agec:agroecology [Knowledge Commons]

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====== Agroecology ======

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_An example of agroecology in Ankazobe, Madagascar. Note the interspersed trees, shrubs, and cacti, and the growing of annual crops in wells inside of mounds to retain water. Techniques are applied and evaluated in the specific context of the hot, dry, sloped landscape. From [[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Activit%C3%A9s_et_produits_agro-%C3%A9cologiques,_Ankazobe_Madagascar_(35860).jpg|Cactus0625 on Wikimedia Commons]]._

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> We support life-enriching systems and oppose life-alienating systems. [...] [W]e work together with nature and not against it. We cherish synergies between living beings and prioritize traditional farmer knowledge and participatory, transgenerational, and experiential learning processes.

— European Coordination *Via Campesina* (ECVC), [Peasant Agroecology According to ECVC](https://viacampesina.org/en/2022/04/new-publication-on-peasant-agroecology-according-to-ecvc/)


===== Introduction =====
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Agroecology is a **scientific** and **social movement** that interrogates how ecology can inform our agriculture. Agroecology is based on a strong relationship between the land and its human inhabitants, and the land-steward with the scientist (even better if the steward and the scientist are the same).

**The unique ecology of a given location is centred.** This includes the selection of species, how these species fit together, how the soil and water are managed, when/if to use burning, flooding, or grazing, and countless other things. The land is cultivated with the ecology and its history as a guide, seeking to boost biodiversity for the purposes of resilience and efficiency. 

It’s not back-to-the-land, embrace-tradition stuff, nor is it a call to redesign ecosystems into what we narrow-mindedly consider “good” (i.e., “greening the desert”). Traditional and indigenous knowledge can be paired well with experimentation and invention, so long as the focus on a specific ecological context is kept in mind. These practices are **predicated on a deep, intimate connection with, and constant study of, the dynamic and specific character of the land.**

Modern agroecology is championed by //[La Via Campesina](https://viacampesina.org/en/biodiversity-and-genetic-resources/)//, a grassroots peasants’ organisation who see it as empowering to downtrodden communities, healing cultures and the rifts between humans and nature, and as a route towards [food sovereignty](https://viacampesina.org/en/what-is-food-sovereignty/). 

In the words of the European Coordination of *La Via Campesina* (ECVC) (in a publication available [here](https://viacampesina.org/en/2022/04/new-publication-on-peasant-agroecology-according-to-ecvc/)):

> Peasant agroecology is **rooted in traditional farmer knowledge** and has contributed since the beginning of agricultural practices **to better understand the relationship between food production and the surrounding ecosystems**: agriculture is fully integrated in ‘the territory’ which includes the environmental but also social and cultural dimension. Peasant agroecology respects **diverse and regional knowledge** based on horizontality and justice principles combined with scientific knowledge. It relies on farmer-to-farmer, intergenerational, and experiential learning processes and legitimizes the role of emotions and feelings in agricultural practices.

Of course, the above quote is talking about //peasant// agroecology specifically. This is because //Via Campesina// is a peasants' organisation. As a people who work the land for subsistence, peasants act as a natural base for agroecology. The peasants involved with //Via Campesina// provide a valuable stress-test for agroecology, acting as scientists and their land serving as a laboratory. That doesn't exclude non-peasants, but it should remind us to be humble!

===== Why agroecology? =====
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==== Agroecology and the Commons ====

Agroecology is both functionally and explicitly linked to the Commons. The enclosure of the Commons is the background for the environmental and social destruction that agroecology opposes. A demand of //Via Campesina//'s peasant agroecology is that small scale food producers must be able to access the commons of the air, water, culture, and knowledge.


===== What can I do? =====

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//Regional// knowledge is an essential aspect of agroecology. What works in one place won't necessarily work in another place; only with a truly deep understanding of the //how// and //why// of how something works, you can re-apply techniques when appropriate. This does mean that //we shouldn't tell you what to do//, since we don't necessarily know who you are and the ecological, historical, cultural, economic, social, (etc...), context you live within.

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==== Case studies ====

Agroecology isn't new. People have practiced and studied it for a long, long time. However, records of these examples are spread out over digital and analog media, and many are not recorded at all. It can be hard to find out what, exactly, has been done, and how things turned out, and //why// they turned out that way.

We hope to use this space to compile as many examples as possible, with post-mortems and reflections when appropriate. Click on the links in the list below to be taken to pages for each project we have recorded.

To make it as easy as possible to find applicable case studies for a given context, we have organised the list **by climate** (very roughly).

**Temperate, Atlantic**
  * [[agec:agroecology:revenonsmoutons|Revenons à nos moutons, Corrèze, France]]

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===== Have your say on our forum =====
We encourage all readers to use the forum, where you can give your opinion, ask questions or give responses on the corresponding Forum sections: [[https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/bushcraft|Bushcraft & nature]] and [[https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/gardening|Gardening, smallholding & farming]].
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We particularly welcome readers to share their experiences around agroecology.

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===== Learn more about agroecology =====

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===== Specialist advisors and contributors =====
  * [[user:osedax|Otto Hague]]

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