Deep Roots

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hands of the food producers who are the peasants and the

small family farmers.

La Via Campesina today is developing and promoting agro-

ecology as part of food sovereignty. Agroecology, a part of food

sovereignty, has emerged as an alternative to the industrial

food regime. It is not a ‘one-size-fits all’ approach to agriculture

but a multipronged approach based on indigenous knowledge

systems to develop integrated farming systems widely recognized

to be more adaptive and resilient to climate change, including

droughts, hurricanes, temperature changes and shifting planting

dates. More importantly, it opens a door to resist against multiple

hardships faced by peasants, posed by dependence on agrochem-

icals and fertilizers. It thus presents a foundation to build a new

agricultural future for the people and the planet.

Agroecological farming is highly knowledge-intensive and is

hinged on farmers’ knowledge, experimentation and innova-

tion. The practice is not a straitjacket, and is therefore highly

adaptive to different environments and climatic conditions.

Even modern beneficial scientific knowledge is incorporated

and adapted to the local context by farmers, who are key change

agents in this system. Thus, organizations that are part of La

Via Campesina have developed over 40 agroecology schools

through which to promote exchange of experiences on a

farmer-to-farmer (‘Campesino-to-Campesino’) basis as a tool for

disseminating (through horizontal learning) agroecological prac-

tices and sustainable peasant agriculture. The farmers are the best

researchers, and agents of local-specific change. Such experiences

are documented, systematized and socialized. These schools are

also entry points for new farmers’ innovations and mutual bene-

ficial scientific knowledge sharing. They are thus an incubator

of new ideas and shared success stories based on farmer-to-

farmer methods. Agroecology favours a bottom-up participatory

approach to developing new ways and technologies in farming.

However, the Green Revolution model favours a top-down

approach which minimizes, if not excludes, the participation of

smallholder farmers in the design of new technology. Such new

technologies are passed down through extension agents or inputs

suppliers. Hence, new innovations are not adapted to the local

cultural and ecological context of farmers. This leaves farmers as

passive recipients and minimizes the success of such technolo-

gies, thus contributing to food insecurity.

Agroecology and other forms of sustainable peasant agriculture

practiced on smaller farms make food production more secure.

The higher level of on-farm diversity under agroecology means

that if one crop is negatively affected, another one is likely to

compensate for it. Mulch and green manures that cover soils

protect them from erosion and high temperatures and conserve

moisture. Agroecology thus promotes food sovereignty and

ensures the right to food. It allows small farmers to be independ-

ent in terms of their food production as it limits their reliance on

external inputs. Inputs such as seeds are harvested and saved;

organic fertilizers aremade in situ; pests are controlled using tradi-

tional methods. This allows small farmers to grow and harvest

their food timeously. Moreover, agroecology produces more food

(intercropping etc) on less land, using less water and energy. It

promotes local food systems, thus ensuring the right to food.

Therefore, on the quarter of arable land that peasants farm, these

small farmers produce about half of the global food and gener-

ate 40 per cent of all agricultural value. Traditional knowledge

systems and agroecology have thus allowed millions of peasants

to continue to subsist on agriculture and feed a significant popula-

tion of the world where agribusiness influence is limited.

Agroecology thrives to maintain harmony and equilibrium

between the needs of humans and the planet. It promotes crop

rotation for improving soil fertility, promotes the development

of open pollinated varieties, supports water harnessing, and

promotes community seed banks and local breeding systems

that guarantee that farmers conserve and utilize their own seeds.

A diversity of varieties, as well as a greater variety within

genetic diversity, makes peasant farms more able to adapt

to changing conditions than homogenous commercial agri-

culture. Industrial agriculture has been encouraging the

cultivation of crop monocultures, to achieve economies of

scale associated with technological improvements such as

agrochemicals and machinery.

Again, the use of organic fertilizers promotes soil biodiversity

and improves soil infertility. The use of plant material and other

on-farm organic fertilizers such as cattle manure and compost

maintains rich soil biology and ensures good water reten-

tion. The integrated pest management system helps to keep

a vibrant biodiversity while minimizing the effects of pests on

crops. However, this is not the case with industrial farming.

The increased use of inorganic fertilizers and other agrochemi-

cals has affected the biodiversity impacting both soil biology

and beneficial insects such as pollinators and pest eaters – and

the production of high-quality nutritional, healthy and cultur-

ally appropriated food. Most of these technologies suffocated

agrodiversity as they promoted mono-cropping instead of inter-

cropping, affecting the nutrition of diets.

Agroecology reduces the need for fossil energy and chemi-

cal fertilizers in agriculture – both key sources of greenhouse

gases – and thus contributes to ‘global cooling’. This makes

family farming an important and indispensible player in the

fight against climate change, an attribute that is currently being

promoted by La Via Campesina. As part of food sovereignty,

Agro-forestry and other forms of production make farms more secure

Image: Nelson Mudzingwa (ZIMSOFF)

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