water, seeds, livestock, and biodiversity are in the hands of those who produce food and not of the corporate sector."Thus, when communities, NGOs and the public move beyond the view of food security, i.e. having enough to eat, and transition to the framework of food sovereignty, much more progress can be made in ensuring people's well-being. Farmers then have control over how their food is produced, what is produced, and where it is sold, which must primarily be in local markets. Thus consumers also have close ties to the production process.