Deep Roots

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Unlocking the potential of

family farmers with agroecology

Edith van Walsum, Director; Janneke Bruil, Coordinator, Learning and Advocacy; and Nick Pasiecznik,

Coordinating Editor, ILEIA – Centre for Learning on Sustainable Agriculture, the Netherlands

n the 1980s, family farmers in Madagascar started

to experiment with new practices in their rice fields.

After many years of trial and error, of adapting and

applying lessons learned, this resulted in the highly

effective practice of rice intensification, signifying big

improvements in the food security of family farmers.

“For me this system means Merdeka (freedom),” said Pak

Enseng, a small-scale family farmer in Indonesia. “I get a fair

yield and am no longer dependent on buying seeds, chemical

fertilizer or pesticides.”

The techniques include transplanting young seedlings,

spacing single plants more widely, and keeping the soil

moist instead of flooded. This enables rice plants to create

stronger tillers and roots and become much more efficient

in the uptake of water and nutrients. The result is a crop

that is more resilient to droughts, pests and diseases. This

agroecological practice is now known as the system of rice

intensification (SRI). Based on an agroecological approach,

SRI crossed the ocean to Asia in 1999. SRI methods raise,

concurrently, the productivity of the land, the labour, the

water and the capital that are employed in irrigated rice

production. The principles are proving equally relevant for

other crops like wheat, maize, millets, sorghums, vegeta-

bles and tubers. Today SRI principles are being applied in

different ways by millions of farmers in over 50 countries on

different crops, contributing substantially to the food secu-

rity and food sovereignty of family farmers.

SRI is just one example of a broad range of agroecological

practices. This example makes it very clear that agroecological

practices can offer effective solutions for family farmers. It can

help to unlock the great potential of family farmers to contrib-

SRI enables stronger rice plants and a crop that is more resilient to droughts, pests and diseases

Image: Rajendra Uprety

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