Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems

ISSN: 2168-3565 (Print) 2168-3573 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/wjsa21

Defining Agroecology

Steve Gliessman

To cite this article: Steve Gliessman (2018) Defining Agroecology, Agroecology and Sustainable
Food Systems, 42:6, 599-600, DOI: 10.1080/21683565.2018.1432329
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2018.1432329

Published online: 28 Mar 2018.

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AGROECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS
2018, VOL. 42, NO. 6, 599–600
https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2018.1432329

EDITORIAL

Defining Agroecology

When agroecology first emerged in the early 1980s, it was most often viewed as a form of
resistance and an alternative to the changes sweeping through the food system as a result
of the green revolution, simplification through monocultures, industrialization of all
aspects of food production, processing, and distribution, and the increasing corporate
control and dominance of the food system. The most common definition of agroecology
at this time was the application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and
management of sustainable agroecosystems, or the science of sustainable agriculture.
(Altieri 1995; Gliessman 1990, 1997, 2013).
In its early years, the primary focus of agroecology was at the farm level, or the farm
agroecosystem. This approach encouraged farmers to substitute the inputs and practices
of conventional industrial farming (especially fossil fuel-based chemicals and fertilizers)
and move towards certifiable organic production systems. Farmers also began to bring
diversity back into their farming systems when it became evident that pure substitution
of inputs was not enough to overcome the problems common to monoculture systems.
Farming systems began to be redesigned for resistance to the these problems.
By the end of the 1990s, the definition of agroecology grew to become the ecology of
the entire food system (Francis et al 2003). The agroecosystem was no longer just the
farm, but needed to include all aspects and participants in the food system. And since
everyone eats, this means the entirety of humanity. This included the importance of re-
establishing the close relationships between the people who grow the food and the people
who eat it, while reducing the negative impacts of the intermediary system between the
two. Agroecology became a way of building relationship-based market systems that are
equitable, just, and accessible for all (Gliessman 2007).
But to bring about full food system change, agroecology has taken a political economy
focus in order to confront and develop alternatives to the political and economic power
that has created the “lock-ins” (IPES-Food 2016) that keep food systems from changing
(Gliessman 2015).
Therefore, the definition of agroecology has evolved to the following:
Agroecology is the integration of research, education, action and change that brings
sustainability to all parts of the food system: ecological, economic, and social. It’s
transdisciplinary in that it values all forms of knowledge and experience in food system
change. It’s participatory in that it requires the involvement of all stakeholders from the
farm to the table and everyone in between. And it is action-oriented because it confronts
the economic and political power structures of the current industrial food system with
alternative social structures and policy action. The approach is grounded in ecological
thinking where a holistic, systems-level understanding of food system sustainability is
required.
Transforming agriculture in a fundamental way—putting it on a sustainable path—is
going to be a tremendous challenge. A basic assumption of agroecology is that we can
hope to meet this challenge only if we approach it on three different fronts
simultaneously.
600 EDITORIAL

First, we require more and better knowledge of the ecological relationships among
domesticated agricultural species, among these species and the physical environment
(especially the soil ecosystem), and among these species and those of natural systems.
This need is satisfied by the science aspect of agroecology, which draws on modern
ecological knowledge and methods to derive the principles that can be used to design
and manage sustainable agroecosystems.
Second, we require effective and innovative agricultural practices, on-the-ground
systems that work in the present to satisfy our food needs while laying the groundwork
for the more-sustainable systems of the future. Satisfying this need is the practical aspect
of agroecology, which values the local, empirical, and indigenous knowledge of farmers
and the sharing of this knowledge, and which undercuts the distinction between the
production of knowledge and its application.
Finally, circumstances demand fundamental changes in the ways that humans relate
to food, the economic and social systems that determine the distribution of food, and the
ways in which food mediates the relationships of power among populations, classes, and
countries. Serving this need is the social-change aspect of agroecology, which not only
advocates for the changes that will lead to food security for all, but also seeks knowledge
of the means by which these changes can be activated and sustained.
Although each of these aspects of agroecology is critical, their integration is what
forms the framework for food system transformation.
Agroecology as science
Agroecology as practice
Agroecology as a social movement
We need all three to create the momentum for food system transformation.

Steve Gliessman
Editor
ASFS

References
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