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Agroecology & Institutions Challenges, opportunities and recent examples from Argentina Pablo A. Tittonell National Program on Natural Resources and the Environment, INTA, Argentina
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 of 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
0
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
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
1961 1969 1977 1985 1993 2001 2009 2017 2025
Gra
in (
mil
lio
n t
on
)
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
Tilleringrate
N infertiliser
Claycontent
Standdensity
Sowingdate
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
Leve
ls in
sys
tem
inn
ova
tio
n
Time
Niche innovations
Cross-scale feedback
Landscapes, regimes and niches
Niche innovations
Turbulent socio-technical landscape
Adapting socio-technical regime
Frequent openings & feedbacks
Leve
ls in
sys
tem
inn
ova
tio
n
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
RE-DESIGN RE-DESIGN
Implem
entation support and m
onitoring
DIAGNOSIS IMPLEMENTATION AND
EVALUATION IMPLEMENTATION AND
EVALUATION
Planned improvements % adoptionDrainage and erosion control 83Green manures 88Chicken manure 100Crop Rotation 75Rotation with pastures 64Area of Crops 100Crop manag 93Strategic weed control 81Record sheets 44
Post-project adoption (Dogliotti et al., 2014)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Fa
mil
y I
nc
om
e ($
u yr
-1)
Soil erosion (Mg ha-1 yr-1)
Farm 1 Farm 2 Farm 3
Initial
Actual
Potential
Initial
Initial
Actual
ActualPotential
Potential
Farm monitoring + model exploration
Co-innovation: a dialogue of wisdoms
0
20
40
60
80
100
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Rel
ativ
e n
ecta
r av
aila
bili
ty
0
20
40
60
80
100
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Rel
ativ
e ap
hid
ava
ilab
ility
National Vegetation Database grey = field borders
green = existing hedgerows
red = planned new hedgerows
500 m.
Participatory landscape design
7 objectives prioritised
Bioc
ontro
l
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)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Argentina Brazil
L h
a-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 or 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.Giobellina2014,enbaseaMunicipalidadCórdoba2008
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
Inst
itu
tio
nal
inn
ova
tio
n
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!
