Agroecology and La Via Campesina I. The symbolic and material construction of agroecology through the dispositive of “peasant-to-peasant” processes

Val, Valentín; Rosset, Peter; Lomelí, Carla Beatriz Zamora; Giraldo, Omar Felipe; Rocheleau, Dianne

doi:10.1080/21683565.2019.1600099

Cited by 65 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Social movements such as La Vía Campesina at the global scale, and national members such as the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST), are important actors contributing to debates around transition to sustainable food systems, with their varyingly political, civil societies' and peasants' views on agroecology as a means to distinguish their practices and vision for food system transformation from those that are supported by agri-food corporations and more mainstream institutions (Giraldo and Rosset 2018). These social movement actors have played a crucial role in raising the political dimensions of agroecology, providing alternative models for food systems and emphasizing the need for more systemic changes to occur, such as through grassroots farmer-to-farmer networks (Val et al 2019).…”

Section: Part Of Human and Social Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agroecological principles and elements and their implications for transitioning to sustainable food systems. A review

Wezel

Herren

Kerr

et al. 2020

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

335

173

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There is consensus that the global food system is not delivering good nutrition for all and is causing environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity, such that a profound transformation is needed to meet the challenges of persistent malnutrition and rural poverty, aggravated by the growing consequences of climate change. Agroecological approaches have gained prominence in scientific, agricultural and political discourse in recent years, suggesting pathways to transform agricultural and food systems that address these issues. Here we present an extensive literature review of concepts, definitions and principles of agroecology, and their historical evolution, considering the three manifestations of agroecology as a science, a set of practices and a social movement; and relate them to the recent dialogue establishing a set of ten iconic elements of agroecology that have emerged from a global multi-stakeholder consultation and synthesis process. Based on this, a consolidated list of principles is developed and discussed in the context of presenting transition pathways to more sustainable food systems. The major outcomes of this paper are as follows. (1) Definition of 13 consolidated agroecological principles: recycling; input reduction; soil health; animal health; biodiversity; synergy; economic diversification; co-creation of knowledge; social values and diets; fairness; connectivity; land and natural resource governance; participation. (2) Confirmation that these principles are well aligned and complementary to the 10 elements of agroecology developed by FAO but articulate requirements of soil and animal health more explicitly and distinguish between biodiversity and economic diversification. (3) Clarification that application of these generic principles can generate diverse pathways for incremental and transformational change towards more sustainable farming and food systems. (4) Identification of four key entry points associated with the elements: diversity; circular and solidarity economy; co-creation and sharing of knowledge; and, responsible governance to enable plausible pathways of transformative change towards sustainable agriculture and food systems.

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Section: Part Of Human and Social Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agroecological principles and elements and their implications for transitioning to sustainable food systems. A review

Wezel

Herren

Kerr

et al. 2020

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

335

173

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“…These horizontal processes can have an intentionally multi-scalar character (e.g., spread from one locality to another and from the local to the international level). For example, La Via Campesina has been developing and systematizing social learning processes, including agroecology schools, in and between different territories and regions of the world [69,70].…”

Section: Enabling Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Transition to Domains of Transformation: Getting to Sustainable and Just Food Systems through Agroecology

Bruil²,

et al. 2019

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The acceleration of ecological crises has driven a growing body of thinking on sustainability transitions. Agroecology is being promoted as an approach that can address multiple crises in the food system while addressing climate change and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. Beyond the more technical definition as, “the ecology of food systems”, agroecology has a fundamentally political dimension. It is based on an aspiration towards autonomy or the agency of networks of producers and citizens to self-organize for sustainability and social justice. In this article, we use the multi-level perspective (MLP) to examine agroecology transformations. Although the MLP has been helpful in conceptualizing historic transitions, there is a need to better understand: (a) the role of and potential to self-organize in the context of power in the dominant regime, and (b) how to shift to bottom-up forms of governance—a weak point in the literature. Our review analyzes the enabling and disabling conditions that shape agroecology transformations and the ability of communities to self-organize. We develop the notion of ‘domains of transformation’ as overlapping and interconnected interfaces between agroecology and the incumbent dominant regime. We present six critical domains that are important in agroecological transformations: access to natural ecosystems; knowledge and culture; systems of exchange; networks; discourse; and gender and equity. The article focuses on the dynamics of power and governance, arguing that a shift from top down technocratic approaches to bottom up forms of governance based on community-self organization across these domains has the most potential for enabling transformation for sustainability and social justice.

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“…Learning across territories is important if agroecology is to make an impact within dominant food systems, because the integration and adaptation of knowledge from other places is key to sharing innovations. The international peasant movement LVC, for instance, has developed a worldwide agroecology learning network through peasant-to-peasant processes which have been described as the "motor" of agroecological scaling (Val et al 2019). This advances agroecological knowledge from the perspective of farmers' experiences in their own territories, then disseminates it among territories, regions and countries.…”

Section: Box 52 (Continued)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Domain B: Knowledge and Culture

Anderson

Bruil²,

Chappell

et al. 2020

Agroecology Now!

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In this chapter, we examine the role of knowledge processes in the form of local practice, research, innovation and education in agroecology transformations. Knowledge and power are intimately linked; the questions of ‘what knowledge’ and ‘whose knowledge’ is valued are vitally important. We review the informal (outside of institutions) and formal knowledge processes that have been found to support agroecology. These affirm and enable the knowledge systems of agricultural producers, especially those of women and youth. We further discuss how the combination of scientific knowledge with local and traditional knowledge is important in agroecology transformations. Unfortunately, mainstream knowledge systems often disable agroecology because they privilege outside and top-down processes of knowledge transfer that invalidate local, farmer and indigenous knowledges.

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Agroecology and La Via Campesina I. The symbolic and material construction of agroecology through the dispositive of “peasant-to-peasant” processes

Cited by 65 publications

References 32 publications

Agroecological principles and elements and their implications for transitioning to sustainable food systems. A review

Agroecological principles and elements and their implications for transitioning to sustainable food systems. A review

From Transition to Domains of Transformation: Getting to Sustainable and Just Food Systems through Agroecology

Domain B: Knowledge and Culture

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