This paper provides an overview of what we call ‘agroecological revolution’ in Latin America. As the expansion of agroexports and biofuels continues unfolding in Latin America and warming the planet, the concepts of food sovereignty and agroecology-based agricultural production gain increasing attention. New approaches and technologies involving the application of blended agroecological science and indigenous knowledge systems are being spearheaded by a significant number of peasants, NGOs and some government and academic institutions, and they are proving to enhance food security while conserving natural resources, and empowering local, regional and national peasant organizations and movements. An assessment of various grassroots initiatives in Latin America reveals that the application of the agroecological paradigm can bring significant environmental, economic and political benefits to small farmers and rural communities as well as urban populations in the region. The trajectory of the agroecological m...

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The agroecological revolution in Latin America: rescuing nature, ensuring food sovereignty and empowering peasants

Agroecology involves various approaches to solve actual challenges of agricultural production. Though agroecology initially dealt primarily with crop production and protection aspects, in recent decades new dimensions such as environmental, social, economic, ethical and development issues are becoming relevant. Today, the term 'agroecology' means either a scientific discipline, agricultural practice, or political or social movement. Here we study the different meanings of agroecology. For that we analyse the historical development of agroecology. We present examples from USA, Brazil, Germany, and France. We study and discuss the evolution of different meanings agroecology. The use of the term agroecology can be traced back to the 1930s. Until the 1960s agroecology referred only as a purely scientific discipline. Then, different branches of agroecology developed. Following environmental movements in the 1960s that went against industrial agriculture, agroecology evolved and fostered agroecological movements in the 1990s. Agroecology as an agricultural practice emerged in the 1980s, and was often intertwined with movements. Further, the scales and dimensions of agroecological investigations changed over the past 80 years from the plot and field scales to the farm and agroecosystem scales. Actually three approaches persist: (1) investigations at plot and field scales, (2) investigations at the agroecosystem and farm scales, and (3) investigations covering the whole food system. These different approaches of agroecological science can be explained by the history of nations. In France, agroecology was mainly understood as a farming practice and to certain extent as a movement, whereas the corresponding scientific discipline was agronomy. In Germany, agroecology has a long tradition as a scientific discipline. In the USA and in Brazil all three interpretations of agroecology occur, albeit with a predominance of agroecology as a science in the USA and a stronger emphasis on movement and agricultural practice in Brazil. These varied meanings of the term agroecology cause confusion among scientists and the public, and we recommend that those who publish using this term be explicit in their interpretation. agroecosystem / Brazil / food system / France / Germany / rural development / scientific discipline / sustainable agriculture / USA

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Agroecology as a science, a movement and a practice. A review

In the face of recurrent global food crises, institutions of the corporate food regime propose a new Green Revolution coupled with a continuation of neoliberal economic policies. Because these are causes of the crises to begin with, this approach can worsen rather than end hunger. Building a countermovement depends in part on forging strong strategic alliances between agroecology and food sovereignty. Agroecologists face important choices between reformist and radical versions of agroecology. The former version attempts to co-opt agroecology into the Green Revolution; the latter centers agroecology within a politically transformative peasant movement for food sovereignty.

http://www.people.ku.edu/~anirtak/JSA_GimenezAltieri_2012_Green_Revolution.pdf

Agroecology, Food Sovereignty, and the New Green Revolution

Agroecology involves various approaches to solve actual challenges of agricultural production Though agroecology initially dealt primarily with crop production and protection aspects, in recent decades new dimensions such as environmental, social, economic, ethical and development issues are becoming relevant Today, the term ‘agroecology’ means either a scientific discipline, agricultural practice, or political or social movement Here we study the different meanings of agroecology For that we analyse the historical development of agroecology We present examples from USA, Brazil, Germany, and France We study and discuss the evolution of different meanings agroecology The use of the term agroecology can be traced back to the 1930s Until the 1960s agroecology referred only as a purely scientific discipline Then, different branches of agroecology developed Following environmental movements in the 1960s that went against industrial agriculture, agroecology evolved and fostered agroecological movements in the 1990s Agroecology as an agricultural practice emerged in the 1980s, and was often intertwined with movements Further, the scales and dimensions of agroecological investigations changed over the past 80 years from the plot and field scales to the farm and agroecosystem scales Actually three approaches persist: (1) investigations at plot and field scales, (2) investigations at the agroecosystem and farm scales, and (3) investigations covering the whole food system These different approaches of agroecological science can be explained by the history of nations In France, agroecology was mainly understood as a farming practice and to certain extent as a movement, whereas the corresponding scientific discipline was agronomy In Germany, agroecology has a long tradition as a scientific discipline In the USA and in Brazil all three interpretations of agroecology occur, albeit with a predominance of agroecology as a science in the USA and a stronger emphasis on movement and agricultural practice in Brazil These varied meanings of the term agroecology cause confusion among scientists and the public, and we recommend that those who publish using this term be explicit in their interpretation

Agroecology as a Science, a Movement and a Practice

At present, agroecology can be interpreted as a scientific discipline, as a movement or as a practice. In this paper we analyse the historical evolution of the scientific discipline of agroecology with a quantitative bibliometric analysis of 711 publications using the term agroecology and the derived term agroecological, as well as a qualitative analysis of definitions, topics and scales, where we also include further important works on agroecology. Agroecology emerged in the 1930s and the period up until the 1960s was the initial phase of agroecology. During the 1970s and 1980s, agroecology as a science expanded, and in the 1990s became institutionalized and consolidated. Since the 2000s, broader definitions have provided the basis for new dimensions in agroecology. During the last two decades the range of topics treated within agroecology grew enormously; also the publication rate has exploded within the last 10 years. The scale and dimension of scientific research in agroecology has changed over the past 80 years from the plot or field scale to the farm or agroecosystem scale and finally to the food system. Currently, three approaches persist: (1) the plot/field scale; (2) the agroecosystem/farm scale; and (3) the food system approach. In spite of a vague utilization of the term agroecology through its different meanings and definitions, the new views and dimensions brought to agroecology as a scientific discipline will probably facilitate efforts to respond to actual important questions on sustainable agriculture, global land use and climate change, or food security, due to increasingly applied systems thinking and interdisciplinary research approaches.

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A quantitative and qualitative historical analysis of the scientific discipline of agroecology

La agroecologia ha sido considerada como una disciplina o ciencia, teniendo como unidad de analisis al agroecosistema; sin embargo, sus componentes teoricos y metodologicos son derivados de herramientas cientificas disponibles o las complementa con la intervencion de varias disciplinas, por lo que la agroecologia es algo mas que una disciplina per se. La agroecologia se fortalece con el pensamiento de sistemas y el enfoque de sistemas; ademas, se robustece con aportaciones teoricas y metodologicas de la disciplina, la multidisciplina, la interdisciplina, y toma en cuenta el conocimiento local que es donde se aplican los conceptos y principios ecologicos, sociales y economicos; de aqui que la agroecologia deja de ser una disciplina para convertirse en una transdisciplina. Tales principios son aplicables a la agricultura moderna, que mas que favorecer perjudica a la base de los recursos naturales, al estar sujeta a los precios del mercado globalizado. Esa situacion urge a la agricultura mayor armonia con el ambiente, los recursos naturales y brindar a la sociedad alimentos y productos agricolas inocuos. Es por ello que la agroecologia como transdisciplina tiene la oportunidad, y tal vez la responsabilidad, de enfocarse mas al analisis, diseno, desarrollo y evaluacion de la agricultura y sus agroecosistemas, tanto de alta o baja dependencia de insumos externos; valorando su interdependencia entre los diferentes niveles jerarquicos. Sin duda, considerando a la agroecologia como una transdisciplina se puede contribuir mas favorablemente al aumento de la sostenibilidad de los agroecosistemas y de la base de los recursos naturales

Agroecología: una disciplina que tiende a la transdisciplina

Caracterización socioeconómica y tecnológica de los agroecosistemas con bovinos de doble propósito de la región del papaloapan, veracruz, méxico (socioeconomical and technological characterization of agroecosystems with dual purpose cattle in the papaloapan region, veracruz, mexico)

En el presente estudio se analizo la estructura, diversidad y uso de la biodiversidad de los huertos familiares en tres zonas fisiograficas de la region de la Chontalpa, Tabasco. Se trabajo en nueve localidades. Se aplicaron encuestas preliminares que permitieron encontrar a los sabedores locales y elegir los huertos a trabajar, posteriormente se aplicaron entrevistas semiestructuradas a los sabedores locales. Para el calculo de indice de diversidad se utilizo el metodo de Shannon-Wiener. Los resultados muestran un total de 330 especies de vegetales y 17 especies de fauna. El tamano de los huertos es variable teniendo que la superficie menor fue de 200 m 2 y la mayor de 20 000 m 2 . La edad de los huertos varia desde un ano de establecido en la localidad de Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, hasta uno de 60 anos en la localidad de Ignacio Zaragoza. Se observaron tres tipos de estratos: el arboreo, el arbustivo y el herbaceo. Asimismo se aprecia que los huertos familiares son diferentes en cada zona fisiografica debido a sus: limites, superficie, organizacion, estructura vertical u horizontal, entre otros, pero a su vez guardan similitudes entre si como son plantas o especies en comun. Las especies vegetales principalmente son utilizadas como alimento, posteriormente como combustible y finalmente como ornato. La fauna en los huertos es usada principalmente como alimento.

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Estructura, diversidad y uso de las especies en huertos familiares de la Chontalpa, Tabasco, México

The purpose of this study was to characterize the socioeconomic and technological components present in cattle in agro dual purpose of the area of the Papaloapan, Veracruz, Mexico. A survey was designed and implemented semi-structured interviews with producers in the Local Livestock Associations and cattle ranches of the 21 municipalities that make up the region under study. The variables were included social, technical and marketing. The sample size of 405 was producers who account for 4% of the total number of farmers in the region. We used cluster analysis, descriptive statistics and contingency tables. The cluster analysis, according to the variables considered, allow characterizing the producers (no groups): traditional, transitional and business. The age for these groups of farmers was 53±13, 54±15 and 56±12 years, and the animal charges were 42.8±38.9, 154.1±88.3 and 123.8±93.5, respectively. In general, the aim was zootechnical dual purpose cattle (86.9%), with extensive grazing pasture for free (98%) as the dominant system and a pattern of racial Swiss crosses x Cebu (79.8%) as the most representative.

/pdf/socioeconomical-and-technological-characterization-of-13sos1p8ae.pdf

Socioeconomical and technological characterization of agroecosystems with dual purpose cattle in the the papaloapan region, veracruz, mexico

El estudio se llevo a cabo en seis plantaciones agroforestales de cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) del Ejido Miguel Hidalgo 2da. Seccion, Municipio de Cardenas, Tabasco, Mexico, seleccionandose tres parcelas de 30 anos de edad y tres mas de cincuenta. Se determino la composicion floristica, analizandose la riqueza de especies, similitud, estructura de la vegetacion y diversidad de usos de las especies vegetales arboreas. Los resultados muestran una composicion floristica de 503 individuos, 23 familias, 30 generos y 32 especies para las parcelas de 30 anos y 1 238 individuos, 24 familias, 40 generos y 44 especies para las de 50. El indice de diversidad de Shannon-Wiener mostro diferencia estadistica altamente significativa p < 0.01 a nivel de familia, genero y especie; las parcelas de 50 anos son mas diversas que las de 30. Los indices de similitud de Jaccard (cualitativo), Sonrenson Is (cualitativo y cuantitativos) y Morista-Horn (cuantitativo), indicaron una clara tendencia a la disimilitud. A nivel estructural las parcelas de 30 anos, presentan una mayor area basal (58 m2 ha−1), destacando Samanea saman, Diphysa robinioides, Guazuma ulmifolia, y Erythrina sp que representan al 52 % del total del indice de valor de importancia (VIR), en las de 50 anos el area basal corresponde a 38 m2 ha−1 figurando las especies Colubrina arborescens, Musa sp., Gliricidia sepium, Diphysa robinioides, Guazuma ulmifolia y Cedrela odorata que suman 44 % del VIR.

/pdf/diversidad-floristica-en-plantaciones-agroforestales-de-48c29g0ayb.pdf

Octavio Ruiz-Rosado

Papers

Agroecología: una disciplina que tiende a la transdisciplina

Caracterización socioeconómica y tecnológica de los agroecosistemas con bovinos de doble propósito de la región del papaloapan, veracruz, méxico (socioeconomical and technological characterization of agroecosystems with dual purpose cattle in the papaloapan region, veracruz, mexico)

Estructura, diversidad y uso de las especies en huertos familiares de la Chontalpa, Tabasco, México

Socioeconomical and technological characterization of agroecosystems with dual purpose cattle in the the papaloapan region, veracruz, mexico

Diversidad florística en plantaciones agroforestales de cacao en cárdenas, tabasco, méxico