by Emma J Devereux
Citation: Devereux, E.J.,(2021), Sustainable & Innovative Agricultural Systems In-focus: Agroecology, EcoFoodDev, https://www.ecofooddev.com/sustainable-innovative-agricultural-systems-in-focus-agroecology/
Let’s look at some of the innovative, nature-based techniques and alternative agricultural systems being proposed and employed in sustainable agriculture around the world. These methods and systems can potentially be successfully applied to farming systems worldwide as part of forging a sustainable future. Such “environmentally-friendly” approaches are both popular with the public (and hence the consumer), and are also increasingly economically viable, further strengthening their feasibility. These approaches are facilitated through continued agri-science and environmental research being conducted by university and research bodies in Ireland and abroad. A key underpinning of many of these techniques, approaches and movements is the building of dynamic rural economies, sorely needed globally and particularly in Ireland, and it is my belief that the small to medium sized farms of Ireland that do not want to scale up can greatly benefit and thrive via these sustainable solutions.
Up first: agroecology.
What is Agroecology?
Agroecology is an important concept in modern farming, food production, and the battle against climate change and global hunger- but what is it? What are its aims? What are the ideas underpinning it, who uses it, and how is it implemented? Is it a science, a movement, or tools in the move towards more sustainable agriculture? In what ways might agroecology be controversial?
Agroecology (which can refer to the scientific discipline, its agricultural practices, or the movement) is a field of agricultural science that develops approaches to solving agricultural production challenges by applying ecological processes to agricultural systems.
“The principles of agroecology help us understand the interaction between agriculture and the environment. With agroecological knowledge, scientists, farmers, and researchers can select appropriate technologies and systems to create a sustainable food system.” – https://croplife.org/news/filling-the-gaps/
CropLife.org
Biodiversity is a core concept in agroecology (as it increasingly is in sustainable agriculture systems). Off-farm inputs are reduced and replaced with systems of agriculture that mimic the biodiversity of the natural landscape, constructing food production systems that are resistant to pestilence, are productive, and manage chemical cycling without the need for application of pesticides or fertilisers. Thus, agricultural lands are a proxy for the natural ecosystem, and the functioning of this system in terms of food production are enhanced.
How? Farms in such a system promote, enhance and maintain their own soil fertility, yields, and plant health. As inputs are not required, input costs are reduced, and the labour costs associated with these practices decrease. Wildlife diversity is also maintained and increased, and as will be discussed in more detail later, there is evidence in agroecology studies for biological control in crops that are bordered by wild vegetation. I find this to be of great interest and is an area where palaeobotanical insights can prove vital. When mimicking the biodiversity of the ‘natural’ landscape, an understanding of the processes and composition of that landscape are required, and the vegetative history of the ecosystem. For example, genetic research into crop to wild relatives of cereal crops have identified linkages between tillage crops and their weedy relatives that can confer resistance to the crop in question. Harnessing these biodiversity advantages can improve agricultural production while significantly reducing a farmer’s dependency on off-farm inputs.
At the landscape level, a mosaic pattern emerges, consisting of a variety of small farms intersected by forest, which is vastly different from current industrial agricultural landscapes which seek to remove forestry and hedgerows. Biodiversity conservation and high ecological functioning is a by-product of an agroecology system.
Historical Underpinnings of Agroecology
The concept of agroecology can be traced to the 1930s and was used in very vague terms up to the 1980s, primarily in Europe. Until the 1960s, agroecology was considered only as a scientific discipline, however, the term begins to broaden in the 1960s (such was the pattern at the time in the sciences: various environmental movements occurred in the 1960s; anthropology developed new ideas on human diet following the Man the Hunter conference in 1966; the movement of processual archaeology came in the late 50s and 60s; and of course, significantly, the Green Revolution in agriculture also took place in the 50s & 60s). Agroecology developed alongside the focus on environmental considerations, and the new criticisms of industrial agriculture that were taking place at the time.
From the 1980s, the term agroecology can be seen in other parts of the world, such as in the US and Latin America. In Mexico, the study of the ecological foundations of agriculture are well-established. For example, Efraím Hernández-Xolocotzi first coined the concept of the “agroecosystem” in 1976 when discussing the traditional agriculture of the Maya. John Vandermeet developed these concepts further in the 80s and 90s with his studies on Agricultural Ecology, and at this time other authors were also evolving the concepts of food politics and Agricultural Sociology. Many of these movements took place in Cuba, Brazil, and Central America, and agroecology constituted a science, a technical application, and a social movement. Agroecology thus stands at the intersection of different disciplines, and benefits from the interaction of experts from different fields.
Agroecology advocates state that it is not simply a set of tools and management strategies to be applied to modern industrial farming, but is a move towards creating local food systems and radically changing modern agriculture. Agroecology in this sense echoes the agriculture in Ireland that my father speaks of existing in his own childhood, where farmers and local artisans, fishermen and food producers took part in local food economies, with the idea of farm to fork goods- locally sourced and locally consumed. This is something that is attractive to us all today and is currently very in-fashion, however local, circular economies are key in the path towards sustainable food production.
Any application of agroecology as simply a tool in modern industrial farming is rejected by some agroecology advocates. Agroecology re-imagines food production systems and opposes corporate agri-food and agribusiness institutions- not something welcomed by all. However, I am reminded of the methods employed within the sustainable development sector whereby the sector transitions towards more sustainable technologies within the current framework. Given the antiquity of modern farming as even briefly laid out in prior posts, it seems such a transitional approach is warranted in the move towards sustainable farming methods and dynamic rural economies.
Elements of Agroecology
Agroecology can be broken down into three broad categories: science, practice, and society. Research has identified key linkages between the adoption of agroecology and benefits to human and environmental health:
At first, agroecology was primarily concerned with tillage farming and crop production. However, the field has now expanded to include the environmental, ethical, and social issues of modern farming. As such, the term can have a variety of different meanings which have changed and broadened over the decades since its inception. However, in many nations, agroecology is strongly associated with the science and practice of agronomy.
Relevance of agroecology now & for the future
As mentioned in the post “Why are we in a food crisis?”, COVID-19 has revealed significant inconsistencies and weaknesses in our food chain. The pandemic has offered an opportunity to look at how food is produced and how agriculture is practiced and to build a new, more sustainable system of farming and food supply. Agroecology offers a way forward to reduce such disruptions to the food supply chain through reducing the need for pesticides; boosting biodiversity on farms; and boosting productivity. Engaging with small farms leads to the development of dynamic and sustainable rural economies, and also offers an opportunity to further agriculture in urban settings.
COVID-19 revealed the fragility of our current global food supply system, as do political upheavals such as Brexit. Most countries do not produce enough food to sustain themselves. We transport food around the world from different places of origin. This obviously makes sense in a world with widely different climates (Irish bananas require a bit more global warming to occur yet). But key staples such as flour are often not produced within nations that could produce them, which is a surprise to many. For example, flour is imported to the UK from places such as Germany and Canada. The pandemic led to empty shelves, as Brexit will, and prices will increase due to trade tariffs, as seen in the case of soy, which is bad for both producers and consumers. These issues will only increase into the future as our climate becomes ever more variable and inevitable political instability continues. Agroecology provides a solution to such issues by focusing on local, sustainable food production economies, and thus has substantial economic potential.
Agroecology also offers a pathway toward reducing the environmental impact of food production via agriculture. Wild habitats have been fundamentally altered via 12,000 years of increasingly intensive agriculture, as discussed in several previous posts. The establishment of vast monocultures on available arable land have led to habitat loss, aridification and desertification through soil degradation, mass deforestation, significant damage to freshwater resources, and substantial biodiversity loss of native flora and fauna worldwide. Maize, rice and wheat comprise ~50% of our modern diet presenting a huge food security risk. Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture are ~29% of annual total GHG emissions- not just from meat but from cultivation of crops such as rice, and through deforestation for crops such as soy. Modern crop farming is intensive, dependent on inputs, and sensitive to pestilence, and increased resistance of pests to these inputs due to global temperature rise is an imminent agricultural and food security catastrophe. Agroecology provides a solution to these problems. Agroecology exhibits high resilience and diversity, which both have been proven to reduce climate-related risks in farming. Importantly, and something I am particularly concerned with, agroecology techniques protect yields and ensure farming remains economically sustainable and viable for farmers.
Agroecology & Indigenous Knowledge
Agroecology intersects ecology, anthropology, ethnology, sociology and archaeology. It threads together these disciplines and offers a space where insights from indigenous peoples, and from the past, can be used to inform and understand modern farming problems and provide solutions. The vast resource of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) that exists around the globe can be utilized via agroecology and turned into farming and environmental policy and practice. I will discuss TEK in detail in later posts and the application of indigenous knowledge to environmental policy as well as food production.
Conclusions
In the move towards sustainability there are many paths forward, many opportunities for science, innovation, policy and society to debate, consider, experiment, and adopt new ideas. Agroecology is one of those ideas. The science and practices of agroecology can overlap and intersect with other fields of research, and opportunities for perspectives such as the time-depth perspective of plant community interactions and wild relatives will arise. A monumental shift in agricultural production systems is proposed by advocates of agroecology, however, given the vast array of ways in which agriculture is practiced (it not being a monolithic entity), adopting elements of agroecology, forming them into national policy, and into agri management systems may be a way of moving forward towards sustainability starting immediately. However, many agroecology practitioners would reject this. All parties will have to come together to envision a way forward, especially in a global economy. What remains constant is the need for change- climate change persists and presents threats of weather variability, increased pestilence resistance, and disease. Global hunger continues to spread and intensify, and war, trade tariffs, and political instability threaten food supplies worldwide. These issues continue to increase and intensify, and the need for solutions is one of the few constants.
References
- Altieri, M.A. and Nicholls, C.I., 2020. Agroecology and the reconstruction of a post-COVID-19 agriculture. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 47(5), pp.881-898.
- Rivera-Núñez, T., Fargher, L. and Nigh, R., 2020. Toward an historical agroecology: an academic approach in which time and space matter. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 44(8), pp.975-1011.
- Altieri, M.A. and Nicholls, C.I., 2020. Agroecology and the reconstruction of a post-COVID-19 agriculture. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 47(5), pp.881-898.
- Giraldo, O.F. and Rosset, P.M., 2018. Agroecology as a territory in dispute: Between institutionality and social movements. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 45(3), pp.545-564.
- Gliessman, S.R., 2021. Package Price Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems. CRC press.
- Wezel, A., Bellon, S., Doré, T., Francis, C., Vallod, D. and David, C., 2009. Agroecology as a science, a movement and a practice. A review. Agronomy for sustainable development, 29(4), pp.503-515.
