Many thanks for your post on agroecology and its call for explaining and measuring its value. Really interesting, hence this reply. Coincidentally I worked at NRI from 1997-2002, thoughI never made it to Associate Professor 😏
I thought your first question, ‘hidden’ in your introduction was great, so I've tried to answer it. I then provide, I hope, some useful references by way of answering your third question on available evidence.
1. But do we really understand the value of agroecology in terms of its potential contribution to poverty alleviation, human health, and the environment?
I think there remains widespread misunderstanding about the environmental impact of food production. Modern-day agriculture is not a battle between “good” organic farmers and “bad” industrial ones. Just because a farm is organic does not mean it has sidestepped environmental and social drawbacks of large-scale farming. Organic farms, for instance, can still employ a damaging monoculture approach. Rather, it is between sterile monocultures of a limited number of foods and a more diverse approach to farming. One which marries a particular place’s unique ecology with local farmers’ knowledge of how to make their landscapes useful to humans: Agroecology. The only way to feed the Earth’s rapidly growing population without destroying the planet. Many farmers practice what is referred to as “climate smart agriculture”. Thing is we often do not know about them. Worse, we don’t seek to find them and learn. More often than you would hope or expect, the starting point is that research institutions can offer them ways to practice ‘it’. The example of Mr Zepheniah Phiri, an indigenous innovator, is a wonderful example of an agroecological farmer. (See later.) The opportunity for support is less about extending climate smart agricultural practices to him and his farm, more about extending his approach to others (and preferably not through farmer field schools!)
Moving on. The productivity of nearly one-half of all soil worldwide is decreasing. Another 15 percent can no longer be used for farming because its biology has been so depleted. Biodiversity is fading, too. Look at Africa: Fallow areas have virtually disappeared. On average the rate of fallow is 1.2 percent with fallow having all but disappeared with the exception of Tanzania (7,8%) and less so Uganda (5%). The result of African farmers more than doubling annual increases in cropped land from 1.7Mha in 2004-2007 to just under 4Mha in 2016-2019. Production gains have been through an increase in area under cultivation; that is, as opposed to gains in productivity. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the world where production increases have been realised exclusively through increases in physical yields. Studies have shown that if progress on crop yields in Africa does not improve, the continent will lose large amounts of its natural habitat to farmland. In many countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, researchers estimate that cropland could almost triple by 2050. This will come at the cost of wildlife: in these same projections, 10% to 20% of animal habitats will be lost.
For some smallholders, adopting an agroecological approach to farming is an option. One, also, that makes their farm more robust so insulates themselves from debilitating pests and weather patterns. Such an approach also has the potential to undo some of the environmental degradations of conventional farming by restoring nutrients to the soil. All this said, however:
1. African smallholder farmers, unlike their European counterparts, are taxed in the form of subsidising urban consumer prices and lack a voice and agency to reform such govt interference. 2. There is little or no evidence that such practice will boost yields to the extent needed; 3. It assumes farming households, where often labour not land is the binding constraint, will be in a position to allocate more time to farm this way when household members are malnourished; and, relatedly 4. Food security for some households is not necessarily best pursued through own production.
Agroecological techniques replace the "vicious cycles" bringing down our planetary support systems with "virtuous circles" that mimic nature's own systems. For instance, agroecology can restore soil fertility and sequester carbon naturally rather than spewing it dangerously into the atmosphere or as acid into the ocean. Its nutrient cycling approach — whereby nitrogen passes again and again through food systems, roots, and soils — can turn waste into raw materials rather than pollutants.
As already mentioned, current performance metrics for agroecology often fail to take the type of multifunctionality set out above into account. Rather they focus disproportionately on productivity and profitability. This limits its assessment of the multiple economic, environmental, and social values created by agroecological farming systems.
3. Do we already have some demonstrative empirical evidence proving or disproving the value of agroecology?
Sone examples that, if you have not already seen them, I hope will be helpful.
A systematic overview of the effects of agroecological practices on socio-economic indicators using a sustainable livelihoods framework Agroecological practices also bring ancillary benefits to poor rural regions. This study found that, since this kind of farming is labour-intensive, it can create valuable employment opportunities in communities starved for jobs. In addition, the emphasis that agroecology places on biodiversity dramatically improves nutrition in many developing countries, especially in areas formerly reliant on cereal-based systems that produced large quantities of rice, wheat and maize, which lack vital micro-nutrients. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283721240_Social_and_economic_performance_of_Agroecology and here: https://www.iatp.org/sites/default/files/2019-06/2019_06_11_Agroecology_links_IATP.pdf
A farmer case study An inspirational mentor of mine – Master water harvester Mr Zepheniah Phiri from Zvishavane District, Zimbabwe – who said Farming systems need to “rhyme with nature” if they are to be sustainable. Mr Phiri’s farm integrated scientific understanding with his knowledge of how to make his local landscapes useful to humans. He celebrated the value of diverse and complex methods of land stewardship. His approach re-integrates livestock, crops, pollinators, trees, and water in ways that work resiliently with the landscape.
Unlike other farming systems that rely only on annuals that grow rapidly during the brief rain periods, his system focuses on perennials, or at least multi-year species like bananas, reeds, bamboo, sugar cane and yams. With deep and extensive roots, they can access water and nutrients at a deeper level. The roots also have a stabilizing effect, tying up the soil and preventing surface erosion by wind and water. As the roots slow down water runoff, they can help manage streams and avoid dry or flash flood situations.
The wide diversity of crops, livestock and other products provides him with a steady and resilient income through the vicissitudes of economic and ecological crisis, cycle and change. He has become very resilient to droughts, for he is putting far more water into the soil than he takes out. Phiri practices a wide diversity of crop rotations tailored to meet the different soil-water conditions and to help manage weeds, pests and diseases. https://afsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/water_harvesting_zimbabwe.pdf
The Foresight Global Food and Farming Futures project This reviewed 40 agroecological projects in 20 African countries. Between 2000 and 2010, these initiatives doubled crop yields, resulting in nearly 5.8 million extra tons of food. But agroecology doesn't just increase the output of farms. It values farmers' relationships with and knowledge of their lands. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7e00c6ed915d74e33ef6a8/14-533-future-african-agriculture.pdf
Scaling-up agroecological approaches: what, why and how? A useful discussion paper produced by Oxfam in 2014 that provides an extensive body of evidence demonstrating how efficient scaling-up of agroecological approaches can contribute to ensuring sustainable and resilient agricultural and food systems today and in the future.
RE: Proving the value of agroecology for farmers and food systems: what methods and evidence do we have?
Dear Ravinder,
Many thanks for your post on agroecology and its call for explaining and measuring its value. Really interesting, hence this reply. Coincidentally I worked at NRI from 1997-2002, thoughI never made it to Associate Professor 😏
I thought your first question, ‘hidden’ in your introduction was great, so I've tried to answer it. I then provide, I hope, some useful references by way of answering your third question on available evidence.
1. But do we really understand the value of agroecology in terms of its potential contribution to poverty alleviation, human health, and the environment?
I think there remains widespread misunderstanding about the environmental impact of food production. Modern-day agriculture is not a battle between “good” organic farmers and “bad” industrial ones. Just because a farm is organic does not mean it has sidestepped environmental and social drawbacks of large-scale farming. Organic farms, for instance, can still employ a damaging monoculture approach. Rather, it is between sterile monocultures of a limited number of foods and a more diverse approach to farming. One which marries a particular place’s unique ecology with local farmers’ knowledge of how to make their landscapes useful to humans: Agroecology. The only way to feed the Earth’s rapidly growing population without destroying the planet. Many farmers practice what is referred to as “climate smart agriculture”. Thing is we often do not know about them. Worse, we don’t seek to find them and learn. More often than you would hope or expect, the starting point is that research institutions can offer them ways to practice ‘it’. The example of Mr Zepheniah Phiri, an indigenous innovator, is a wonderful example of an agroecological farmer. (See later.) The opportunity for support is less about extending climate smart agricultural practices to him and his farm, more about extending his approach to others (and preferably not through farmer field schools!)
Moving on. The productivity of nearly one-half of all soil worldwide is decreasing. Another 15 percent can no longer be used for farming because its biology has been so depleted. Biodiversity is fading, too. Look at Africa: Fallow areas have virtually disappeared. On average the rate of fallow is 1.2 percent with fallow having all but disappeared with the exception of Tanzania (7,8%) and less so Uganda (5%). The result of African farmers more than doubling annual increases in cropped land from 1.7Mha in 2004-2007 to just under 4Mha in 2016-2019. Production gains have been through an increase in area under cultivation; that is, as opposed to gains in productivity. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the world where production increases have been realised exclusively through increases in physical yields. Studies have shown that if progress on crop yields in Africa does not improve, the continent will lose large amounts of its natural habitat to farmland. In many countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, researchers estimate that cropland could almost triple by 2050. This will come at the cost of wildlife: in these same projections, 10% to 20% of animal habitats will be lost.
For some smallholders, adopting an agroecological approach to farming is an option. One, also, that makes their farm more robust so insulates themselves from debilitating pests and weather patterns. Such an approach also has the potential to undo some of the environmental degradations of conventional farming by restoring nutrients to the soil. All this said, however:
1. African smallholder farmers, unlike their European counterparts, are taxed in the form of subsidising urban consumer prices and lack a voice and agency to reform such govt interference.
2. There is little or no evidence that such practice will boost yields to the extent needed;
3. It assumes farming households, where often labour not land is the binding constraint, will be in a position to allocate more time to farm this way when household members are malnourished; and, relatedly
4. Food security for some households is not necessarily best pursued through own production.
Agroecological techniques replace the "vicious cycles" bringing down our planetary support systems with "virtuous circles" that mimic nature's own systems. For instance, agroecology can restore soil fertility and sequester carbon naturally rather than spewing it dangerously into the atmosphere or as acid into the ocean. Its nutrient cycling approach — whereby nitrogen passes again and again through food systems, roots, and soils — can turn waste into raw materials rather than pollutants.
As already mentioned, current performance metrics for agroecology often fail to take the type of multifunctionality set out above into account. Rather they focus disproportionately on productivity and profitability. This limits its assessment of the multiple economic, environmental, and social values created by agroecological farming systems.
3. Do we already have some demonstrative empirical evidence proving or disproving the value of agroecology?
Sone examples that, if you have not already seen them, I hope will be helpful.
A systematic overview of the effects of agroecological practices on socio-economic indicators using a sustainable livelihoods framework
Agroecological practices also bring ancillary benefits to poor rural regions. This study found that, since this kind of farming is labour-intensive, it can create valuable employment opportunities in communities starved for jobs. In addition, the emphasis that agroecology places on biodiversity dramatically improves nutrition in many developing countries, especially in areas formerly reliant on cereal-based systems that produced large quantities of rice, wheat and maize, which lack vital micro-nutrients. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283721240_Social_and_economic_performance_of_Agroecology and here: https://www.iatp.org/sites/default/files/2019-06/2019_06_11_Agroecology_links_IATP.pdf
A farmer case study
An inspirational mentor of mine – Master water harvester Mr Zepheniah Phiri from Zvishavane District, Zimbabwe – who said Farming systems need to “rhyme with nature” if they are to be sustainable. Mr Phiri’s farm integrated scientific understanding with his knowledge of how to make his local landscapes useful to humans. He celebrated the value of diverse and complex methods of land stewardship. His approach re-integrates livestock, crops, pollinators, trees, and water in ways that work resiliently with the landscape.
Unlike other farming systems that rely only on annuals that grow rapidly during the brief rain periods, his system focuses on perennials, or at least multi-year species like bananas, reeds, bamboo, sugar cane and yams. With deep and extensive roots, they can access water and nutrients at a deeper level. The roots also have a stabilizing effect, tying up the soil and preventing surface erosion by wind and water. As the roots slow down water runoff, they can help manage streams and avoid dry or flash flood situations.
The wide diversity of crops, livestock and other products provides him with a steady and resilient income through the vicissitudes of economic and ecological crisis, cycle and change. He has become very resilient to droughts, for he is putting far more water into the soil than he takes out. Phiri practices a wide diversity of crop rotations tailored to meet the different soil-water conditions and to help manage weeds, pests and diseases.
https://afsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/water_harvesting_zimbabwe.pdf
The Foresight Global Food and Farming Futures project
This reviewed 40 agroecological projects in 20 African countries. Between 2000 and 2010, these initiatives doubled crop yields, resulting in nearly 5.8 million extra tons of food. But agroecology doesn't just increase the output of farms. It values farmers' relationships with and knowledge of their lands. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7e00c6ed915d74e33ef6a8/14-533-future-african-agriculture.pdf
Scaling-up agroecological approaches: what, why and how?
A useful discussion paper produced by Oxfam in 2014 that provides an extensive body of evidence demonstrating how efficient scaling-up of agroecological approaches can contribute to ensuring sustainable and resilient agricultural and food systems today and in the future.
https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/agphome/scpi/Agroecology/Agroecology_Scaling-up_agroecology_what_why_and_how_-OxfamSol-FINAL.pdf
My thanks again.
Daniel