Agroecology

Introduction

The agricultural and rural domains are characterized by internal and external drivers which menace the system, such as GM crops’ threats to agriculture and human health, supermarkets’ power over consumers and farmers, the imposition of the WTO liberalizing agenda, and the displacement of farmland to marginal locations due to land speculation. In addition, despite the promises of the green and biotechnology revolutions, the number of both hungry and fat people in the world is high. Meanwhile, food crises are taking place one after another, and industrial agriculture has become one of the most resource-consuming and polluting among all human activities. It is obvious that agriculture and rural policies stand on the threshold of radical reforms. This is the substrate where agroecology is growing.

Historical Background

The foundations of agroecology are well entrenched in the long history of peasant practices and discourses standing against industrial agriculture schemes. The...