Democratizing Agrifood Systems: A Critical Look at Agroecoloy Paper Example

Introduction

In the course of human history, food security remains a significant global development agenda. Among the greatest questions of the century is on the world's ability to meet the food demands of the population in a sustainable way. Dangour, Mace and Shankar (2017) define an agrifood system as activities of producing, processing, distributing, marketing, consuming and disposing of foodstuff. Based on this definition, there are varying actors as well as interrelated activities in the food system. A sustainable food system guarantees the production and consumption of healthy diets while minimizing negative ecological effects to meet presents and future food security (Lindgren, 2018). Actors may range from farmers to manufacturers, retailers, consumers, researchers, and policymakers. Bellamy and Ioris (2017) note that the existing agrifood systems have created economic exclusion, which with the growing demand for food leads to social and ecological crisis. Consequently, there is a growing movement calling for reforms on the agrifood systems. This paper examines the concept and role of agroecology in addressing the gaps in the food systems from a social and ecological perspective. Agroecology plays a significant role in democratizing conventional agrifood systems to achieve sustainability.

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Analysis of the Status of Agrifood Systems

A number of sustainability issues affect the current conventional agri-food systems. Despite the significant growth of population, meeting the global food demands remains a challenge. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that about 842 million people, accounting for 12% of the world's human population experience chronic hunger (Van der Lee, Helder, & Groot, 2014). There are approximate 2 billion people globally whose diet lacks nutritional value (Van der Lee, 2014). In Sub-Saharan Africa and most of South Asia, most countries experience food insecurity that is further aggravated by violent conflicts (Van der Lee, 2014). In these countries, and much of the world people are unable to meet their dietary needs through access to sufficient and safe food. These facts indicate that despite the rise in food production technology, supply of food is insufficient.

Compelling evidence shows that the current agri-food system is contributing to negative environmental impacts. In ecological aspects, the production system is driving the consumption of fossil fuel, water resources, soils, and natural forests at alarming rates (Singh, Haas, & Frankova, 2017). More so, in manufacturing and processing, the activities involved lead to air, water, and land pollution. The combined effect is the loss of biodiversity, global warming, and leading to an increase in natural disasters. In addition, prevailing food consumption patterns are unhealthy and unsustainable. For example, estimates show that in 2010, about 12 million deaths directly linked to unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity (Singh et al., 2017). More so, the agrifood system results in food wastage along the line. FAO estimates that up to 1.3 billion metric tons of the food accounting to a third of all global production is lost each year (Dou, 2016). Judging for the foregoing issues, it is evident that there is a systemic problem in the food systems requiring a multifaceted solution such as agro-ecology.

Concept of Agro-ecology

Different schools of thought attempt to explain the concept of Agro-ecology. Bellamy & Ioris (2017) perceive agro-ecology as a set of practical and technical adjustments, a social movement that transcends state boundaries, in which diverse collective actions occur the coordination of grassroots activities. Thus, the concept uses practical and political methods to achieve social change. Agroecology connects to issue of governance in the food and agriculture sector. There are significant changes in the governance of agrifood systems due to political, economic, and cultural transformation. Currently, neoliberal ideas, global distribution, and marketing chains, and the rise of retail oligopolies characterize the systems (Konefal & Hatanaka, 2010). In other words, the governance of food and agricultural system is slowly shifting from the state to corporates. There is a realization that the current distribution of power and wealth in the existing agrifood system is dominated by multinational corporates. Bellamy & Ioris (2017) observes that large players use their influence to maintain a status quo that works for them. Consequently, agroecology has grown as a response to the existing disparities with the aim of addressing socio-economic, political, and ecological imbalances of the agri-food system.

Areas that Agro-ecology has ImpactedAgro-ecology impacts the current agrifood systems by providing three alternative solutions that are either scientific, political, or practical. Scientific agro-ecology focuses on the ecological aspects involved in the production of food on the farm (Bellamy & Ioris, 2017). Thus, in its context, this group does not consider the political, social, and cultural facets, as they are not scientific. As such, scientific agro-ecology advocates for the use of technology and production related initiatives (Bellamy & Ioris, 2017). Agro-ecology is gaining acceptance in universities as a discipline that promotes practical production, reduces effects on the environment, and promotes social justice. For example, in the many universities in the United States and Europe now have curricula in agro-ecology (Francis& Weze, 2015). Hence, this stream is concerned with generating research and techniques that can solve the food system problems.

Practical agro-ecology offers a holistic and systematic approach to the management of a farms ecosystem. To begin with, practical agro-ecology encourages the use of critical farm techniques such as organic farming, energy use reduction, holistic pest control, utilization of local seeds, and crop rotation (Francis & Weze, 2015). Such methods are ideal for preserving agro-biodiversity. Further, the stream promotes the concentration of farmer knowledge. Such measures may include small-scale farming where farmers are empowered with farm inputs and credit financing. In so doing, agro-ecology furthers a bottom-up approach that challenges the influence of the institutional corporates. At this practical level, agro-ecology also encourages collaborative and communal practices such as knowledge sharing. In this case, the perception is that developing human resource is the best option for increasing production among rural poor farmers (Bellamy & Ioris, 2017). Ultimately, agro-ecology movement uses a practical approach to achieve a sustainable agrarian evolution.

Political agro-ecology is revolutionary in nature. This branch of agro-ecology considers the agriculture and food production systems as political constructs. Bellamy and Ioris (2017) that the stream foremost concern is creating advocacy on the power relations within the food system like class and gender resulting in unequal resources access and degradation. Therefore, political agro-ecology focuses on broad food systems especially those dominated by multinational corporations and governments. Moreover, the stream chief aim is food sovereignty by increasing the control of farmers in all aspects of food production (Francis & Weze, 2015). Hence, there is a deliberate attempt to transform and empower small-scale farmers through social advocacy. The political impacts of agro-ecology more spread in Latin America. The Brazil grassroots movements and the Via Campesina are success stories (Francis & Weze, 2015). The two have largely publicized the efficiency of small-scale agriculture and advocated for peasants rights and sovereignty in agriculture.

Challenges and Limitations of Agro-ecology

There are physical, logistical and conceptual challenges limiting the expansion of agro-ecological practices. Firstly, the approach is limited by rural-urban migration. In its strategic alignment, agro-ecology is pro-rural development through empowerment of small-scale farmers. However, a growing trend currently has seen labor movements into urban areas, land abandonment, and shift to intensive agriculture (Labrianidis & Sykas, 2009). Ideally, the result is few landowners and labors who can engage in knowledge-based extensive farming. Secondly, there is doubt on whether agro-ecology based agriculture can meet the levels of productivity needs for food demands. In this case, opponents argue that the alternative practices advocated by the system encourage small-scale mixed farming leaving few marketable surpluses (Bellamy & Ioris, 2017). In this case, then, traditional agri-food systems that promote intensive monoculture farming appear to generate high productivity. Although proponents argue that agro-ecology is equally productive, there is a need for the discipline to refine its productivity assessment measures.

Lastly, the conceptual definition of agro-ecology limits its growth as a socio-political movement. There is a need for clarity in the definition since the scope is too wide. The concept is presented as trans-disciplinary, political, and transcending all activities in the food system. The broad scope makes it ambiguous and compromises application of implementation strategy. More so, it is difficult to draw cause and effect relationships under agro-ecology due to lack of boundaries. For example, it is difficult to measure if changes in the agri-food system resulted from a farmer, a state, or an international actor (Bellamy & Ioris, 2017). Lastly, due to its vagueness, agro-ecology is open to interpretations by various actors in the food system who may define and limit its scope. Accordingly, it necessary to redefine agro-ecology to remove the ambiguity that diffuses intended movement objectives.

Conclusion

It is evident that agro-ecology is playing a vital role in expanding the socio-economic and political space within the agri-food systems. The agri-food system encompasses all the processes involved in food production, processing, retailing up to consumption. Currently, the food system faces challenges such as the inability to meet demand, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss, as well as food wastage. Agro-ecology is a social change movement that seeks to solve the challenges of agri-food systems through scientific applications, practical techniques, and political reforms. It arises that multinational corporations maintain the current food system to serve their interests leading to social inequalities. Agro-ecology proposes scientific and research technologies that can increase food production. More so, it offers practical techniques such as organic farming, crop rotation, and use of native seeds to preserve ecological integrity. Notably, as a social-political movement it advocates for knowledge-based initiatives that empower the rural farmers to challenge the corporate dominance. The success of agro-ecology measures is limited by rural-urban migration, which frees up land reduces labor thus encouraging intensive farming. Likewise, agro-ecology is criticized for encouraging small-scale farming thus reducing production. Besides, the concept is seen as idealist and ambiguous which leads to the diffusion of its objective. Progressively, the benefits of agro-ecology will be realized if its boundaries are redefined and its productivity measures improved.

References

Dangour, A. D., Mace, G., & Shankar, B. (2017). Food systems, nutrition, health, and the environment. The Lancet Planetary Health, 1(1), e8-e9.

Dou, Z., Ferguson, J. D., Galligan, D. T., Kelly, A. M., Finn, S. M., & Giegengack, R. (2016). Assessing US food wastage and opportunities for reduction. Global Food Security, 8, 19-26....