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The economic potential of agroecology: Empirical evidence from Europe
Abstract
This article discusses the economic dimensions of agroecological farming systems in Europe. It firstly theoretically elaborates the reasons why, and under what conditions, agroecological farming systems have the potential to produce higher incomes than farms that follow the conventional logic. This theoretical exposition is then followed by a presentation of empirical material from a wide range of European countries that shows the extent to which this potential is being realized. The empirical data draw upon different styles of farming that can be described as ‘proto-agroecological’: approaches to farming that are agroecological by nature, but which may not necessarily explicitly define themselves as agroecological. The empirical material that we present shows the huge potential and radical opportunities that Europe's, often silent, ‘agroecological turn’ offers to farmers that could (and should) be the basis for the future transformation of European agricultural policies, since agroecology not only allows for more sustainable production of healthier food but also considerably improves farmers' incomes. It equally carries the promise of re-enlarging productive agricultural (and related) employment and increasing the total income generated by the agricultural sector, at both regional and national levels. While we recognise that agroecology is a worldwide and multidimensional phenomenon we have chosen to limit this analysis to Europe and the economic dimension. This choice is made in order to refute current discourses that represent agroecology as unproductive and unprofitable and an option that would require massive subsidies.
... The potential of mountain food products is exemplified in the case study of the Bioalpin cooperative from Tyrol. The cooperative was founded in 2002 as a regional platform for organic food products sourced from small farms and it sells a complete range of mountain products by using its own brand, Bio vom Berg, which translates to "organic from the mountain" [84]. About 60% of the Bioalpin turnover is generated through the regional supermarket MPreis which primary stocks products from Tyrol and adjacent regions, giving preference to Bioalpin products over other organic brands. ...
... The Bioalpin cooperative offers a large range of food products like fruits and vegetables, eggs, cereals, meat products, honey, and herbs, with an emphasis on milk and dairy products [85]. The sales volume of Bioalpin increased from EUR 672 000 in 2003 to EUR 14 million in 2022 [84,86], making a substantial contribution to the local economy. The cooperative members are small dairy producers, producer groups, and individual farmers, with more than six hundred smallscale farms associated to Bioalpin. ...
... The cooperative ensures access to a large retail chain and supports the functioning of artisanal factories. Thereby, Bioalpin not only gives financial benefits to small-scale farmers but also contributes to the development of a network of local processing and trading units that help the local economy [84]. ...
Food security is one of the main concerns in the context of a global crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The reduction in people’s mobility determined changes in consumers’ behavior and underlined the need for the re-organization of the food supply chains. This paper aims to summarize the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global, Romanian and mountain food markets, as well as to discuss the mountain agriculture potential and the food democracy model. The trend in the post-pandemic era is heading toward the digitalization of agriculture and food distribution, with great attention on product sustainability. People are more and more aware of healthy food and the environmental impact of this sector. Many studies revealed the need for specific policies to counteract the effects of the pandemic on food quality and security and on the economic welfare of people. In the post-pandemic period in mountain areas, there is a need for the valorization of food products that originate from here since they have great health and financial potential. Supporting mountain agriculture could ensure the production of high-value products, which are generally preferred by consumers. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the re-orientation of consumers towards local and organic foods. Future research regarding the efficiency of the programs and policies implemented in some mountain areas after the pandemic is necessary.
... For as long as this treadmill has been defined, there have been authors [6][7][8][9] that looked for alternatives. Currently, these alternatives are on the agenda more and more to address challenges such as climate change [10], resource scarcity [11], biodiversity decline [12] and global equity [13], for which policies are being formulated as part of, e.g., the European Green Deal [14], its Farm to Fork Strategy [15] or, more generally, the Sustainable Development Goals [16]. ...
... It can be performed in the modernist ways by farmers that invest in entrepreneurial farming practises to work on a larger scale (more land, novel technologies) than previous generations, or it can be performed by farmers that ground themselves in a localised context of nature and society. In this latter practice, there is, from an economic perspective, less emphasis on external resources, mechanisation and specialisation, but more on enlarging the ratio between the added value of the farm and the gross value of the production [9]. From the perspective of a farmer, it may look like a revolutionary change-a strong breach with past practices Sustainability 2023, 15, 5097 3 of 20 and the 'path dependency' [8] of its technologies-which is easier to accomplish for a new farmer than for a farmer who has already worked for decades on a farm. ...
... However, as indicated in the introduction, going back to the basics of farming is not all about enlarging gross income. Alternative farming models are less focused on the total output of the farm than on receiving more added value [9]. Here the FADN indicator 'Farm Net Income' provides some insight, as this variable excludes the finances for external factors (such as rent, wages and interest) and subsidies and taxes on investments [53]. ...
Acquiring access to land is an important issue for new entrants into farming. Traditionally, the succession of farms is within the family; market transactions are geared towards the enlargement of running farms. Policies and institutions have been built to facilitate this process. Current challenges of climate change, resource scarcity, biodiversity and equity, as are analysed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Resource Panel (IRP), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reporting activities, make it so that there is a need to find alternatives for the current developments in farming, which is a process of up (scale enlargement) or out (stop farming). For these alternatives, new types of farmers who face the issue of access to land are needed. Based on FADN data and EUROSTAT data, current developments in the European farming sector were analysed to understand the impact of the process of modernisation on farmland markets and the complexities of access to land for new entrants. Whether these data may point to opportunities for alternative farming methods and the role of the direct payments of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy were analysed. Policies and consequences are discussed. It is concluded that, whereas alternative farming models are promoted at the level of policy aims, this is not performed at the policy guidance level of land markets. Alternatives outside traditional institutions face the issue of scaling up to create impact. The Common Agricultural Policy is, in many ways, more of an obstacle than it is a promoter of providing access to land for new farmers. New policies are needed.
... Si on peut considérer que ces formes organisationnelles ont promu l'agriculture productiviste familiale, elles semblent également pouvoir à nouveau être mobilisées pour participer à des changements de pratiques en cohérence avec les enjeux actuels de transition agroécologique . En plus de permettre l'échange des ressources matérielles productives, la question des connaissances et de leur transmission joue un rôle important dans l'adoption de pratiques complexifiées par la prise en compte des interactions avec les processus écologiques (Van Der Ploeg et al., 2019). En effet, les échanges entre pair×e×s et les interactions inhérentes aux différentes formes de travail en commun représentent un vecteur de transformation de normes techniques favorisant l'adaptation des exploitations agricoles aux nouveaux enjeux auxquels elles sont confrontées (Darré, 1996) . ...
... À l'échelle de la ferme, l'agroécologie se présente comme un cadre d'analyse permettant d'aborder les processus écologiques en lien avec le fonctionnement du système de production (Malézieux, 2012;Stark, 2016). L'optimisation de la gestion des interactions et des processus écologiques entre les unités de production au sein de l'exploitation sont devenues un défi majeur pour renforcer la durabilité des systèmes agricoles (Bonaudo et al., 2014;Duru et al., 2014;Van Der Ploeg et al., 2019). La diversité, construite à différentes échelles joue un rôle central pour la mise en place des processus écologiques et biologiques au sein du système agricole (Altieri, 2018;Lurette et al., 2020;Malézieux, 2012). ...
... et al., 2014;Lurette et al., 2020). L'intégration d'une diversité d'activités de production apparait comme un moyen possible pour valoriser les ressources internes au système agricole tout en limitant la dépendance aux ressources externes(Rufino, Hengsdijk, et al., 2009;Van Der Ploeg et al., 2019). Cependant, substituer des ressources externes à des ressources internes, gérer des échanges de ressources au sein de l'exploitation et favoriser les synergies entre ateliers nécessitent des types savoir-faire particuliers, plaçant le travail et la main-d'oeuvre au coeur des défis pour la gestion de ces processus(Stark et al., 2018;Van Der Ploeg et al., 2019). ...
La coopération agricole, inhérente à l’acte de production, s’est exprimée de diverses manières à travers l’histoire de manière formelle ou informelle. Depuis une dizaine d’années, une forme de coopération portée par des aspirations sociales et écologiques, émerge. Sa spécificité réside dans le partage d’un même lieu (la ferme), renouvelant alors les questionnements autour des processus d’organisation et de structuration de l’action collective. Ces formes d’installation collective fleurissant en France illustrent le renouvellement et la richesse de cette agriculture pratiquée en groupe. La gestion collective de la ferme permet la conduite d’une diversité d’activités, pour l’opérationnalisation desquelles plusieurs niveaux d’organisation s’entremêlent.Je propose dans cette thèse, grâce à une approche interdisciplinaire, d'explorer les enjeux liés à la conduite collective d'activités au sein de ces formes d’installation. La mise en œuvre d’une démarche de recherche-action sur une étude de cas en Camargue, couplée à une approche qualitative sur douze sites complémentaires disséminés sur le territoire métropolitain, se sont enrichis mutuellement dans une analyse inductive.Une première phase d'étude exploratoire sur douze fermes gérées par des collectifs a permis de faire ressortir les enjeux généraux liés à ces types d'installation. La combinaison d'activités se place ainsi à l’interface d’une dynamique de partage des ressources, d'un projet associé à des règles et à des dispositifs organisationnels. Une grande diversité se dessine alors en fonction de la structuration économique et juridique des activités, de la nature des projets et des ressources partagées, ainsi que des règles mises en place.La seconde phase a consisté à l'implémentation d’une recherche-action en immersion sur l’étude de cas (Camargue). Le suivi de la phase d'émergence et de la structuration du groupe deproduceur.rice.s a permis d'explorer les espaces "hybrides" entre l'individu et le groupe afin d’identifier les points saillants de la construction du fonctionnement collectif. Ce suivi dans une perspective dynamique permet de consolider les apports des défis auxquels sont confrontés les collectifs s’installant ensemble, dans l'objectif d'en dégager des pistes pour l'accompagnement. Ces deux premières phases de travail ont permis d'aboutir à un cadre d'analyse de cette agriculture collective, mobilisant le formalisme AGR (Agent-Groupe-Rôle) associé au langage UML (Unified Modeling Language). Nous pouvons représenter l’interdépendance des membres du collectif à travers leur rôle ainsi que la structure organisationnelle générale de la ferme. Ce cadre pourrait, dans un second temps, être mobilisé dans des démarches d’accompagnement avec pour objectif de faciliter les échanges et le partage de points de vue entre les membres d’un collectif.Enfin, nous proposons d’aborder les défis relatifs à l’articulation des activités, à travers le couplage de l’analyse des flux de matière et de l’organisation du travail dans des scénarios d’évolution du système agricole. Intégré dans une démarche participative, cela répond à des enjeux théoriques, mais également à des enjeux opérationnels rencontrés sur notre étude de cas (Camargue). Ces apports spécifiques permettent ainsi de mieux saisir la complexité d’articulation entre l’organisation collective de la production et l’articulation des activités pouvant aboutir à différents niveaux de performances agroécologiques à l’échelle du système.L’apport de cette thèse, principalement d’ordre méthodologique, a permis de proposer une démarche d’accompagnement pour appuyer l’opérationnalisation des projets collectifs. Ce travail invite à poursuivre la caractérisation de la diversité de ces initiatives, et l’élaboration d’outils pour accompagner les collectifs dans l’opérationnalisation de leurs projets.
... Both criteria are satisfactorily met if the biogeochemical cycles are completed at a landscape scale and it is not necessary to use external inputs, maintaining the market's autonomy and independence. Market autonomy and independence are also key factors to recover agroecosystems' economic viability (Ploeg et al., 2019). ...
... Agroecology's understanding of economic viability is not limited to employment or higher agricultural-product prices: farmers and peasants should receive a level of income high enough to enable them to live with dignity and to meet -according to the country -an average family's expenses (Ploeg et al., 2019;González de Molina et al., 2019). This implies challenging the industrial agricultural production model, which does not provide sufficient income, destroys jobs, eliminates the peasants themselves, or subordinates them to the logic of large food corporations, turning them into a source of capital accumulation and cheap raw materials. ...
... Our findings confirm the role of changes in agricultural income on pesticide use in the long run, a result that is partly in line with that of Wyckhuys et al. [74], who validated this impact for countries with advanced technologies in the agricultural sector as a result of public health risks, loss of ecological resilience, loss of farm profits, and energy consumption [74][75][76][77][78][79]. ...
... The most significant are the national action plans (NAP) aiming to establish quantitative objectives, measures, and timeframes to reduce the risks and impacts of pesticide use on human health and the environment, and to encourage the development and introduction of integrated pest management and of alternative approaches or techniques in order to reduce the dependency on and the risks posed by the use of plant-protection products. Implementing a national plant-protection program to reduce pesticide use in agriculture will require the combined education of farmers and the public, while all governments should modify their current policies, such as commodity and price-support programs, as well as all other measures that may well dissuade farmers from employing crop rotation and other sound agricultural practices [74][75][76][77][78][79]. As mentioned above, the measures taken do not always solve the problems and, to the contrary, can increase the incidence of pest problems and pesticide use (i.e., Spain and France). ...
Within the regime established by the Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticides (SUDP); the present work explores the relationship between pesticides’ agricultural use per hectare of cropland and the GDP per capita of the rural population for twenty-five EU countries to unveil the efficiency of the current EU strategy. With the econometric tool of panel nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) cointegration technique; we try to capture potential asymmetries in the agricultural use of pesticides concerning positive and negative variations in agricultural income. The findings validate the existence of a long-run relationship that supports an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC); i.e., an inverted U-shaped relationship between the variables; since increasing agricultural income is related to reductions in the use of pesticides after the turning point. Even though this result is not validated in the short run; our findings confirm the existence of a steady-state situation with asymmetric responses to pesticides. In terms of policy implications; more measures need to be taken; along with the education of farmers; aiming to enhance their consciousness towards environmental issues and; in consequence; for them to prefer environmentally friendly plant protection methods over chemical ones.
... Agroecological farming can be an economically viable option and create more employment per hectare for farmers, 66 but a broad uptake of technologies such as new crop varieties requires an enabling environment and better understanding among stakeholders. For example, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology can make crop varieties more resilient to climate impacts and pest outbreaks. ...
... iScience development and spread of evidence-based knowledge to show the economic benefits of diversification practices, strong and regular technical support also plays a crucial role in the knowledge spread of agricultural practice. 66 The availability of cheap credit, up-front costs, and appropriate equipment is helpful for farmers to remove the economic barriers. 11 Furthermore, offering long-term security about price levels is needed for increasing the incentive for farmers to adopt agroecological techniques as changes of market conditions causing income volatility. ...
The global food system must meet the increasing demand for food, fiber, and energy while reducing environmental impacts. The UN Food System Summit (UNFSS) has made a clear call to action for a global food systems transformation. We argue that three major discrepancies remain, potentially delaying the urgent implementation of the call to action. First, Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are not sufficiently focused on agriculture, leading to funding allocation issues. Second, a mismatch of agroecology with technology innovations may slow scaling agroecological farming. Lastly, agricultural diversification must move beyond organic landscapes and into conventional agriculture. As a solution, principles of NbS should be clear on agricultural integration. Moreover, stakeholder awareness must increase that agroecology does not necessarily conflict with agricultural technologies. Future agricultural models must apply measures such as agricultural diversification in conjunction with technology innovations to then ascertain an overall timely and successful implementation of the UNFSS call to action.
... Those systems enable, for example, the use of livestock waste to fertilize crops, basing animal feed on crops, and so on (Bonaudo et al. 2014;Lurette et al. 2020). The integration of a variety of production activities at the farm level (Rufino et al. 2009a) appears to be a potential means of enhancing the internal resources of a farming system while limiting dependence on external resources (Van Der Ploeg et al. 2019). Crop-livestock integration (CLI) refers to a set of practices at the farm level allowing exchanges of resources between crops and livestock, offering farming systems the potential to be sustainable (Sumberg et al. 2003). ...
... However, substituting external resources for internal ones, managing resource exchanges within a farm, and fostering synergies between production units require very specific types of expertise, and place work and the workforce at the heart of the challenges involved in managing these processes (Stark et al. 2018;Van Der Ploeg et al. 2019). As the implementation of agroecological practices impact working conditions (Dumont and Baret 2017;Duval et al. 2021), the analysis of working conditions is essential to support transition processes in agricultural systems (Fanchone et al. 2022). ...
New models of collective agriculture have been developing in France over the past 10 years that could encourage the emergence of more diversified and sustainable systems. However, as such production systems are relatively more complex to manage, the involvement of more people may be required. This raises renewed questions concerning the collective organization of work. Our study’s main hypothesis is that the collective organization of work could encourage crop-livestock integration and underlying agroecological processes. To test this hypothesis, we implemented a participatory design approach in a case study in Camargue (France). We first used ecological network analysis to characterize flows of material between production units and assess associated biotechnical performances, namely, efficiency, resilience, productivity, and dependence. In a second step, we drew from the QuaeWork method, which we adapted to the study of collective farms, to characterize the organizational dimension. These two methods allowed us to generate quantitative indicators related to the performance of the system (expressed in kgN.ha−1.yr−1) and to calculate and estimate the time spent on various types of work (h.yr−1). Using a participatory design approach, we then developed and assessed three scenarios with varying levels of integration between activities. The results indicate that the gradual substitution of external resources by internal resources leads to a broader range of flows within the system, generating performances that vary depending on the scenario. The design of the scenarios revealed the repercussions of the organization of work within production units. The two most integrated scenarios are more efficient and resilient than the scenario without integration between units, but they are less productive. Our research contributes novel insights into the impact of agroecological practices on the organization of work on collective farms. Our findings enable a deeper understanding of the complex link between the collective organization of production and the articulation of activities.
... In this principle, it is important to enhance producers' capacity for fodder production and cost reduction and to develop new approaches that may help reduce waste and pollution (61) . It should be noted that grazing forage replaces the use of preserved fodder, expensive or imported grains, lowering input costs (57) . ...
... There is great consumer interest in agro-organic milk and meat produced without the use of antibiotics or hormones. Therefore, it is important to develop collaborative alliances for the commercialization of the products and to promote the labor process in an artisanal manner (57,61) . ...
... In this principle, it is important to enhance producers' capacity for fodder production and cost reduction and to develop new approaches that may help reduce waste and pollution (61) . It should be noted that grazing forage replaces the use of preserved fodder, expensive or imported grains, lowering input costs (57) . ...
... There is great consumer interest in agro-organic milk and meat produced without the use of antibiotics or hormones. Therefore, it is important to develop collaborative alliances for the commercialization of the products and to promote the labor process in an artisanal manner (57,61) . ...
The development of the livestock sector is affected by environmental, economic, food, energy, sanitary, and migratory crises, all of which have an impact on people's food and health. These crises force producers to reflect and rethink the livestock breeding practices they apply within the sociocultural, environmental, economic, and political context. Sustainable cattle ranching makes it possible to face these crises by applying agroecological practice. The objective of this review is to analyze the agroecological principles and practices that promote a transition toward sustainability in the cattle sector. Both the impact of the civilization crisis on cattle raising and the perspectives and scope of agroecology were discussed with the aim of identifying the contributions of this discipline to the production of good-quality milk and meat accessible to society. It was concluded that agroecological principles and practices are universal and can be applied to cattle ranching in order to achieve sustainable production systems. These principles and practices can be adapted to climate zones and reduce the impact that the civilization crisis has generated in cattle raising. These principles and practices should be applied according to the level, quantity, and quality of the resources of each dimension. The analyzed initiatives show that meat and milk are produced with the lowest possible inputs, a low environmental impact, and the formation of organized communities. Finally, their proper application depends to a large extent on the willingness, motivation, and empowerment of the producers.
... En este principio es importante impulsar la capacidad de los productores para la producción de forraje y reducción de costos, y desarrollar nuevos enfoques que ayuden a reducir su desperdicio y contaminación (61) . Cabe señalar que el forraje de pastoreo reemplaza el uso de forrajes conservados, granos costosos o importados, disminuyendo los costos de los insumos (57) . ...
... Existe un gran interés de los consumidores sobre la leche y carne agroecológica producidos sin el uso de antibióticos y hormonas. Por lo tanto, es importante desarrollar alianzas colaborativas para la comercialización de los productos y fomentar el proceso laboral de manera artesanal (57,61) . ...
El desarrollo del sector ganadero bovino es afectado por múltiples crisis como la ambiental, económica, alimentaria, energética, sanitaria y migratoria, que impactan en la alimentación y la salud de las personas. Estas crisis obligan a las y los productores a reflexionar y repensar sobre las prácticas ganaderas que aplican en el contexto sociocultural, ambiental, económico y político. La ganadería bovina sostenible, permite enfrentar estas crisis mediante la aplicación de prácticas agroecológicas. El objetivo de esta revisión es analizar los principios y prácticas agroecológicas que promueven una transición hacia la sostenibilidad del sector ganadero bovino, a través de un análisis bibliográfico se discutió el impacto de la crisis civilizatoria en la ganadería bovina, así como las perspectivas de la agroecología y sus alcances, esto con la finalidad de identificar sus contribuciones para alcanzar una producción de leche y carne accesible y de calidad para la sociedad. Se concluye que los principios y prácticas agroecológicas son universales y pueden ser aplicados a la ganadería bovina para transitar a sistemas de producción sustentable. Estos principios y prácticas pueden adaptarse a zonas climáticas y reducir el impacto que la crisis civilizatoria ha generado en la ganadería bovina. La aplicación de dichos principios y prácticas debe ser de acuerdo al nivel, cantidad y calidad de los recursos de cada dimensión. Las iniciativas analizadas muestran que los niveles de producción de carne y leche son llevados a cabo con el menor número de insumos posible, un bajo impacto al medio ambiente y con la formación de comunidades organizadas. Finalmente, su aplicación apropiada depende en mayor medida de la disposición, motivación y el empoderamiento de las y los productores.
... However, the non-recognition of popular, rural symbolic frameworks has appeared in our research as another reason for this divergence. Framing transitions in more gradual terms-as done by the proto-agroecological farmers portrayed by Ploeg et al. [50]-and linking them to narratives adapted to the symbolic universes of current, differentiated rural identities can be a useful way to build symbolic contexts that are both favorable to agroecological transitions and inclusive of conventional farmers. However, this does not necessarily lead to transformative transitions [4]. ...
... If many farmers feel they are in crisis, and agroecology is to be a real alternative for the survival of small-and medium-sized family-farms [50], the discussion on agroecology scaling needs to focus on those farmers who are not yet agroecological [23]. Messages need to demonstrate acceptance of current rural cultures and identities, recognizing their value and suitability in the current world in which they are subsumed to capitalist modes of agriculture, and to put in value the alternative practices that many farmers are already developing, whether they are "(new)peasant", "proto-agroecological" or "quiet food sovereignty". ...
Scientific debates on agroecology highlight the relevance of appropriate narratives as a means to widen and amplify agroecological transitions in the material world. However, it is actually far-right discourses—often linked to populist political proposals—which, though not majoritarian, are reaching broad and growing diffusion among both rural communities and farmers. Research focusing on the symbolic mechanisms around food systems’ transitions are scarce. In order to address this gap, an exploratory research project was developed to identify responses to different messages and audiovisual languages favorable to agroecological transitions, through the dissemination of three brief audiovisual pieces among specific socio-professional profiles linked to food systems, together with an online survey. The results obtained (n = 524) show significant differences in the responses to open questions collected, regarding socio-economic diversity expressed in the axes male/female, urban/rural, farmer/not farmer and organic/conventional farming. Responses from conventional farmers express a need for developing a “politics of recognition” and repair that would acknowledge the unfair, subordinated role that farmers and rural communities feel in the current globalized food system. The paper shows the need for further empirical research on the issue, covering different territories and socio-economic and cultural profiles, in order to fully understand the symbolic mechanisms underlying material, agroecological transitions.
... Os recursos internos podem ser classificados como rendas monetárias e não monetárias. Enquanto a primeira resulta do incremento do valor agregado (descrito adiante), a renda não monetária é gerada pela reprodução técnica dos agroecossistemas pela prática agroflorestal destinada à coprodução (PLOEG et al., 2019) Nos sistemas agroflorestais, a soberania alimentar é uma das bases para a autonomia dos agroecossistemas. A soberania alimentar é definida por Altieri (2010, p. 24) como "o direito da cada nação ou região a manter e desenvolver sua capacidade de produzir colheitas de alimentos básicos com a diversidade de cultivos correspondente''. ...
... Os sistemas agroflorestais são reconhecidos pela otimização e eficiência do uso do espaço, com a combinação de diferentes tipos de cultivo e animais com espécies arbóreas, visando eliminar a 198 SISTEMA AGROFLORESTAL E AUTONOMIA: UMA REVISÃO SISTEMÁTICA competitividade por recursos através de interações complementares entre eles (ALTIERI, 2009). As relações competitivas são substituídas por interações positivas com uma melhor retenção de energia e a diminuição da entropia dentro dos agroecossistemas(PLOEG et al., 2019). Nesse sentido, a diminuição do uso de insumos externos está atrelada ao aumento da eficiência dos processos internos, ou seja, às inter-relações entre diversas espécies desempenhando suas respectivas funções para aprimorar e revigorar os agroecossistemas.Além do foco nas relações internas entre as formas de vida dos SAFs, a possibilidade de troca entre agricultores, principalmente na escala local, também influencia na autonomia. ...
... According to these analyses and results, a sustainable way out of the energy trap of industrial agriculture will be to manage agroecosystems so that farmers reinvest once more in the internal cycles of nature. These cycles integrate the living funds of agroecosystems in a more circular biophysical turnover capable to upgrade their energy efficiency, reduce GHG emissions, improve soil fertility and carbon sequestration, prevent water pollution, and keep the supporting and regulating ecosystem services that biodiversity provides (Dainese et al. 2019;Van der Ploeg et al. 2019;Migliorini and Wezel 2017). The agroecological multi-EROI energy analysis applied in this study is a contribution to this task. ...
Early energy analyses of agriculture revealed that behind higher labor and land productivity of industrial farming, there was a decrease in energy returns on energy (EROI) invested, in comparison to more traditional organic agricultural systems. Studies on recent trends show that efficiency gains in production and use of inputs have again somewhat improved energy returns. However, most of these agricultural energy studies have focused only on external inputs at the crop level, concealing the important role of internal biomass flows that livestock and forestry recirculate within agroecosystems. Here, we synthesize the results of 82 farm systems in North America and Europe from 1830 to 2012 that for the first time show the changing energy profiles of agroecosystems, including livestock and forestry, with a multi-EROI approach that accounts for the energy returns on external inputs, on internal biomass reuses, and on all inputs invested. With this historical circular bioeconomic approach, we found a general trend towards much lower external returns, little or no increases in internal returns, and almost no improvement in total returns. This “energy trap” was driven by shifts towards a growing dependence of crop production on fossil-fueled external inputs, much more intensive livestock production based on feed grains, less forestry, and a structural disintegration of agroecosystem components by increasingly linear industrial farm managements. We conclude that overcoming the energy trap requires nature-based solutions to reduce current dependence on fossil-fueled external industrial inputs and increase the circularity and complexity of agroecosystems to provide healthier diets with less animal products.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13593-023-00925-5.
... Inputs This is called fixed input. This fixed input is usually in the form of capital such as factories, machinery, equipment, and land (van der Ploeg et al., 2019). Capital in this period amount fixed and does not affect the amount of production output. ...
The general objective of this research is the existence of targeted strategies and policies related to efforts to increase competitiveness so that lontong craftsmen, especially Kampung Lontong MSEs in Kupang Krajan Surabaya, are able to compete and enter the Surabaya City culinary industry supply chain so as to increase economic growth in Surabaya City.In this study, the Asset-Process-Performance (APP) approach is used as the basis for developing a conceptual framework. The APP approach emerged as an idea that integrates various resources which then undergo a process and then produce performance as a unified measure of competitiveness (Momaya, 1998; Shee, 2002).The research method used is descriptive research using a survey. Descriptive research can be interpreted as a process of solving the problem being investigated by describing the state of the subjects and objects of research at the present time based on the facts that appear or how they are.The population in this study were all lontong craftsmen in Kampung Lontong RW 6 Kupang Krajan Village, namely 30 craftsmen and 17 people who were willing and able to be interviewed.The results showed that to increase competitiveness in terms of Assets is the need for training for entrepreneurs to increase their competence by mastering financial management and human resource management, while in terms of Process is to collaborate with academics in utilizing the results of research and development in orderly administration of human resources and organization even though the scale of business is still MSEs, include themselves and their employees when there is training and improve the ability to cooperate with lontong entrepreneurs in the fulfillment of material supply and marketing, finally in terms of Performance is the need for integration of the role of entrepreneurs, government and academics in research and development of technological innovation and new products.
... Given the potential contribution that small farms can make towards creating virtuous pathways to multifunctional agriculture [1,19], the systemic perspective must be privileged [4] through a functional repositioning of extension services to better integrate the different functions at farm level. This draws attention to the pervasiveness and effectiveness of knowledge/innovation systems and suggests a rethinking of the role of advisory services in the normative framework of agriculture designed by the new European agricultural model [20]. In 2012, the EU SCAR report [6] identified advisory services as "currently unable to absorb and internalize the fundamental structural and systemic shifts that have occurred" and "locked into old paradigms based on linear approaches and conventional assumptions". ...
Entrepreneurial contexts may be marked by the presence of a 'cultural environment' that stimulates knowledge and innovation adoption, while other contexts may act as barriers toward change and innovation. Moreover, multiple paths of multifunctional agriculture bring about a call for "multifunctional farm advisory services" (MFAS), which consider both private and public goods provided by the farming sector. Set against the background of multiple roles of agriculture, how to identify sound and pertinent knowledge becomes of paramount, to specify the roles of agricultural extensionists and the mechanisms of governance of MFAS within the setting up of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS). Our aim of the study is either to analyze attitudes toward the privatization of extension services within a predominantly public system of regional governance and to identify advisors' profile and their suitability with the modern vision of multifunctional agriculture through the emergence of MFAS. Empirical analysis evidences the presence of a diversified set of advisory services with different degrees of coherence with the multifunctional agricultural model. Also, the more advisory services are oriented towards empowering multifunctional agriculture the less the propensity towards their privatization. The cluster analysis has demonstrated a relatively good advisor's capability to deal with the new demands of multifunctional agriculture. The idea of MFAS has important theoretical implications that the paper tries to excavate through the analysis of the mechanisms of governance (public/private) and the identification of the advisors' profile facing the growing complexity of the farming sector, grounded on multifunctional agriculture. The study tries to fill a gap in the literature, by providing an original contribution to modeling the profile of advisors in charge of supporting the transition towards multifunctionality.
... It was not possible to assess the impacts on producer incomes because it was not possible to calibrate production costs for both the initial situation with conventional farm practices and the final situation with agro-ecological farm practices. On this point, it is worth noting that there is no consensus on the profitability of agro-ecological vs. conventional farming 36 , with inconsistent results between, for example, on the one hand van der Ploeg et al. 37 , who concluded that agro-ecology in the EU would be more profitable than conventional agriculture (on the basis of several case studies), and on the other hand Davidova et al. 38 , who reached an opposite conclusion with lower labor returns in low-input farming systems (on the basis of FADN-Farm Accountancy Data Network-samples for different EU countries). Of course, these assessments were based on observed prices and not simulated prices. ...
The European Green Deal aims notably to achieve a fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly food system in the European Union. We develop a partial equilibrium economic model to assess the market and non-market impacts of the three main levers of the Green Deal targeting the food chain: reducing the use of chemical inputs in agriculture, decreasing post-harvest losses, and shifting toward healthier average diets containing lower quantities of animal-based products. Substantially improving the climate, biodiversity, and nutrition performance of the European food system requires jointly using the three levers. This allows a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of food consumption and a 40–50% decrease in biodiversity damage. Consumers win economically thanks to lower food expenditures. Livestock producers lose through quantity and price declines. Impacts on revenues of food/feed field crop producers are positive only when the increase in food consumption products outweighs the decrease in feed consumption.
... Based on the scientific knowledge about agroecology, the STSs to be tested on experimental olive farms have been co-defined with the farmers and are based on the use of natural resources and on closing biological cycles at the farm or local level, entailing the reduction of external inputs and the improvement in the quality and efficiency of use of internal inputs. These latter are produced and reproduced on the farm or obtained through socially regulated exchange from farmers and other actors in the food chain to foster farmers' autonomy which translates into a pillar of economic and ecological resilience (van der Ploeg et al., 2019). Increasingly, research indicates (e.g., De Luca et al. . ...
Mediterranean olive growing characterizes, identifies, and can sustain the socioeconomic viability of rural areas, not only through the production of primary products but also through the management of renewable natural resources, and the conservation of landscape and biodiversity. However, high levels of mechanization, monocultures, intensive farming techniques, and the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are threatening the environment and affecting rural communities in turn. In the last years, the agroecological discourse emerged as a transdisciplinary science merging agronomy, ecology, and socioeconomic sciences with the purpose of responding to socioeconomic and environmental concerns, responding to the globalized industrial food processing and intensive agriculture. In this context, the research project Sustainolive, guided by an international consortium of stakeholders from academia and the productive sector, has the aim of promoting sustainability in the olive oil sector through the implementation and promotion of innovative and technological solutions based on agroecological concepts. Through an innovative, transdisciplinary, and multi-actor approach, Sustainolive combines different types of knowledge (e.g., scientific, empirical, and traditional), disciplines (ranging from engineering to the humanities), and methodological approaches (e.g., Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, Social Agrarian Metabolism and multicriterial analysis tools) to provide practical solutions that address the complexity of the olive sector. The results from the application of this methodology are expected to highlight which agroecological practices are more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable and uncover how Mediterranean societies use agrarian biophysical resources.
... Researchers believe that ecological agriculture is closely related to food security and national governance [27]. Compared with conventional fossil agriculture, Agroecology increases farm income and creates more employment opportunities while helping connect agriculture downstream in the industrial chain, which creates strong links between rural areas and urban consumers [28,29]. To sum up, Agroecology enhances the resilience and sustainability of rural and agricultural areas [30][31][32]. ...
Nowadays, the challenges of energy depletion, environmental pollution and food security caused by extensive agriculture development are attracting global attention. In China, the construction of ecological farms is a key initiative to effectuate the goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions and achieving carbon neutrality, contributing to high-quality agricultural development. Based on this, this study selects the national-level ecological farms directories issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) of China in 2021 and 2022, and collects the corresponding economic, social and physical geographic data for GIS spatial analysis and Geodetector. The results are as follows: (1) The distribution of ecological farms in various provinces of China is uneven and spatially clustered. It generally presents a ‘high in the east and low in the west with concentrated cores’ pattern. The construction scope significantly expanded over time, and the high-value areas of nuclear density are concentrated in East China, with the development core transitioned from East China to Central China. (2) Environmental conditions, industrial foundation, economic and social development level, science and technology level and financial support all significantly affect the spatial distribution of ecological farms in China, among which the science and technology level has the most significant enhancement effect on other factors. (3) Environmental conditions provide the construction basis for ecological farms, while economic and social development level and financial support determine the number of ecological farms. The industrial foundation affects the scale of ecological farms in China, while the level of science and technology eliminates the restrictions of other factors to a certain extent. This study provides a reference for optimizing the spatial distribution pattern of ecological farms in China and promoting ecological agriculture. In addition, it presents a viable approach to safeguarding food security.
... Based on the demographic variables (60%) were aged between 36 -40 years (60%) were females (72%) were Hindu (32%) were illiterate and undergone primary education (48%) were daily wagers (60%) were in the income group of Rs. 20,001 -30,000, 40 (80%) had nonconsanguineous type of marriage (60%) were living in the nuclear family (38%) belong to upper middle-class family (56%) were having sedentary life style activity. [15] . Uma B.V et al. (2019) [16] conducted a comparative study to assess the level of hand grip strength and fine motor skills in 50 skilled and 50 non-skilled persons. ...
... However, even if the advantages of agroecology have already been demonstrated in numerous studies (van der Ploeg et al., 2019;Wezel et al., 2014), it remains a topic which raises many questions in terms of learning, in academic institutions. When it comes to foodrelated and agronomic purposes, students are indeed still mostly trained to be specialized in particular fields, such as biotechnology, economics, and soil sciences. ...
Facing global challenges, the currently dominating agricultural system has shown its limitation. Therefore, agroecology appears as an attractive alternative. Its implementation has been shown to benefit the environment, while harboring economic potential. For a transition towards more agroecology, this new paradigm needs to be taught to students and professionals in the agricultural sector. However, traditional learning methods are not fully adapted to teach these concepts because of the poor interactivity and/or lack of interdisciplinarity. To help teach agroecology, the “SErious Game for AgroEcology” (SEGAE) was developed. SEGAE is a simulated mixed crop–livestock farm complex models in which players can learn by doing. To access SEGAE pedagogical interest, university students, coming from four specializations (Agronomy; Chemistry; Environment and Forest) participated to a theoretical class which was tighted to a play session of the game. The students then answered a knowledge survey on agroecology and a feedback survey based on flow theory. Results showed that students did significantly increase their knowledge of agroecology. Morevoer, a large majority of students enjoyed the game (83%) and thought playing this game increased their knowledge (91%).
... Biodiversity provides a buffering and stabilizing insurance effect against environmental changes, leads to yield stability, and contributes to a stable food supply [95]. Furthermore, research shows that higher crop diversity supports more agricultural employment [96]; provides continuity in agricultural yield [97]; increases in crop yield, pollinators, yield stability, nutrient recycling and uptake, and weed and pest suppression [98]; enhances farm income [99]; encourages optimal levels in wildlife for ensuring basic natural processes [18]; and promotes and stabilizes ecosystem services [83]. Diverse agroecological systems are generally more resilient [18]; improve soil health [100]; contribute more to ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, and food security [101]; reduce environmental and human exposure to pesticides and chemicals [102]; enhance yield stability and food security [103]; and play an important role in meeting health and nutrition goals [104]. ...
Feeding the world depends on protecting our valuable ecosystems and biodiversity. Currently, increasing public awareness of the problems posed by the current industrialized food system has resulted in increased support for the creative market for economically, socially, and ecologically sustainable food production systems and enhanced demands for variations in agricultural policies and regulations. In food production, the restoration and protection of ecosystems and sustainable food systems must be given priority, which requires a forward-looking rational management strategy and fundamental changes in patterns and practices of economic development, product, and production. Food systems should be redesigned to have a neutral and positive environmental impact, as well as ensure healthy nutrition and food safety, and low environmental impact strategies should become a priority. This review paper aims to discuss, build, guide and evaluate sustainable food systems, principles, and transition strategies such as agroecological, organic, biodynamic, regenerative, urban, and precision agriculture, which are imperative visions for the management of agriculture and food production. To this end, we analyzed the evolution of the established strategies to develop sustainable agriculture and food systems, and we created assessment of key sustainability issues related to food, environment, climate, and rural development priorities and resource use practices.
... Sicilian successors engage in agro-ecology to deal with the more relevant problem they have to face-that is, the takeover of farms that are already structured by past generations, a crop-specific land, with often dispersed and fragmented agricultural units. Although organic conversion represents the initial major change to the farm system, the most relevant step in setting new trajectories is the practice of polyculture, including multiple cropping, one of the many forms of agricultural practices in which agroecology is rooted [44,45]. Working with a mixture of plants and different cultivars in the same field, based on the size and location of the farm units, allows farmers to diversify the range of agricultural production (olive, grain, vegetables) in order to increase profitability. ...
Rural regeneration is a transformative process that can be based on multiple possible pathways that are not always clearly distinct and that can be combined or co-exist. We argue that regeneration can be understood as a new framework for socio-natural relations. This paper aims at demonstrating that the combination of agroecology and strong multifunctional agriculture play a central role in re-producing the conditions of socio-ecological wellbeing. The study uses data collected through a qualitative methodology. Two case studies were executed in two Southern Italian regions: the first on farm successors in Sicily and the second on new entrants to farming in Apulia. In total, 41 in depth-interviews, two focus groups, and two restitution meetings were conducted. Findings suggest that agroecology and strong multifunctionality are innovative approaches to farming, allowing new farmers to deal with social, environmental, and economic production challenges, spreading benefits to the rural areas where they operate. The conclusion highlights that policies need to be more effective to support these processes.
... Agroecology not only allows for more sustainable production of healthier food but also considerably improves farmers' incomes. It equally carries the promise of re-enlarging productive agricultural (and related) employment and increasing the total income generated by the agricultural sector, at both regional and national levels (van der Ploeg et al., 2019). ...
This paper presents the potential of marginal lands for food security and poverty reduction through sustainable and regenerative agriculture. It presents the outcome of a systematic review on the multidimensional and complex nature of marginality and the factors that drive or characterize marginality in the broader context. The aim of the paper is to draw a working definition for agricultural environments that are considered as marginal in the context of a given agricultural economy and use it to identify the extent of global and regional marginal areas and its hotspots. Moreover, the paper attempts to explore the combinations of underlying causes of agricultural marginality and proximate factors that correlate with marginality as well as opportunities and barriers faced by the rural poor living.
This comprehensive study conducted in Wayanad, Kerala, India, explores sustainable traditional farming practices in rural tribal households, with a primary goal of boosting income growth and agricultural productivity. The research delves into the intricate relationship between agricultural methods, income distribution, and ecological factors across household income brackets. Descriptive statistics provide a contextual understanding, while regression analysis offers insights into the relationships between Income and Agricultural Practices. The study assesses the impact of various traditional methods on agriculture, investigates the profitability and practices associated with organic, artificial, and mixed farming, and observes that mixed farming methods are more profitable than relying solely on natural practices, with income levels influencing the adoption of advanced farming technologies. The research explores the correlation between combining animal husbandry and agriculture in households, revealing an association with increased profit margins. Emphasizing the importance of sustainable agricultural practices, the study shows a preference for traditional farming techniques in the low-income bracket and a shift towards artificial methods as income rises. The research offers valuable insights into income, farming practices, and sustainability in this context.
Este documento es el resultado del grupo de trabajo sobre producción agraria y conservación de la naturaleza creado en el marco de las VIII Jornadas Estatales de Custodia del Territorio. En él se encuentra un diagnóstico de la situación y se realizan una serie de propuestas de trabajo. Asimismo, se incluyen, como anexos, legislación y herramientas de trabajo de interés, y un conjunto de casos prácticos.
Supporting food security while maintaining ecosystem sustainability is one of the most important global challenges for humanity. Optimization of cropping systems is expected to promote the ecosystem services of agroecosystems. Yet, how and why cropping system influences the trade‐offs between economic profitability and multiple ecosystem services remain poorly understood.
We investigate the influence of six cropping systems on trade‐offs between economic profitability and multiple ecosystem services after considering 36 agricultural ecosystem properties using field experiment data from 2020 to 2022.
We show that designing cropping system is a critical tool to closing the gap between ecosystem sustainability and commercial profitability. Cropping system with three harvests within 2 yr had higher performance in overall ecosystem multiple services through enhancement of supporting, regulating, and economic performance without compromising provisioning compared with four other systems. These systems diminished the trade‐off among multiple services, resulting in a ‘win‐win’ situation for economics and multiple services. By contrast, the monoculture and double cropping systems lead to a strong trade‐off between pairwise services including ecosystem health and profitability.
Our work illustrates the substantial potential of rotation systems with three harvests within 2 yr in enforcing ecosystem services and closing the trade‐offs among multiple agricultural ecosystem services.
Agrochemicals applied to control agricultural pests and disease vectors continuously pose substantial risks to human health, biodiversity and the environment. Due to a lack of awareness, training and proper expertise for utilizing agrochemicals, it is particularly challenging to map their entry and determine their mechanistic influence on human health, biodiversity or the environment holistically, especially in developing countries. Nonetheless, the intensity and duration of pesticide exposure, the types of agrochemicals employed (in terms of toxicity and persistence) and the diverse environmental conditions prevailing at certain locations are known to pose additional risks for acute and chronic poisoning of the environment and human health. Moreover, due to insufficient regulation and preventative procedures, users and consumers of agrochemicals in developing countries are susceptible to agrochemical-related health issues. This chapter highlights the potentially dangerous effects of agrochemical exposure, including cancer, neurological diseases, reproductive and other health-related issues, and environmental dangers as well as existing policy gaps vital to mitigate their effects through sustainable management approaches.KeywordsAgrochemicalsEnvironmental health impactHuman health impactPolicy gapSustainable managementBiodiversity loss
A global-level quantitative synthesis fills current knowledge gaps on the potential effects of agricultural diversification on ecosystem services and the socioeconomic benefits of rice.
The COVID-19 crisis has revealed the benefits of rural living and underlined the importance of strengthening local food systems and empowering family farming and women farmers given the crucial role they play in multifunctional agriculture, climate resilience, and recovery from the pandemic. Multifunctional agriculture is an effective framework for a set of business models that integrate economic, environmental, and socio-cultural impacts of agriculture and food production on sustainable rural development. Innovative business models in multifunctional agriculture give new opportunities for women farmers only if they enjoy gender equality and have access to work-life balance services. This chapter per the authors analyzes women entrepreneurship in Serbian agriculture using business model canvas analysis of a case study farm from the Homolje area (East Serbia). Research results, solutions, and recommendations aim to raise awareness of the role of women's multifunctional entrepreneurship and collaborative business strategies in rural revival within the new normal paradigm.
Citrus crop management has evolved to improve the quality of orchards and production, encompassing agroforestry and agroecological management practices. We sought to analyze different management systems in different seasons of the year, evaluating the quality of the soil physical, chemicals and biological properties, and the herbaceous vegetation occurring in citrus orchards. Five sites were studied: citrus in agroforestry and biodynamic systems (Cs), citrus in biodynamic systems (Co), citrus in conventional systems (Cc), and two forest sites, one with 40 (F40) and another with 200 years of regeneration (F200). Soil properties were evaluated in three layers (0–5, 5–20, and 20–40 cm) in four seasons, while the herbaceous survey was carried out in two of these seasons. The results showed that the Co and Cs orchards had better indicators in terms of chemical (pH, phosphorus, cation exchange capacity, and soil organic carbon (SOC)), physical (soil density, total porosity, and macro- and microporosity), and biological properties (global enzymatic activity) than the Cc management. The agroforestry management was even superior in soil quality, with improved pH levels, microporosity, and feeding behavior of the soil fauna. The most evident temporal variations were for pH, SOC, global enzymatic activity, and feeding activity of the soil fauna. The Cs and Co orchards showed greater richness and abundance of herbaceous species. Organic management favors a timely coverage of multiple benefits, with the presence of the Commoliaceae and Fabaceae families, and offering an ecological effect and green manure of high ecosystem value. In conclusion, agroforestry and biodynamic management systems are the best options to maintain soil quality and functioning for citrus production.
Os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS), para além das metas e ações, propõe a reflexão sobre a maneira como o mundo produz e consome alimentos. Tais questionamentos incentivam os sistemas agroalimentares resilientes sendo a agroecologia a alternativa viável para a concretização das metas propostas. Desta forma, o artigo tem como objetivo discutir sobre tais interseções mostrando que ações simples como a valorização dos produtos locais, como proposto pelo Slow Food, podem fortalecer as relações e redes em torno do alimento promovendo a segurança alimentar, a preservação dos saberes, práticas, tradições e biodiversidade, bem como a concepção de pertencimento, a melhoria da qualidade de vida, o desenvolvimento sustentável e a governança local.
Assessing the conditions and performance of agroecological transitions in different contexts is key to supporting these transitions. However, assessing agroecological transitions presents methodological challenges, including: 1) being adaptable to local conditions, 2) consideration of social interactions among stakeholders involved in transitions, 3) clarifying the concept of agroecology, 4) consideration of the temporal dynamics of the transitions to better understand barriers and levers in their development, and 5) using a participatory bottom-up approach. The objective of this research was to design a method that provided evidence on 1) the barriers and levers in the development of agroecological transitions, and 2) their performance related to four dimensions: techno-economic issues, agroecosystem health, quality of life and resilience. To design, test and adapt such a method, while also involving end-users, we adopted a co-design approach based on prototyping. The co-design approach unfolded in nine stages alternating research work and co-design with end-users. The prototype was built on the approaches of existing published methods covering the five challenges for assessing agroecological transitions. It consisted of a four chronological step assessment method. The first three steps consisted of framing the assessment, with the final step a multidimensional performance assessment, using an initial set of 73 indicators to cover the four dimensions. The prototype was then tested and adapted in the village of Sare Boubou, Senegal, which is going through an agroecological transition supported by a non-governmental organization. Changes during the testing and adaptation phase affected three steps of the prototype and allowed the initial prototype to adapt to the case study’s specificities, related to its scale and context. Context-related changes particularly affected the performance assessment, with a total of 31 indicators changed. The analysis of barriers and levers revealed that the transition began 29 years ago, achieved a fair level of advancement and yet was still ongoing. Results revealed heterogeneity between the nine households of the village in terms of: uptake of agroecological practices, household resources, diversification of activities, coverage of food needs through production and level of sales. This heterogeneity explained the large variability in household multidimensional performances across all dimensions. Large disparities were also noticeable at the individual level between men, women and young men in the village regarding the level of education, empowerment and participation in knowledge sharing networks. Despite a method seen as time-consuming and data intensive, end-user validation acknowledged the comprehensiveness of the method and its usefulness for steering and managing agroecological transitions, making it possible to identify levers for action at different scales.
Agroecology is often considered as the ultimate and most comprehensive solution to the many challenges of the agricultural and food system, also referred to as the agri-food system. This review investigates to what extent agroecology can become the mainstream model for transforming agriculture toward more sustainable and resilient agri-food systems within the given economic and political context. We find that enhancing agroecology will require a fully integrated multiscale systems approach from farm to region to globe. The approach must consider relevant processes and relationships, actors and stakeholders as well as drivers, sustainability indicators, and the respective assessment methods across all scales. Giving specific attention to drivers related to economy, technology, and policy we point out that agroecology needs to be economically viable for farmers and other food system actors. In particular, new and emerging technologies related to digitalization and breeding should be given more consideration in agroecological transformation. We stress the need for an analytical and operational framework and adequate multiscale policy design and suggest six areas of needed attention to support the large-scale adoption of agroecology.
Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 15 is October 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Danish and European farming increasingly depends on external investments due to a surge in farmland prices, capital intensive production facilities and structural development. In response, the land market has been deregulated giving external investors access to ownership of Danish farmland. Based on farming systems theory, this article explores the impacts of this policy reform. We identify four emerging investment rationales: 1) family business, 2) investment object, 3) social and ecological finance and 4) value-chain cooperation. We argue that the emergence of these new investment rationales reflects a fundamental change in financial conditions; today investors are more involved in asset management and use a range of new devises, such as benchmarking tools, farm advisory boards and contracts, to observe the performance of farming systems and to allocate funding. However, changing conditions are also the result of an evolving agri-food sector, which has deliberately pursued a growth strategy characterised by capital intensive mergers and expansion, financed by external investments. For agri-food studies this implies that the boundaries of farming systems are broadened and the individual farmer cannot be the sole entrance to the analysis, but this financialization constitute a new reality that increasingly need to be considered.
The efforts of agroecology-oriented farmers and peasants’ organizations have been studied in depth in relation to their political expression, but less so with regard to the forms they adopt to strengthen the socio-economic viability of small- and medium-sized farms within sustainable food systems. Whilst farmers’ self-organization represents a core process in the development of Agroecology-based Local Agri-food Systems (ALAS), the development of collective, economic structures among agroecology-oriented farmers’ is still weak. In an attempt to understand why and how agroecology-oriented farmers are constructing their own position within ALAS, and the challenges they are facing in this sense, we conducted a qualitative study on the self-organizational processes and structures of five Agroecology-Oriented Farmers’ Groups in Spain. Based on 27 interviews and six online, participatory workshops, our results reveal different reasons for joining and setting up farmers’ groups as non-mixed collective spaces, with instrumental and social factors constituting the principal motivations. Politics and advocacy aroused controversy and were only observed in the biggest, most powerful and well-structured organizations. The main challenges identified refer to the precariousness and isolation of farmers, as well as of the different local groups. The weakness of the Agroecology-Oriented Farmers’ Groups highlights the need for further action-oriented research and accompaniment
Com o objetivo de discutir os Sistemas Participativos de Certificação (SPC) como fator de inovação social e ecoinovação, entendendo as limitações burocráticas e propondo processos alternativos de certificação, cujas tessituras operam em relações que dizem respeito às territorialidades, saberes e práticas em jogo na configuração de discursos, o ensaio apresenta uma análise da estrutura de governança territorial, no contexto das certificações agroecológicas, notadamente no que tange à participação efetiva dos agricultores no processo de controle social. Dentro do bojo de discussões, temas como agroecologia, redes, organização social, governança territorial e certificações agroecológicas articulam-se promovendo a salvaguarda do patrimônio biocultural e, ao mesmo tempo, como um instrumento de inovação social e ecoinovação. A contemporaneidade do assunto advém do controle social como processo político e coletivo, que respeita as territorialidades e, concomitantemente, num círculo virtuoso, propicia a garantia necessária para corroborar a legalidade, rastreabilidade e transparência dos produtos ofertados e certificados como sendo, de fato, originários em base agroecológica.
This investigation aims to map agroecological producers, initiatives and research institutions in Malta, while gauging the development of agroecology as a system of principles with dedicated institutions. The data was collected through interviews both in person (farmers, shop owner) and online.
While the interviews revealed a poor awareness of agroecology as a term, there was a keen interest in the
principles that are central to it as a practice. While almost all participants were organic farmers, shops or
NGOs, and identified strongly with the organic sector, they were often keen to stress that their practices
went beyond the rigid regulations and obligations imposed by the process of certification, and were strongly
beholden to the environment and their communities.
Currently, Maltese farming is declining, due to an aging population, a dearth of youths (the participants in this
study are an exception), and to the fact that land has a high opportunity cost as recreational or developable
land. Maltese agriculture remains traditional, with small family farms that are usually fragmented between
various heirs. Further, drought and increasing pests are also compounding pressure on farmers, while imports
are pushing prices down, creating less economic viability for farmers. While organic farmers are still few in
number, they exert a disproportionate influence on agricultural debates and the consciousness of farmers
as a whole, creating a new generation of youths in the industry that is slowly changing the perception of
the sector in many ways.
The principles of agroecology were first introduced into Maltese agriculture by a number of farmers who
began experimenting with organic practices. These individuals formed the Malta Organic Agricultural
Movement, and in subsequent years (particularly after EU accession), other NGOs (mostly from environmental
backgrounds) have focused on such sustainable farming principles. However, the market demand for
sustainable farming products is still low, and while the government has responded to the increasing
awareness of organic products, transforming its share in the market is a slow process. Maltese farmers also
face structural challenges relating to planning and regulation. While various spaces and movements have
brought organic farmers together, there is a lack of effort to speak with one, unified voice.
Educational programmes focusing on agroecology are scant and no living labs have been established in
Malta thus far. Nevertheless, there is academic interest in conducting research on the topic, and at least
one institute has a specific focus on bridging agriculture with environmental conservation.
Most of the initiatives surveyed in this study are of a commercial, primarily individual, nature. However, there
is evidence that those involved are committed to the principles that animate their practices - principles
which are in turn deeply committed to environmental and social responsibility. Shared spaces are emerging
in which farmers co-act and cooperate with other farmers, activists, and consumers. Lastly, there is a lack
of strong institutional frameworks that recognise, support and provide required incentives for the unique
opportunity of organic agriculture in Malta. According to interviewees, such institutional support and
recognition is needed to increase the number of grassroots initiatives that bring people back to the land.
This chapter on Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of a two-volume book which unveils and maps the most recent developments in agroecology across Europe, and which also showcases important initiatives. As of 2023, there are currently very few publications on agroecology in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it is our aim with this comprehensive report to provide a springboard for future initiatives, policy, and research in this area. (In: Wezel Alexander, Grard Baptiste, & Gkisakis Vasileios. (2023). Mapping the development of agroecology in Europe.)
This article is a systematic review of the knowledge of technical-economic and environmental performance in agroecological transition. The data collected in the Scopus and dimension database concerned exclusively published articles and journals, using the relevant terms. Thus, 227 documents exported from Scopus and dimension were submitted to a bibliometric analysis with the Citespace software, then the inclusion and exclusion criteria were carried out according to the ROSES standards. The results reveal that the annual production of studies related to the technical-economic and environmental performance in agro-ecological transition is increasing with an annual growth rate of about 1.3%. There is a common understanding of agroecological transition. The agroecological transition addresses the problems of the food system from field to plate, covering all activities and actors involved in the cultivation based on natural resources. Among the agroecological practices analyzed, the application of compost seems the most promising to be scaled up to improve economic and environmental performance.
Este artículo desarrolla un análisis etnográfico de distintos Bancos de Tierras locales (BDT) en Cataluña. El interés desde la escala local por estos programas públicos orientados a facilitar el acceso a la tierra se dirige a paliar los procesos de desagrarización y dibuja estrategias de reagrarización y acceso a la tierra heterogéneas y adaptadas a los distintos sistemas agrarios locales. Los discursos técnicos detrás de estas estrategias cuestionan la construcción de la tierra como recurso natural y mercancía, su cercamiento y sus regímenes de exclusión. Las estructuras todavía precarias que sostienen estas herramientas, el apoyo político y su convivencia con otros programas de acceso a la tierra, así como los imaginarios y la economía moral de aquellos cuya tierra cae en desuso, devienen elementos explicativos de su potencialidad y probabilidad de supervivencia en el contexto de la des/reagrarización contemporánea.
This dissertation explores the transition from conventional agriculture to agroecology in Nicaragua using a socio-technical systems lens. The objectives of the thesis are i) to document Nicaragua's agroecological transition, specifically the involved processes, institutions, and stakeholders and their interactions; and ii) to explore how interactions between processes, institutions, and stakeholders produce and shape the agroecological transition, and which factors enable or limit the development of the agroecological transition. Quantitative and qualitative data was gathered in Nicaragua in 2014 and 2016-2018, using a variety of methods (e.g. semi-structured interviews; participant observation; a closed-question survey; farm visits and walks; participation at local and national agroecology fairs, workshops, and conferences; review of grey and scientific literature and government documents). The overarching conceptual framework of the thesis is based in the multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions, and frames the transition to agroecology as the formation of a new agroecological niche within the conventional agricultural regime. Each of the empirical chapters investigates how the agroecological transition is unfolding at a different location in the framework: at the micro-level of individual farmers; at the micro-meso level of individuals and organizations working in support of the agroecological niche; and at the niche-regime border, where the micro-meso levels interact with the macro level. The synthesis chapter identifies overarching themes that emerge when the empirical chapters' findings are brought together, and discusses these in light of the agroecology and sustainability transition literatures. From the cross-cutting analysis, main issues are identified that have implications for agroecological policy and practice. Recommendations are given for how these issues may be addressed by different stakeholder groups (national governments, civil society, private sector).
Resumo Com o objetivo de discutir a inserção de produtos agroecológicos nos canais de comercialização, o presente artigo atrela princípios da ecoinovação à produção e certificação de produtos e processos advindos da agricultura familiar. Apresenta uma nova territorialidade, onde formam-se redes de agricultores e, por meio de organização social, há a certificação por pares e consequente uso de selos, atestando a qualidade do que é vendido. Debate-se, neste interim, agroecologia, sistemas participativos de certificação, ecoinovação, inovação social, redes, mercados e canais de comercialização. Metodologicamente, trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa de cunho teórico que busca a reflexão crítica sobre a temática. Os resultados apontam para a crescente problematização das formas de apropriação, por diversos atores sociais, dos saberes agroecológicos pela racionalidade instrumental (tecnocientífica) e econômica, condicionando a autonomia e criatividade do sistema socioprodutivo local àquelas lógicas. Por outro lado, a constituição de redes alternativas para vendas conjuntas, seja com apropriação de novas tecnologias - como aplicativos e/ou websites, implica, sobremaneira, em mudança de paradigmas não apenas da agroecologia, mas também por parte dos consumidores que aderem a um novo comportamento social.
The number of small-scale diversified vegetable growers in industrialized countries has risen sharply over the last ten years. The risks associated with plant viruses in these systems have been barely studied in Europe, yet dramatic virus emergence events, such as tomato brown fruit rugose virus, sometimes occur. We developed a methodology that aimed to understand better the implications related to viruses for tomato production in Belgian s vegetable farms by comparing growers' perception of the presence of viral symptoms (visual inspection) with non-targeting detection of nearly all viruses present in the plants by high throughput sequencing technologies (HTS). Virus presence and impact were interpreted considering the farm's typology and cultural practices, the grower's professional profiles, and visual inspection of plant-viral-like symptoms. Overall, The data indicated that most growers have limited understanding of tomato viruses and are not concerned about them. Field observations were correlated to this perception as the prevalence of symptomatic plants was usually lower than 1%. However, important and potentially emergent viruses, mainly transmitted by insects, were detected in several farms. Noteworthy, the presence of these viruses was correlated with the number of plant species grown per site (diversity) but not with a higher awareness of the growers regarding plant viral diseases or a higher number of symptomatic plants. In addition, both HTS and perception analysis underlined the rising incidence and importance of an emergent virus: Physostegia chlorotic mottle virus. Overall, the original methodology developed here, combining social science with HTS technologies, could be applied to other crops in other systems to identify emergent risks associated with plant viruses and can highlight the communication needed toward growers to mitigate epidemics.
In response to the sustainability issues that agriculture faces in advanced economies, agroecology has gained increasing relevance in scientific, political, and social debates. This has promoted discussion about transitions to agroecology, which represents a significant advancement. Accordingly, it has become a growing field of research. We reviewed the literature on and in support of farm transitions to agroecology in advanced economies in order to identify key research challenges and suggest innovative research paths. Our findings can be summarized as follows: (1) Research that supports exploration and definition of desired futures, whether based on future-oriented modeling or expert-based foresight approaches, should more explicitly include the farm level. It should stimulate the creativity and design ability of farmers and other stakeholders, and also address issues of representation and power among them. (2) Research that creates awareness and assesses farms before, during or after transition requires more holistic and dynamic assessment frameworks. These frameworks need to be more flexible to adapt to the diversity of global and local challenges. Their assessment should explicitly include uncertainty due to the feedback loops and emergent properties of transitions. (3) Research that analyzes and supports farms during transition should focus more on the dynamics of change processes by valuing what happens on the farms. Research should especially give more credence to on-farm experiments conducted by farmers and develop new tools and methods (e.g., for strategic monitoring) to support these transitions. This is the first review of scientific studies of farm transitions to agroecology. Overall, the review indicates that these transitions challenge the system boundaries, temporal horizons, and sustainability dimensions that agricultural researchers usually consider. In this context, farm transitions to agroecology require changes in the current organization and funding of research in order to encourage longer term and more adaptive configurations.
Science offers many important contributions to achieving the SDGs, of which we highlight two here: first, science generates the basic inputs for innovations, i.e., policy and institutional innovations (including social and business innovations), as well as technology-based innovations to catalyze, support, and accelerate food system transformation; and second, science scrutinizes actions, i.e., assessing ambitions, targets and actions along pathways towards reaching them, for instance, through quantitative analyses and food system modeling. Seven science-driven innovations are elaborated in this chapter, each with some concrete examples. We stress that policy innovations, institutional innovations, and technology innovations are closely connected and actually need to be pursued in an integrated approach. Without accelerated interdisciplinary food system science, the necessary innovations for a sustainable food system will not be achieved. We note the need for systems innovations rather than only single-issue innovations, and call on the science communities to commit to enhanced collaboration among all relevant different disciplines of sciences for this purpose. Moreover, science is not naïve vis á vis power relations: social sciences explicitly uncover them and must identify options for innovations that help to overcome adverse effects. Food system science and food system policy need a stronger framework for constructive and evidence-based interaction for moving ahead. We call upon governments and UN agencies to initiate a process to explore options – existing as well as new – for a strengthened global science-policy interface for a sustainable food system.
In this chapter, the structure, functioning, and dynamics of the Spanish Agrarian Metabolism within the broader context of the whole Spanish economy are characterized. Biomass demand and domestic consumption, and the extent of which the agrarian sector and foreign trade fulfilled that demand are the cores of this chapter, as there are the main drivers in the features of the Spanish Agrarian Metabolisms. Transformation consisted of a greater appropriation of biomass for human use by: i) transferring extraction efforts from other ecosystems to cropland, ii) boosting the translocating the photosynthetic products to the harvestable and traded parts, and iii) shifting the orientation of the production from human to animal consumption allowing the noticeable change in diet. These changes have required the use of large amounts of external inputs driven by fossil fuels consumption and have reduced the magnitude and the number of physical–biological cycles at many spatial scales. Production limitations proper to organic-based societies have been apparently overcome, boosting the Spanish population growth and for increasing levels of consumption. These transformations have been possible at the cost of a deterioration of the fund elements not only of Spanish agroecosystems but also of third countries, reducing currently and at the medium and long term the capacity for reproduction of fund elements which might threaders the right to food sovereignty of the future generations.
La récente mise à l'agenda politique de l'agroécologie en France a suscité de nombreux débats et éclairages sur ce qui peut être qualifié d'agroécologique. Cet article révèle une agroécologie particulière, se développant de façon silencieuse et peu visible parmi les agriculteurs conventionnels. À partir d'études de groupes en Cuma (coopératives d'utilisation de matériel agricole), nous analysons les raisons de cette discrétion et invisibilité. Ces agriculteurs mobilisent davantage les fonctionnements écologiques, non pas dans un objectif d'écologisation, mais pour gagner en autonomie. Il en résulte une faible verbalisation des bénéfices environnementaux de leur part, accentuée par les difficultés qu'ils rencontrent, leur évitement des termes provenant de la sphère écologiste, et par les conditions locales des dialogues techniques entre pairs. Ce silence est renforcé par les instruments de connaissance accordant peu d'attention à leurs pratiques individuelles et collectives particulières. Nous concluons par des recommandations d'évolution des outils statistiques et de développement des ressources critiques à destination des agriculteurs pour qu'ils soient davantage acteurs du changement de leur environnement sociotechnique.
The recent integration of the agroecology into the policy framework in France has risen numerous debates and turned the spotlight on what can be qualified as agroecological. This article reveals a specific agroecology, being silently developed and barely visible among conventional farmers. From case studies of groups within farm machinery coops (Cuma), we analyze the reasons of this discretion and invisibility. These farmers make better use of their ecological functionalities, not with an aim of ecologization, but to increase their autonomy. This leads to a little justification of the environmental benefits by the farmers, worsened by the difficulties they face, their aversion of the terms coming from the ecologist sphere, as well as by the local conditions of the technical dialogues with their peers. The data collection tools, giving little attention to their specific individual and collective practices, strengthen this silence. We conclude by recommending some change of the statistical tools as well as to develop critical resources for farmers to strengthen their ability to change their sociotechnical environment.
In the Global North, local inter-farm cooperation offers opportunities for farmers to better access and manage equipment, labor and material resources. Yet, its potential to pave the way to organize the local collaborations needed for the agroecological transition remains hidden. This paper, based on the experience of French farm machinery cooperatives (CUMA), shows how local inter-farm cooperation can help make farming systems more agroecological. We conclude by arguing that local inter-farm cooperation warrants more attention, both to help strengthen its development and to expand its potential for contributing to the agroecological transition.
Food crises and ecologization have given rise to a Belgian dynamic that does not behave according to the conventional tripod of agroecology: practitioners, social movement, and scientists. Instead of simply recounting the history of Belgian agroecology, the authors trace the history and dynamics in Belgium), a journey along six strands that weave themselves into a Belgian tapestry: Genetically modified crop commandos, a scientific paradigm shift, hybrid expertise opening the Northern route that intersects with a Southern political route, an original non-institutional dynamic in the French-speaking part of Belgium and an institutional initiative that led to a rift in Flanders. In the following section, we identify, emerging from those six strands, four tensions that create a space of innovations, namely, politically differentiated discourses, land access, fair price, and epistemic tensions. We discuss then the generative potential of the 4 tensions and describe the potential of reconfigurations generated by boundaries organizations, food justice and transdisciplinarity. We conclude that the concept of agroecology continues to have transformative potential in Belgium today. However, no one can predict the course of such a largely non-institutional dynamic.
Agroecology has come a long way. In the past ten years, it has reappeared in France throughout the agricultural sector and is now included in public and private strategies and in supportive policies, with collateral interest effects. Is a new “agro-revolution” taking place? To address this issue, using a methodology mixing hyperlink mapping and textual corpora analysis, we focus here on the trajectory of agroecology in various worlds: that of academia, social movements, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that promote international solidarity, research and training institutions and public policies. This trajectory intertwines actors and time lines, with periods in which certain actors play a specific role, and others in which interactions between actors are dominant in terms of coalition advocacy. Some actors play a major role in circulating agroecology as they belong to several different social worlds (e.g., academia and NGO), present high occupational mobility (from politician to scientist and vice versa), are charismatic or have an irradiating aura in the media, and can articulate and circulate ideas between different social arenas (including between countries). The stabilization of networks of actors is interpreted as the institutionalization of agroecology, both within social movements as well as because of its integration into a policy aimed at an ecological modernization of agriculture. The international positioning of many actors anchors national and regional initiatives more strongly. It is also a prerequisite for the amplification and development of agroecology.
On aim to connect phytochemical traits as related with bread sensory features, Italian Old varieties and one Modern variety of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were compared in a framework taut to develop Micro Organism Consortium (MOC) under organic agriculture managements. Almost all the agronomic traits distinguished the Modern from the Old Italian varieties: reduced plant height, root weight, yield and lodging but increased harvest, tillering, and weeds attacks. Polyphenols in the modern variety Blasco were significantly lower than in the old varieties, Andriolo and Gentil Rosso but addition of MOC factor raised the content. The MOC factor dramatically modified the phytochemical traits, which in turn concurred to give the sensorial characteristics of the Old Wheat varieties Bread (OWB) to the Modern Wheat varieties Bread (MWB). A multivariate data elaboration highlighted some relationships between the classes of secondary components and the OWB scores, judged as favourable (polyphenols, bound flavonoids) or adverse (flavonoids, tannins, total anthocyans). Italian wheat varieties enhanced excellent bakery properties, based on the secondary compounds variation and strengthened by MOC factor modifications.
Livestock systems contribute significantly to environmental issues and need to undergo an agroecological transition. This transition is not only technical, but also involves an evolution of farmers' ways of seeing and interpreting the world, i.e., worldviews. We investigate livestock farmers' worldviews and their relationships with farming practices (grazing and mowing management) in three Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese areas in the French mountains. The study is based on quantitative and comprehensive qualitative surveys in 37 farms. We identify entities typically considered by farmers and the kind of relations they have with these entities, as well as the ontological background, sources of knowledge, and worlds of justifications. Four ideal-typical worldviews emerge: Modern; Traditional; Ecological Intensive; Holist. These four worldviews coexist in each area and also at the farm scale. Three selected farmer monographs illustrate this complexity in detail. The four worldviews are consistent with other typologies in literature. Both Ecological Intensive and Holist worldviews can be considered as "agroecological"; however, they correspond to very different conceptions of agroecology. Different worldviews imply different sustainability indicators and pathways, as well as alternative knowledge-management systems. Finally, the coexistence of multiple worldviews is a key driver of the agroecological transition, which can be enhanced by facilitating confrontation and exchanges between worldviews.
The purpose of our research is to develop an integrated sustainability score (ISS) choosing the farm level as system’s boundaries and developing a methodology, based on a geometric mean algorithm, which is negatively affected by the internal imbalance of the agroecosystem. The first step is to identify and calculate the indicators of systems and sub-systems to assess the agro-ecological and socioeconomic dimensions of sustainability. The second step is the selection, weighting and integration of indicators that permit the calculation of the ISS ranging from 0 to 1. The farm sustainability score is categorized into three levels: weak, intermediate and strong. This methodology has been verified on a stockless organic farming system case study of 12 farms in Italy. Results show that most of the farms reached intermediate levels of sustainability but there are significant differences on ISS scores within the study group. Agro-ecological and socioeconomic dimension play a different role in highlighting the coexistence of different models of sustainability. A further development of the present methodology should include an in-depth analysis of the social dimension of sustainability and integrate an assessment procedure to formulate improved management practices that will help farmers to find win-win solutions that decrease the contrast between environmental and economic sustainability.
Values-based food chains (VBFCs) are investigated increasingly by various disciplinary perspectives, and with different outcomes in terms of understanding and recommendations issued to stakeholders. How can values be maintained throughout their growth process? VBFCs are complex study objects, which make different research perspectives such as coordination and organization, marketing and business logics, communication, mediation of values, resilience and sustainability relevant to address this key question. Rather than discussing which perspective is most favourable, the approach in the HealthyGrowth project has been a multi-perspectival approach. The aim of this article is to explore how this multi-perspectival analysis based on the perspectival findings of 19 European VBFC case studies help to assess key factors that in successful organic VBFCs allow integrity and trust to be maintained during growth from niche to volume. Three key processes were identified through which values can be upheld over time: 1. a continuous process of negotiation and sometimes redefinition of these core values; 2. a synchronization of time bindings and time horizons within the decision-making processes of the different agents involved; and 3. an extended understanding of professionalization that relates not only to the classical division of tasks but also to a diversity of skills. The multi-perspectival analysis provides an insight that is dependent on the perspectival findings, but not visible from any single perspective alone.
Growth processes are uniquely problematic for small-scale farms due to their impacts on a delicate balance of basic internal resources. Most of these resources , such as permanent labour, machinery, structures, and livestock cannot be increased incrementally in linear processes. Additionally, farms with the lowest levels of production have the most problematic task of resource realignment. Due to higher transaction costs and inconsistent quality, market partners are not eager to meet increased demand by increasing the number of suppliers. Instead, these partners ask current suppliers, such as small-scale farmers, to increase the volume of production or they threaten to replace them with larger producers. Thus, small-scale farmers often feel growth is forced upon them. However, there are examples where supply chain actors actively engage to preserve small-scale structures by developing a distinct growth strategy based on increasing the output of an entire network rather than placing the onus on single suppliers. Such novel growth ac-commodations may contribute to a future food system increasingly sustainable in economic, social, as well as environmental dimensions. This article uses the case of the cooperative Bioalpin, located in Tyrol, Aus-tria, to examine how such regional networks may be constructed successfully. Bioalpin sells a full range of organically grown mountain products under their own brand, mainly via a family-owned regional supermarket chain. Bioalpin has grown substantially while concurrently supporting small-scale regional production and processing structures. We use the theoretical concept of netchain analysis to explore the organizational structure and the mechanisms of horizontal and vertical coordination in this values-based supply chain. The results of our analysis may shed light on the obstacles or complications associated with a focus on network growth, versus the growth of individual units.
There is ongoing debate among stakeholders about the future development of agricultural and food systems to meet the global challenges of food supply, biological and cultural diversity, climate change, and social justice. Among other options, agroecology and organic agriculture are discussed. Both have similar goals and use a systems approach; however, they are recognised and received differently by stakeholders. Here we review and compare principles and practices defined and described in EU organic agriculture regulations, International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement (IFOAM) norms, and agroecology scientific literature. The main finding are as follows: (1) Regarding principles, EU organic regulations mainly focus on appropriate design and management of biological processes based on ecological systems, restriction of external inputs, and strict limitation of chemical inputs. IFOAM principles are very broad and more complete, and include a holistic and systemic vision of sustainability. Agroecology has a defined set of principles for the ecological management of agri-food systems, which also includes some socio-economic principles. (2) Many proposed cropping practices are similar for EU organic, IFOAM, and agroecology, e.g. soil tillage, soil fertility and fertilisation, crop and cultivar choice, crop rotation, as well as pest, disease and weed management. In contrast, the origin and quantity of products potentially used for soil fertilisation and pest, disease, and weed management are different. Additionally, some practices are only mentioned for one of the three sources. (3) In animal production, only a few proposed practices are similar for EU organic, IFOAM, and agroecology. These include integration of cropping and animal systems and breed choice. In contrast, practices for animal management, prevention methods in animal health, animal housing, animal welfare, animal nutrition, and veterinary management are defined or described differently. (4) Related to food systems, organic agriculture focusses on technical aspects, such as food processing, while in agroecology there is a prominent debate between a transformative and conformative agenda. Both agroecology and organic agriculture offer promising contributions for the future development of sustainable agricultural production and food systems, especially if their principles and practices converge to a transformative approach and that impedes the conventionalisation of agro-food systems.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s agricultural sector stagnates at a low level and with a productivity of only 613 euros per hectare at 31.7 per cent below the German average. One of the most significant causes for this are the large farming businesses which are specialised in cheap mass production. The low area productivity is consequence of inadequate flexibility of the large farming companies when it comes to reacting to market signals. Whilst smaller farms can adjust their productive alignment relatively quickly or diversify to mix their income, large farming businesses try to avoid changes or put them off for as long as possible. The form of production, which is dominated by the large farming businesses, and the marginalisation of small and medium-sized farms as a result of land speculation and price dumping, cause the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern regional economic damages of at least € 250 million annually. The subsidisation and privileged treatment of industrial farming has to be cut down on as quickly as possible. In contrast to large parts of the industrial farming sector, small and medium-sized farms cooperate successfully with tourism and other branches. Art, literature and music use rural regions as the backdrop for their activities. These promising synergies should be elaborated according to the model “The Garden of the Metropolises”. The “Garden of the Metropolises” combines effective regional agriculture with a high standard of living, leisure and recuperation for the inhabitants of the large cities. This kind of agriculture which is mainly made up of small and medium-sized farming businesses can serve the demands of the local population and the large cities with the production of high quality, organically sound produce; and work together with a production and service sector which is suited to the region.
Achieving sustainable crop production while feeding an increasing world population is one of the most ambitious challenges of this century1. Meeting this challenge will necessarily imply a drastic reduction of adverse environmental effects arising from agricultural activities2. The reduction of pesticide use is one of the critical drivers to preserve the environment and human health. Pesticide use could be reduced through the adoption of new production strategies3, 4, 5; however, whether substantial reductions of pesticide use are possible without impacting crop productivity and profitability is debatable6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. Here, we demonstrated that low pesticide use rarely decreases productivity and profitability in arable farms. We analysed the potential conflicts between pesticide use and productivity or profitability with data from 946 non-organic arable commercial farms showing contrasting levels of pesticide use and covering a wide range of production situations in France. We failed to detect any conflict between low pesticide use and both high productivity and high profitability in 77% of the farms. We estimated that total pesticide use could be reduced by 42% without any negative effects on both productivity and profitability in 59% of farms from our national network. This corresponded to an average reduction of 37, 47 and 60% of herbicide, fungicide and insecticide use, respectively. The potential for reducing pesticide use appeared higher in farms with currently high pesticide use than in farms with low pesticide use. Our results demonstrate that pesticide reduction is already accessible to farmers in most production situations. This would imply profound changes in market organization and trade balance.
This paper documents the origin and conceptual ambiguity of the terms Sustainable, Ecological and Agroecological Intensification. It defines the concept of Ecological Intensification from an agroecological perspective, and examines in energy terms whether it may be sustainable. To illustrate the theory, we apply Land Cost of Sustainable Agriculture (LACAS) methodology to Spanish agriculture, which is representative of Mediterranean agroclimatic conditions. As a result, we demonstrate the impossibility of generalizing an extensive Organic Farming (OF) scenario under the techniques currently used by organic farmers. This is due to the fact that it would bring about a reduction of 13% in agricultural production. Which necessarily means that OF has to be intensified under agroecological criteria. This option is also explored in two scenarios. As a result, we show that it is possible to compensate the yield gap between OF and conventional agriculture by implementing low-entropy internal loop strategies which reduce the land cost of generating the necessary nitrogen flows. However, these cannot exceed the limits established by the structure of Spanish territory. That is, agroecological intensification cannot be prolonged indefinitely over time since it is limited by the land available.
Organic (ORG) and low-input (LI) dairy farms may have environmental advantages compared to high-input (HI) farms, but may also be less competitive in economic terms. This paper focuses on resilience in relative profitability of ORG and LI farms compared to HI farms in EU countries. Both a trend and a shock scenario were developed, based on milk and feed prices during 2007-2012. Although LI farms greatly vary among the EU countries, they tend to be more resilient than HI farms when assuming trend conditions. Moreover, they seem less affected by extremely low prices. ORG farms appear even more resilient in comparison with HI and LI farms but this can be explained by the higher revenues from subsidies.
European agri-environmental schemes are being criticised for reinforcing rather than negating an opposition between agricultural production and environmental production, and for assuming instead of securing a public willingness to pay for agri-environmental change. This paper explores if a regionalisation of agri-environmental governance may contribute to overcome these criticisms. The paper empirically explores three regionalised agri-environmental schemes from Flanders, Belgium, with the use of 40 qualitative interviews with farmers and other relevant stakeholders. Building on the Bourdieusian theory of capital and the conceptual distinction between bonding and bridging social capital, the paper analyses whether and why the regionalised arrangements incited farmers to integrate environmental production in their farm management to meet other regional stakeholders’ demands for agri-environmental change. In doing so, the paper particularly focuses on the role of bridging social capital in fostering farmer participation in agri-environmental governance, which is a topic that—despite a growing scholarly recognition of the importance of social capital in mediating farmers’ environmental behaviour—has to date received scant conceptual and empirical attention. The paper reveals that farmers principally participated in the regionalised agri-environmental schemes to enhance the long-term viability of their agricultural businesses by building up more cooperative and appreciative, bridging social ties with other regional stakeholders. Notably, such participation is only likely to be substantive and lead to long-term, pro-environmental behaviour change of farmers, if farmers actually succeed in building up bridging social capital by receiving other regional stakeholders’ appreciation for their agri-environmental work. The paper ends with discussing the implications of these findings for the future design and implementation of socially and ecologically robust agri-environmental schemes.
Despite a fast-growing national consumer market for organic products and active governmental support for organic agriculture, organic production in Flanders has shown little growth since the late 1990s. Our discourse analytical approach offers important insights into the causes of the limited organic production capacity in Flanders complementary to more common political-institutional or actor-oriented perspectives. Our analysis reveals that for decades, a competition between two mutually exclusive organic farming discourses has hindered a collaborative effort to contribute to a growth of the organic agricultural sector by conventional and organic agricultural communities, agricultural policy makers, and food market actors. Such collaboration however, proves to be necessary to stimulate a substantial growth in organic production in a region like Flanders (Belgium). Our results suggest that facilitating the acceptance of non-competitive discourses across agricultural, political and food market stakeholders is vital to support the development of organic agriculture. By revealing the added value of discourse analysis in clarifying agro-food developments, the paper supports an adoption of multiple research approaches when studying dynamics of change in the multi-dimensional fields of agriculture and food provision.
Wheat landraces and old varieties could have an important role for food security not only as source of gene readily available for breeders, but also because they perform well in marginal environments and are more resilient as compared to the modern cultivars. The Italian cereal sector suffers from lack of seed companies that breed specifically adapted varieties for organic and biodynamic farms. Participatory and evolutionary plant breeding (PPB and EPB) have been used in this research to (i) evaluate the agronomic characteristics of old, modern and mixture of varieties and landrace of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum spp.) and their adaptability to organic farming in hilly and mountainous areas; (ii) assess the technological, nutritional and functional properties of grains (rheological characteristic, macro and micro elements contents and antioxidants); (iii) explore the consumers’ preferences for breads obtained by old and modern varieties. Between five and seven old (Sieve, Verna, Gentil Rosso, Andriolo, Gambo di ferro, Frassineto and Abbondanza), two mixtures and four modern (Bolero, Blasco, Arabia and Bologna) varieties were tested for two years in between two and three organic farms (FARM1, FARM2 and FARM3) in hilly areas of Piedmont. Agronomic characteristic were strongly affected by locations and years. On average, Bologna, Abbondanza and Arabia, and the two mixtures were the highest yielding varieties. Flour strength (W) varied greatly ranging from 230 in 2011 for Andriolo to 38 in 2012 for Gambo di ferro. Gluten quality, expressed by GI, was found to be almost within the optimal range but was affected by the year. All six bread samples were acceptable to the 233 consumers who scored them, but the bread produced with old wheat varieties, particularly with Andriolo and Gambo di Ferro, was the preferred one. The old varieties and their mixtures yielded less than the modern varieties but with higher stability as shown by the inability of the modern varieties in FARM1 to survive the winter (they were not harvested) while the old varieties reached maturity showing higher robustness, Therefore, the use of old bread wheat varieties and their mixture, assessed with participatory and evolutionary plant breeding, could represent a strategy for local communities to cope with climate change while improving food security and food quality.
This article explores the role of local particularism in relation to the global interest in urban agriculture (UA). A growing movement is advocating UA, but future prospects are limited by variability, unclear expectations, vague responsibilities and leadership in the UA movement. We wonder whether the poor understanding of UA governance is associated with a public discourse and academic literature that too easily adopt the generic and universally claimed benefits. We argue here that uncritical enthusiasm results in an overly instrumental approach to governance of UA with a main focus on stimulating formal (e.g., policy making) and informal advocacy (e.g., civic engagement in UA). We do not deny the importance of formal and informal advocacy in UA development, but rather claim that the potential of UA needs a more nuanced analysis. Study of the interplay between UA advocacy and a city’s contextual characteristics is a worthy pursuit, as it may provide significant and more profound explanations for the divergence observed in UA developments. Case studies performed in Warsaw (Poland) and Ghent (Belgium) serve to illustrate the importance of context. The results suggest that neither case is likely to benefit from a governance strategy that only stimulates greater advocacy and institutional support. The inclusion of city-specific needs, opportunities and pitfalls of UA in the governance strategy can help to move UA toward its full potential. We suggest a policy-making strategy for UA that expands beyond the realm of food production alone. Ultimately, the aim is to steer away from assessing (and critiquing) UA solely against the backdrop of these generic success factors.
Priority setting between local versus global food chains continues to be subject of debate among food, rural and agricultural scholars with an interest in how to support more sustainable food provision and consumption patterns. Recently the FP7 European GLAMUR project targeted to assess and compare the performances of local versus global food chains in a systematic way covering multiple performance dimensions. Especially drawing on empirical research on the performances of three Italian and three Dutch pork chains, it will be argued that meaningful performance comparison needs to acknowledge the complex, multi-facetted and time and place specific interaction patterns between (more) global and (more) local pork chains. Therefore, as regards these pork chains, local–global performance comparison is thought to have hardly significance in isolation from complementary “horizontal” (place-based) and “circular” (waste or by-product valorization oriented) assessments. As will be concluded, this methodological complexity of food chain performance comparison doesn’t allow for simple statements regarding the pros and cons of (more) global versus (more) local pork chains. Hence, it is recommended to avoid such less fruitful local–global dichotomy and to concentrate on more policy relevant questions as: how to facilitate fundamentally different resource-use-efficiency strategies and how to optimize the place-specific interaction between more “local” versus more “global” food systems?
Over the past 23 years (1990 to 2012), French beef cattle farms have expanded in size and increased labour productivity by over 60%, chiefly, though not exclusively, through capital intensification (labour–capital substitution) and simplifying herd feeding practices (more concentrates used). The technical efficiency of beef sector production systems, as measured by the ratio of the volume value (in constant euros) of farm output excluding aids to volume of intermediate consumption, has fallen by nearly 20% while income per worker has held stable thanks to subsidies and the labour productivity gains made. This aggregate technical efficiency of beef cattle systems is positively correlated to feed self-sufficiency, which is in turn negatively correlated to farm and herd size. While volume of farm output per hectare of agricultural area has not changed, forage feed self-sufficiency decreased by 6 percentage points. The continual increase in farm size and labour productivity has come at a cost of lower production-system efficiency – a loss of technical efficiency that 20 years of genetic, technical, technological and knowledge-driven progress has barely managed to offset.
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Controversies over the Economic Efficiency of Family Farming: Indicators for a Rigorous Comparison with Other Types of Farming
Although acknowledging the different virtues of family farming is relatively widespread, in particular in the context of the international year of family farming, it is still problematic to compare its economic efficiency with that of large agricultural firms, which are broadly favored in many countries. The criteria which are most frequently used are hardly comparable and lead to a dialog of the deaf rather than to a rigorous comparison. However, by focusing on the fundamental indicators that are value added, factor productivity, and the distribution of value added, a rigorous comparison can be achieved. This allows avoiding the temptation to evaluate family farming solely on criteria based on its social and environmental performance.
This introductory discussion positions midscale food value chains as business models for a “third tier” in the U. S. food system, distinct from direct marketing to local consumers and global marketing of agricultural commodities. Responding to a growing demand for food that is differentiated from conventional products, midscale food value chains are developing strategic business alliances among small and medium sized farms or ranches and other agri-food enterprises. These supply chain alliances: (a) handle significant volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products; (b) operate effectively at regional, multistate levels; and (c) distribute profits equitably among the strategic partners. Value chain business models place emphasis on both the values associated with the food and the values associated with the business relationships within the food supply chain. Farmers and ranchers are treated as strategic partners, not as interchangeable input suppliers. Midscale food value chains employ two distinct, multifarm marketing strategies: direct-to-wholesale and direct-to-consumer. Both marketing strategies are based on organizational structures that achieve the necessary volumes of high-quality, differentiated food by aggregating product from multiple farms or ranches. The introduction concludes with a discussion of the challenges associated with developing successful midscale food value chains and of needed research and public policies to support the growth of this third tier.
Since the 1950’s, the growth of labour productivity in the dairy production systems in the center west of France has been based on the reduction of grazing, often of short duration in the forage systems, thanks to a greater recourse to forage store and particularly maize silage. Since 1990, contrary to this evolution, some farmers have set up dairy-cattle grassland production systems, largely based on grazed temporary grass-legumes pastures. This paper focuses on the development conditions of such systems, and on the functioning and economic results of the different production systems in the area. The comparison of the economic results shows that these grassland dairy production systems based on agro-ecology are intensive in value added creation and get high income per hectare and per worker, less dependent of subsidies.
En France depuis 2013, des initiatives collectives d'agriculteurs sont soutenues par des politiques publiques visant à développer l'agroécologie, dont la définition inclut l'enjeu d'autonomisation des exploitations. Alors que l'agriculture est traversée par des processus d'individualisation et de déterritorialisation, le législateur a fait le pari que l'organisation collective des agriculteurs au niveau local pouvait favoriser leur autonomisation et leur engagement dans la transition agroécologique. La thèse éclaire ce paradoxe par l'analyse d'expériences d'agriculteurs organisés en Coopératives d'utilisation de matériel agricole (CUMA). Ceux-ci développent des pratiques que l'on peut qualifier d'agroécologiques afin de gagner en autonomie, en particulier vis-à-vis des marchés marqués par plus de volatilité des cours. Pour cela, ils reconfigurent leurs modes de coopération de proximité, dont l'organisation de leur CUMA. Les résultats montrent qu'ils arrivent à mettre à distance des ressources et opérateurs marchands externes, grâce à une interdépendance accrue entre pairs, qu'ils acceptent parce qu'elle leur fournit des appuis pour mieux maîtriser leur contexte d'activité. Mais ils manquent de ressources adéquates de la part des autres opérateurs du secteur agricole et alimentaire pour limiter des dépendances restantes. De même, tous les agriculteurs ne bénéficient pas également de ces coopérations approfondies, qui nécessitent des conditions appropriées. Cette thèse précise ces conditions nécessaires pour que la recherche d'autonomie et la coopération de proximité favorisent des processus de transition agroécologique de la part d'une plus large diversité d'agriculteurs.
Local food systems are increasingly receiving political support across the globe. As part of this trend, food policy councils (FPCs) are generally considered to be ideal governance platforms in the transition to just, sustainable and democratic localized food systems. However, insight into the governance processes to transform local food systems is lacking. This article analyzes the politics of localizing food systems at play in the FPCs of Ghent (Belgium) and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, USA). The focus is on the development of urban agriculture in both cities, and includes an analysis of the politics of scale through three scalar practices of scale framing, scale negotiating, and scale matching. This analysis reveals that differences in the way in which the politics of scale are played out in both FPCs resulted in the creation of different opportunities and constraints for urban agriculture development. The article shows that attention for politics of scale in FPCs can help identify dynamics of socio-political inclusion and exclusion and power struggles in the governance of urban agriculture. The article formulates two governance principles: understanding local food systems as multi-scalar issues, and the explicit adoption of procedural justice as a core objective in governance processes.
Providing the theoretical and conceptual framework for this continually evolving field, Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems, Second Edition explores environmental factors and complexities affecting agricultural crops and animals. Completely revised, updated, and reworked, the second edition contains new data, new readings, new issues and case studies, and new options. It includes two completely new chapters, one on the role of livestock animals in agroecosystems and one on the cultural and community aspects of sustainable food systems.The author clearly delineates the importance of using an ecosystem framework for determining if a particular agricultural practice, input, or management decision contributes or detracts from sustainability. He explains how the framework provides the ecological basis for the functioning of the chosen management strategy over the long-term. He also examines system level interactions, stressing the need for understanding the emergent qualities of populations, communities, and ecosystems and their roles in sustainable agriculture. Using examples of farming systems in a broad array of ecological conditions, the book demonstrates how to use an ecosystem approach to design and manage agroecosystems for sustainability.
The complexity of the transition to more sustainable food systems has taken multiple trajectories, differently driven and oriented. In this scenario, innovation pathways promoted at the grassroots level and based on collective action driven by social purposes appear to carry a strong transformative capacity. Considered as expressions of social innovation, their study has been approached through different theoretical frameworks. By referring to some of these, and in particular to the developments of transition theories, we analyse the innovation pathways involving the wheat-bread value chain in Tuscany (Italy). The analysis sheds light on the relevance of the nature of social innovation carried out by grassroots initiatives in their pursuing radical change aimed at deeply redefining production-consumption practices through social interaction, to meet socially shared needs and achieving several social benefits. The paper also analyses the factors and mechanisms underlying the change processes this innovation has triggered in the mainstream system, focusing on the so-called "anchoring" process. Through this analysis, the work aims at improving the understanding of the transformative potential of social innovation.
This new edition builds on the explosion of research on sustainable agriculture since the late 1980s. By separating myth from reality, Miguel Altieri extracts the key principles of sustainable agriculture and expounds on management systems that “really work.” Providing case studies of sustainable rural development in developing countries, he goes beyond a mere description of practices to include data that reveal the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of alternative projects. Each chapter of Agroecology has been enriched and updated with the latest research results from around the world. New emphasis has been placed on such issues as the ecological economics of agriculture, policy changes needed for promoting sustainable agriculture, rural development in the Third World, the role of biodiversity in agriculture, and new research methodologies.
