Agroecology

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

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, 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.

In the words of the European Coordination of La Via Campesina (ECVC) (in a publication available here):

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!

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.

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.

We encourage all readers to use the forum, where you can give your opinion, ask questions or give responses on the corresponding Forum sections: Bushcraft & nature and Gardening, smallholding & farming.

We particularly welcome readers to share their experiences around agroecology.

• Otto Hague

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