Understanding Farm Diversity to Promote Agroecological Transitions

Heitor Teixeira,Marielos Peña-Claros,Leonardo Van Den Berg,Felix Bianchi,Pablo Tittonell,Ardjan Vermue,Irene Cardoso

doi:10.3390/su10124337

Abstract

Agroecology is increasingly promoted by scientists, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), international organisations and peasant movements as an approach to foster the transition to sustainable and equitable food systems. The challenges to agroecological transitions are not the same for all farmers, as they can face different social and bio-physical conditions. We developed a farm typology combining participatory and quantitative methodologies to assess and categorise farm diversity and its implications for developing strategies to promote agroecological transitions. The participatory typology was developed during workshops to acquire insights on local farmers’ perceptions and knowledge, and to generate hypotheses on family farm diversity. The participatory-based hypotheses were tested in the quantitative farm characterisation, which provided information on household characteristics, production strategies, land use, participation in public policies and extension services. Farms were located in Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais, Brazil, which harbour a wide diversity of farmers and where different actors have been engaged in agroecological transitions for the past 30 years. Our main findings were: (i) In the face of agroecological transitions, farmers differ in their management strategies, practices and principles; (ii) farmers identified as agroecological typically had stronger engagements in a network composed of farmers’ organisations, universities and NGO’s; (iii) agroecological farms showed great potential to provide a wide range of ecosystem services as they featured a higher crop diversity and a higher number of crops for self-consumption; (iv) to promote agroecology, it is crucial to recognise peasant knowledge, to change the dominant discourse on agriculture through social movement dynamics, and to generate support from public policies and funds; and (v) participatory and quantitative methodologies can be combined for more precise and relevant assessments of agroecological transitions.

Highlights

Agroecology as an approach to foster the transition to food systems that conserve resources and improve human well-being [1,2,3], has been increasingly promoted by scientists [4,5], Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) [6], international organisations [7], and peasant movements [8]
Agroecology is increasingly promoted by scientists, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), international organisations and peasant movements as an approach to foster the transition to sustainable and equitable food systems
Our main findings were: (i) In the face of agroecological transitions, farmers differ in their management strategies, practices and principles; (ii) farmers identified as agroecological typically had stronger engagements in a network composed of farmers’ organisations, universities and NGO’s; (iii) agroecological farms showed great potential to provide a wide range of ecosystem services as they featured a higher crop diversity and a higher number of crops for self-consumption; (iv) to promote agroecology, it is crucial to recognise peasant knowledge, to change the dominant discourse on agriculture through social movement dynamics, and to generate support from public policies and funds; and (v) participatory and quantitative methodologies can be combined for more precise and relevant assessments of agroecological transitions

Summary

Introduction

Agroecology as an approach to foster the transition to food systems that conserve resources and improve human well-being [1,2,3], has been increasingly promoted by scientists [4,5], Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) [6], international organisations [7], and peasant movements [8]. Agroecology advocates for small-scale, autonomous, resilient and efficient farming systems, that value human rights (including women, youth and indigenous people), local cultures, social participation and food traditions [7]. Agroecology favours practices based on multi-functionality and biodiversity to reduce the dependence on external agrochemical inputs and to enhance ecological processes [9,10]. Agroecological practices can be technically oriented, such as composting or biocontrol and/or more socially oriented and promote, for instance, gender equality or local culture. Policies can advance agroecology by supporting agroecological research and the development of agroecological practices, and by ensuring that farmers have access to and security over land, and access to markets that valorise agroecological farmers and their produce [13,14,15]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion