Deep Roots

resources. It also freduces farmers’ dependence on external

inputs. For these reasons, agroecology works especially well

for small and medium-sized family farms.

With agroecology, the productivity of family farmers

often increases. As well as high productivity levels, agro-

ecological systems provide other benefits, which act as a

counterweight to many of the factors responsible for the

crisis in conventional farming. They have a positive energy

balance and low fossil fuel energy use. They are economic

in their use of water. They recuperate and conserve soil

fertility without the use of external inputs, and are resistant

to soil erosion. They function as carbon sinks and emit very

A science, a movement and a practice

Agroecology is a science, a movement and a practice, and is

strongest where these three aspects converge.

• Practice and knowledge building lies at the heart of agroecology.

It is developed and spread through farmer learning and

experimentation, which can be supported by local organizations,

researchers, governments and civil society.

• As a movement, agroecology seeks to create a social,

institutional and policy environment where agroecological

initiatives can flourish and spread by, for example, supporting

the establishment of peasant-to-peasant learning initiatives,

supporting and initiating political campaigns to advocate policies

that recognize indigenous seeds or by mobilizing farmers and

citizens to strengthen regional food systems.

• As a science, agroecology seeks to gain an understanding of the

social and ecological dynamics of food and farming systems and

their relevance for sustainability.

In agroecology, the experiences, knowledge, values and aspirations

of family farmers are central.

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Image: Alexia Skok

Agroecology can help family farmers to contribute to food security for themselves and their communities

little in terms of greenhouse gases. They are functionally

integrated with the natural vegetation, providing greater

stability to local microclimates. And they do not generate

chemical or genetic contamination.

Taken as a whole, these positive effects indicate that

promoting agroecology is a strategy that can provide not

only benefits for family farmers themselves, but also a

comprehensive structural response to the crises in the world.

It meets the challenge of feeding an expanding world popu-

lation while respecting sustainability and biodiversity, and

providing climate-resilient solutions. This potential has been

recognized by the International Assessment of Agricultural

Science and Technology for Development, a three-year initi-

ative financed by organizations linked to the United Nations

and involving the efforts of a multidisciplinary group of 400

scientists from every continent in the world. The outgoing

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Right

to Food Olivier de Schutter, has also repeatedly stated

that agroecology can simultaneously increase agricultural

productivity and food security, build climate resilience and

improve the incomes of family farmers.

The main challenge to achieving a wider spread of agro-

ecology is not technical but political. It involves the need

to overcome the political, economic and ideological power

of agribusiness and governments that drives the contin-

ued expansion of the industrial farming model. Among the

many well-documented negative effects of this approach,

it has been the main factor behind the disappearance of

small-scale family farmers worldwide. This disappearance

not only means more rural poverty, it also implies the loss

of traditional culture and knowledge of rural peoples and

communities – essential elements in the construction of

sustainable, agroecological farming systems.

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