Agroecology & Institutions Challenges, opportunities and recent - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Agroecology & Institutions

Challenges, opportunities and recent examples from Argentina Pablo A. Tittonell

National Program on Natural Resources and the Environment, INTA, Argentina

• 1. Organisations that deal with agriculture and rural development

were not built around agroecology

• 2. Agroecology movements, scientists and activists are often weary
• f joining forces with ‘traditional’ institutions
• 3. Agroecology is perceived as hobby farming, or as pro-poor and

unprofessional, or as elitist and snobby, or as politicised and combative, as being non-realistic, etc., etc., etc….

ETC group

Agroecology & institutions – a mismatch Agroecology principles

 Diversity  Resource efficiency  Recycling  Natural regulation  Synergies

3

Agroecology as a scientific discipline

2000s 1960/70s 1980s 1990s 1940/50s 1920/30s

Scale: field/plot Scope: biology/physics Descriptive nature Scale: agro-ecosystem Scope: ecology/agronomy Analytical nature From descriptive to analytical, increases scope and scale From analytical to prescriptive, further increases scope and scale Conceptual framework to design and manage agro- ecosystems

Agroecology as a set of practices

2000s 1970s 1980s 1990s

Further increases scope and scale: Agroecology as the interdisciplinary study of food systems Agro-ecological principles inspire farming practices Indigenous agricultural knowledge for natural resources management

Agroecology as a social movement

2000s 1980s 1990s

Spread of practices is intertwined with movements Indigenous knowledge and family farms Agro-biodiversity, food sovereignty Sustainable agricultural intensification and food systems Agroecological practices are introduced or further developed (conservation agriculture, permaculture, system of rice intensification, organic farming) Agroecological practices as alternative paradigm to conventional agric.

http://pubs.iied.org/14629IIED.html?c=foodag

Agroecology in history

Rice-ducks-fish-azolla - Indonesia

Khumairoh et al., 2012

Building upon local agroecological knowledge

Rice yield (t ha-1) at increasing levels of complexity

2 4 6 8 10 12 Rice Rice + ducks Rice + compost Rice + ducks + fis h

• Rice

+ compost + azolla Rice + ducks + compost Rice + ducks + fish + compost Rice + ducks + compost + azolla Rice + ducks + fish + compost + azolla

Assessing greenhouse gas emissions (T. del Rio, 2014)

Air ammonia concentration at 3 sampling dates Nutritional ‘carrying capacity’ of each system

(G. Garnacho Alemany, 2014)

Desakota Project, Indonesia, Studio FELIXX (2014)

Complex rural-urban matrix

Nutrient cycling Processing Trading and distribution

Large scale rice-fish polycultures (Argentina)

• 900 ha rice-fish system (and growing)
• Use of a local fish species (Pacú)
• Water and nutrient recycling
• Agrochemical-free rice (9 t/ha)
• Native grasses to outcompete weeds (Echinocloa)
• Processing and cooling facilities
• Challenge: reduce dependence on sojabean

Before After

Minas Gerais, Brazil

Extreme poverty (%) in Brazil, 1990-2008

FAO, 2010

Zero hunger program

Targeted actions

A national policy on agroecology

“People in China, who with brain and brawn, have successfully and continuously sustained large families on small areas without impoverishing their soil. ”

580 600 620 640 214 305 407 505 431 531 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 1961 1969 1977 1985 1993 2001 2009 2017 2025 Grain (million ton) Year Grain demand Grain production Population

The challenge of feeding an increasingly urban population

张强

黑龙江农科院 中国农大 吉林农科院 吉林农大 中国农大 中国农大 中国农大 河北农科院 河北农大 山东农大 青岛农大 南京农大 安徽科技学院 安徽农科院 浙大 华中农大 南亚所 中国农大 海南大学 四川农科院 西南大学 山西农科院 内蒙古农大 西北农林大学 甘肃农科院 石河子大学 河南农大 云南农大 已建小院 23 在建小院 13 四川农大 广西大学

Stepwise approach: productivity, efficiency, incomes, diversification Fu-Suo Zhang Images were taken in March 27, 2004

0.1 to 0.3 ha per family

Credits: F. Zhang

The case of China

Ekoland Innovatieprijs 2013 High yielding organic cereal production in The Netherlands

Practice Planting density Weight 1000 seeds Plants/m2 at tillering Ears/m2 Grain yield (t/ha) Current 200 52 111 277 6.7 Adapted 60 60 84 317 7.7

Adapting management practices for organic wheat

Agronomic assessment of 380 fields from 1992 to 2009

Conventional vs. organic farming in La Camargue, France

Organic fields were sown later and had more weeds

Yield Tillering rate N in fertiliser Clay content Stand density Sowing date Conventional Organic

Comparing only the 20% best yielding fields

8.3 vs. 7.2 t/ha

A conventional farmer purchasing pesticides An agroecological farmer inspecting his intercrop

Comunicación e imágen

Photo: Steve Sherwood Photo: Clarin Rural Estancia Laguna Blanca, Entre Rios, Argentina Ecological farming on 3000 ha

Agroecology can also be high-tech!

e.g. nanotechnology solutions

Large scale cereal production Tres Arroyos, Argentina

Implications for agricultural science

Criterion ‘Classical' agronomy Agroecology

Domain Autoecology Synecology Dynamics Predictable outcomes, feedbacks formalized, continuity Complex feedbacks, randomness, hysteresis

(non-linearity, irreversibility, discontinuity)

Diversity A burden (weeds, heterogeneity,

asynchrony, etc.) – theory of control

An attribute (synergies, natural antagonism, risk

spreading, etc.) – theory of regulation

Up-scaling Aggregation: nested systems from field to world Emerging properties and interactions: the whole is more than the sum of its parts

Tittonell, 2014. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 8: 53–61

Diagnosis

‘Classical' agronomy Agroecology

• Land use efficiency (yield)
• Land equivalent ratios
• Yield gap/ yield potential
• Farm or landscape productivity gaps/

possibility frontiers

• Nutrient flows and balances
• Nutrient networks, cycling and

ascendency

• Efficiency as input/output ratio

(scale agnostic)

• Efficiency as a scale-dependent,

emerging property (matrix)

• Calories per unit area per unit

time

• Nutritional diversity over time

• 1. Agroecology requires innovative design
• 2. Agroecology requires landscape approaches
• 3. Farmers’ knowledge is central to dealing with

system- and context-specificity

• 4. Social organisation and movements to foster

learning and mutual support

agroecology

How to get out of the niche?

Slowly evolving socio- technical landscape Dynamically stable socio-technical regime Regular openings for niche innovations

Levels in system innovation Time

Niche innovations Cross-scale feedback

Landscapes, regimes and niches

Niche innovations Turbulent socio- technical landscape Adapting socio- technical regime Frequent

• penings &

feedbacks

Levels in system innovation Time

System innovation programs

Landscapes, regimes and niches

Tittonell et al., 2015. Local Innovation to Address Global Problems

(Complex) systems approach Social learning setting Dynamic project monitoring

Co-innovation Co-innovation in family agriculture (Latin America)

Family vegetable production system, Canelones, Uruguay

RE-DESIGN RE-DESIGN Implementation support and monitoring DIAGNOSIS IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION

Implementation

Process monitoring MSC Records and analysis of the interaction process between farmers and scientists Reflection workshop Records and analysis of the interaction process between farmers and scientists MSC Reflection workshop PIPA workshop Reflection workshop

Planned improvements % adoption Drainage and erosion control 83 Green manures 88 Chicken manure 100 Crop Rotation 75 Rotation with pastures 64 Area of Crops 100 Crop manag 93 Strategic weed control 81 Record sheets 44

Post-project adoption (Dogliotti et al., 2014)

100 200 300 400 500 600 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Family Income ($u yr-1) Soil erosion (Mg ha-1 yr-1)

Farm 1 Farm 2 Farm 3 Initial Actual Potential Initial Initial Actual Actual Potential Potential

Farm monitoring + model exploration

Co-innovation: a dialogue of wisdoms

20 40 60 80 100 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Relative nectar availability 20 40 60 80 100 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Relative aphid availability

National Vegetation Database

grey = field borders green = existing hedgerows red = planned new hedgerows 500 m.

Participatory landscape design

7 objectives prioritised Biocontrol Pesticide need

Current landscape

Groot and Rossing, 2010 Exploration of alternative landscape structures

Outreach questions

• Inclusiveness – is agroecological food only for

the wealthy?

• Scalability – can any type of farmer go

agroecological?

• Sustainability – is this always granted through

agroecology?

• Resilience – can agroecology withstand global

change?

An example Pesticide-free zones in Argentina

Deriva de vapor Deriva de Gota Escurrimiento superficial Lixiviación Adsorción

Good agricultural practices?

Julie Brodeur (INTA)

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 Argentina Brazil

L ha-1 yr-1

Use of agrochemicals (FAO Stat) Impacts on human health?

Pérez, R.A., De Luca, L.C., Giordano, G., Perez, M, 2015. Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo tecnológico para la Agricultura Familiar (IPAF), de la región pampeana. INTA, Argentina

Participatory learning and action research

• Autonomy: in terms of energy, economics,

knowledge, inputs, etc.;

• Minimum risk: economic, environmental and

health risks to be minimized for producers and consumers;

• Diversity: of land uses, species and practices to

increase sustainability;

• Local resources: resources and knowledge to local
• r assimilated and adapted to the local context

An opportunity: agroecology in urban margins

Elaboracion propa: Ana Falu – INVIHAB 2014.

Growing organically

Metabolismo del territorio y sus redes

Fuente: B.Giobellina 2014, en base a Municipalidad Córdoba 2008

• 2do Taller del Cinturón Verde, VillaEsquiú, 27 de

julio de 2015

Diciembre 2008

Growing organically

1993 2001 2008

Institutional innovations to support agroecology

National programs Research institutes Regional centres Experimen

• tal

stations Territorial projects Extension agencies Agroecology network Local actor X

Technical innovation Institutional innovation

Critical transition zone (vulnerability)

Transition or transformation? Continuity or rupture?

Policy innovation

Tittonell, 2014. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 8: 53–61

Farmers are getting old!

Influence of the food chain

Supporting transitions

• Challenge the current system
• Provide proof that alternatives work
• Work towards convergence*

* Be careful here!

Thanks for your attention

www.pablotittonell.net