Addressing the Knowledge Gaps in Agroecology and Identifying Guiding Principles for Transforming Conventional Agri-Food Systems

Abstract

Abstract:Today's society faces many challenges when it comes to food production: producing food sustainably, producing enough of it, distributing food, consuming enough calories, consuming too many calories, consuming culturally-appropriate foods, and reducing the amount of food wasted. The distribution of power within the current mainstream agri-food system is dominated by multinational agri-businesses that control the flow of goods and wealth through the system. This hegemony has implemented a regime whose structures reinforce its control. A growing response to the current agri-food regime is the rise of agroecology, in both developed and developing country contexts. This is not a new phenomenon, but it has evolved over time from its Latin American origins. However, agroecology is not a monolithic block and represents many different perceptions of what it means to advance agroecology and ways in which it can help today's society tackle the crisis of the agri-food system. This paper addresses these sometimes discordant view points, as well as the gaps in our knowledge regarding agroecology in an effort to lay out some guiding principles for how we can move forward in transforming the current agri-food system to achieve sustainability and a more equitable distribution of power and resources.

Exploring barriers to the agroecological transition in Nicaragua: A Technological Innovation Systems Approach

“…With its enshrinement in national law, agroecology in Nicaragua changed from being a social movement to being formally institutionalized in national policy. This is in line with general trends of agroecology moving into the political sphere (Bellamy and Ioris 2017;Gonzalez de Molina 2013;Gonzalez, Thomas, and Chang 2018;Levidow, Pimbert, and Vanloqueren 2014;Meek 2016;Sabourin et al 2017). The policy has enhanced agroecology's legitimacy vis-á-vis conventional agriculture and has boosted institutionalization in knowledge and research institutes and infrastructures.…”

“…Second, research institutes, universities, NGOs, and CSOs working in Nicaragua use "their" definition, which hinders their ability to work together and jointly leverage resources. Difficulties that may arise from diverging definitions of agroecology have been highlighted by other authors 23 (Bellamy and Ioris 2017;Giraldo and Rosset 2017;Rivera-Ferre 2018;Somarriba et al 2012).…”

Development of the Concept of Agroecology in Europe: A Review

“…In this context, agroecology has gone from dealing only with the ecological aspects and the farming system, to the point where political and social aspects are involved in the foreground. In this regard, we take the opinion of Sanderson Bellamy and Ioris [35], who mentioned that "Agroecology has been conceptualized as a farmer-led countermovement against the modern agri-food system based on the holistic practices of agroecological food production (local, participatory and action-orientated) alongside the principles of sustainability and autonomy in food production".…”

Work-related information needed by farmers for changing to sustainable cropping practices

“…Introducing new, more sustainable cropping practices can however generate changes to working time and organization if the implementation date of a new technique is in competition with other interventions on the farm (e.g., sowing cover crops at the time of calving or manure spreading (Paineau et al 1998)). Or it can require the implementation of collaborative and collective social practices based on knowledge sharing (Sanderson Bellamy and Ioris 2017). Change in work is a factor that farmers often mention to explain the difficulties they encounter in adopting new practices (Paineau et al 1998;Pfeffer 1992;Sattler and Nagel 2010;Wossink et al 1997).…”