Toward a Feminist Agroecology

Zaremba, Haley; Elias, Marlène; Rietveld, Anne M.; Bergamini, N.

doi:10.3390/su132011244

Cited by 31 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The result showed that women were more likely to join the group than their main counterparts. This confirms the idea that agroecology groups provide an empowerment platform for women and other historically marginalized stakeholders in the food system such as the caste and smallholder farmers (Oteros-Rozas et al, 2019;Zaremba et al, 2021). This is also not surprising as 83% of the group members were women.…”

Section: Determinants For Joining the Groupsupporting

confidence: 71%

Who profits from agroecology to secure food and nutrition? On access of women to markets and assets

Ume¹,

Nuppenau²,

Domptail³

2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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In contrast to a large body of literature linking agroecology to food security through sustainable agronomic practices, research on how agroecology enhances smallholder farmers’ access to productive resources, yet necessary for food security and nutrition, is sparse in Africa. Literature does not consider the fact that agroecology practices are often adopted via entering a group that provides corresponding knowledge, network and possibly markets. We investigate the case of an agroecology group operating parallel to the dominant agri-industrial food system in Southeast Nigeria. We ask: who are the agroecology farmers? Do they improve their food status in comparison to conventional smallholders operating in the commodity oriented agro-industrial system? Who appears to benefit most among agroecology farmers? To provide answers to these questions, we collected data from 334 smallholder farmers (comprising 111 agroecology farmers and 223 non-agroecology farmers) through a stratified cluster sampling process. Descriptive statistics of our data showed that women make up 89% of the agroecology farmers in the group. We found that in both the agroecology and the conventional groups, women farmers had little access to land, even lower ownership of land, little exposure to extension services, and no access to financial credits. Thus, the sample of female farmers we addressed consists of marginal persons who operate at the margins of the capital and input-based networks and agricultural production. In contrast to the expectation of conventional hypotheses, we show that on average, agroecology farmers had lower food insecurity experiences and higher observed dietary diversity scores. Exploring more detail within the agroecology group via a quantile semi-parametric propensity score matching, we further show that women left out of conventional extension services benefit more from being in the agroecology group. Similarly, the increase in food security and nutrition was highest among those farmers who balance self-provisioning and market as food sources compared to strategies pursued mainly by one of these two sources. To these farmers, mostly women, the agroecology group provides alternative to access important resources and knowledge that they ordinarily would not have accessed being in the capitalistic food system, and which enables them to reach their nutrition goals. Our study supports a conceptualization of agroecology as an interdependency between agroecological agronomic practices, reciprocity and autonomy-fostering social innovations.

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Section: Determinants For Joining the Groupsupporting

confidence: 71%

Who profits from agroecology to secure food and nutrition? On access of women to markets and assets

Ume¹,

Nuppenau²,

Domptail³

2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…This method creates awareness about women's power, promotes their participation in social decision-making, educates women on different types of technologies and helps them become agents of change. The second one is the policy approach that promotes women's empowerment policies [52]; (2) enhancement of farmers' independence; fairness, participation in land and natural resource governance; and (3) the privileging of the value of diversity in knowledge and know-how [41,49]. Thus, agroecology hinges on collaborative participation of researchers and knowledge systems, allowing decolonization of research and the identification of norms for governing ecosystems and improving agriculture systems [53].…”

Section: Agroecology As An Integrated and Interdisciplinary Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change, Food Security, and Health: Harnessing Agroecology to Build Climate-Resilient Communities

2022

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Climate change threatens human health, food security, and ecological sustainability. In marginalized and vulnerable communities around the globe, there is a crucial need to initiate actions to reduce adverse climatic impacts and support sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly on food and health. Climate change’s multidimensional and complex impact on food and health has prompted calls for an integrated, science-based approach that could simultaneously improve the environment and nourish development-constrained communities. This paper examines a transdisciplinary practice of agroecology that bridges the gap between science, practice, and policy for climate action. We also analyze the significance of agroecology in building climate-resilient communities through sustainable food systems. We assert that the marriage of science and local knowledge that addresses access inequities through agroecology can lessen the impact of climate change on rural communities to achieve healthier, more sustainable, and equitable food systems. Furthermore, a transformative agroecological paradigm can provide farmers with a host of adaptive possibilities leading to healthier communities, improved food security, and restored lands and forests that can sequester greenhouse gases. Based on our findings, we call on the science and policy communities to integrate agroecology as part of the broader strategic approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

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“…Overuse of nitrogen fertilization in China's largely agriculturalized areas has resulted in major environmental issues, including air, soil, and water enrichment with reactive nitrogen from agricultural sources. The study outlined in [18] examines grain yields and nitrogen loss patterns in two intensive double-cropping systems in China: waterlogged rice/upland wheat in the Taihu region and rainfed maize and irrigated wheat on the North China Plain. Current nitrogen application approaches, averaging 550-600 kg per hectare every year, do not result in appreciable gains in crop yields, in contrast to optimal nitrogen fertilization methods that have the potential to save 30-60% of nitrogen usage.…”

Section: Sustainable Intensificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability via Agroecology and Sustainable Intensification Strategies

Raj,

Kumar,

Sabir

et al. 2024

E3S Web of Conf.

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The science of ecology is incorporated into farm development and operation through agroecological techniques. A paradigm shift in agriculture is essential to combat hunger, adapt to climate trade, and mitigate environmental degradation. By doing this, researchers may further acknowledge the interdependence of farmed and nonfarmed landscapes and the variety of products and services that robust ecosystems offer, including resilience, nutrient cycling, and pest control, all of which can help sustain yields. Agro-ecology relies heavily on the knowledge and experience of farmers since it fosters independence and decreases reliance on costly outside resources. The concepts of sustainable intensification and agroecology are examined in this paper as additional strategies to address the global issue of increasing food production while lowering environmental impacts. Also, this study evaluates how effectively these approaches boost crop yields, lower environmental costs, and build resilience to climate unpredictability by closely examining existing programs, integrated management strategies, and field experiments. Supporting the findings is a comparative table that shows several techniques of sustainable intensification and how they have an effect on yields and environmental costs. In order to expand resilient, sustainable, and equitable food systems, a discussion of the necessity of a paradigm shift towards agroecological strategies is addressed in the paper's conclusion.

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Toward a Feminist Agroecology

Cited by 31 publications

References 32 publications

Who profits from agroecology to secure food and nutrition? On access of women to markets and assets

Who profits from agroecology to secure food and nutrition? On access of women to markets and assets

Climate Change, Food Security, and Health: Harnessing Agroecology to Build Climate-Resilient Communities

Optimizing Food Security and Environmental Sustainability via Agroecology and Sustainable Intensification Strategies

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