Denice Natalie Repique

II-BSA

THE 10 ELEMENTS OF AGROECOLOGY

A SYNTHESIS

Agroecology is a practical approach to the design and management of food and agricultural systems that
incorporate ecological and social values. It seeks to enhance the interactions between plants, animals,
humans, and the environment while also addressing the social problems that must be addressed to build
a balanced and sustainable food system. In several countries around the world, it has been identified in
scientific literature and manifested itself in the practices of family farmers, grassroots social movements
for development, and public policies. Agroecology is more than just a compilation of agricultural
practices; it's also about improving social ties and empowering farmers through the addition of local
rights or a value chain. It's a key component of the FAO's Common Vision for Food and Agriculture
Sustainability.

DIVERSITY
Agroecological processes enhance species diversity and genetic diversity in some ways. Increasing
biodiversity has some benefits in terms of development, socioeconomics, nutrition, and the
environment. Crops, poultry, marine animals, and trees continue to lose genetic diversity at an
unprecedented pace. According to Dr. Yannet Jauhar-Jauhar, agroecology will help reverse these trends
by managing and conserving agrobiodiversity rice–fish and reacting to the rising development of
eco-friendly goods.

CO-CREATION AND SHARING KNOWLEDGE

The co-creation of knowledge is bringing together different types of knowledge. There's traditional
knowledge based on long many years of observation and experience in a place and understanding a local
ecosystem and social conditions that people are growing food and there's also specific knowledge using
experiments to test different options and sometimes it's a combination of those two things or other
kinds of knowledge but the co-creation is bringing together different forms of knowledge to learn and
problem-solving and create new forms of knowledge together and it's an essential part of agroecology
because it is horizontal knowledge where people are learning from each other and not just being having
knowledge transferred but really doing an experiment and participating together to understand and to
creatively problem-solve to figure out how to produce food sustainably in a particular place.

SYNERGIES
Agroecology is concerned with the design of systems that include annual and perennial crops, livestock
and aquatic animals, plants, soils, water, and other elements. Creating synergies in food systems has a
range of advantages, including better soil quality and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Rice
cultivation is combined with the production of other commodities such as fish, ducks, and trees in Asia's
integrated rice systems. According to the World Economic Forum, education – both formal and informal
– is crucial for sharing agroecological technologies produced through co-creation processes (WEF).

EFFICIENCY
We know one thing for sure is that industrial agriculture already failed to feed the world we will have
1billion people already starving and in addition to the ecological cost industrial agriculture are huge it
produces one-third of the greenhouse gasses, produces contamination of the environment with
pesticides and fertilizers that are causing all kinds of environmental problems and health problems
Denice Natalie Repique
II-BSA

worldwide. There is no other alternative but agroecology to come up with an alternative to producing
enough food that is going to be healthy but it's going to be accessible too. Today we know peasants
which are about 350 million farmers worldwide feed about 50% of the population. And some of these
peasants are producing with agricultural methods, methods that are based on their traditional
knowledge, millinery knowledge that has been passed from generation to generation and some of them
have influenced by NGO's or other organizational groups. The problem of feeding the world doesn't
have anything to do with productivity. I agree that we can enhance productivity and we can feed the
world with our ecological methods and then the matter of scale is not the area it's the number of
farmers and also their productivity per hectare. For example in Cuba, they have farmers that in one
hectare they produce enough food to feed between 15 and 30 people based on protein or based on
carbohydrates depends on what they're with energy efficiencies So it is very efficient, very diverse, and
also very resilient system because what's happening is that we're seeing that studies have been done on
the impacts of climatic events on productivity monocultures are the first to go, polyculture systems,
agroforestry systems, diversified farming systems that small farmers have are the ones that recover
faster from the impact. Industrial agriculture is not going to only be limited by the ecological problems
that are causing or not having ecological diversity that provides resiliency, they're going to collapse with
climate change so that we need is an alternative which is agroecology, and that agroecological system is
already been tested by thousands of farmers.

RECYCLING
Agroecological advances can be significantly improved by processing organic materials and by-products.
The economic benefit of all non-provisioning ecosystem resources is compensated for by nutrient
cycling, which accounts for 51% of the total. Crop–livestock systems facilitate agricultural waste disposal
by using manure for composting or as fertilizer. Aquatic animals help fertilize rice crops and manage
pests in rice–fish systems, eliminating the need for additional fertilizer and pesticide inputs. Recycling
has a range of advantages, including closing nutrient loops and reducing waste, which decreases reliance
on external resources.

RESILIENCE
Agroecology has a broad approach. No longer do we talk about agriculture alone. Agroecology is about
the ecology of the whole food system. So that allows agroecology to look to how we are going to adapt
to climate change and mitigate against climate change at the farm level, but perhaps more importantly
at the whole level of food systems. So taking into the production, distribution, consumption, and waste
management and there is a lot of carbon footprint associated with the links in the food chain after the
farm gate. So it is important to have a wide view in terms of what agroecology can contribute at the
farm level, the whole approach of agroecology is about re-embedding agriculture in nature and bringing
back biodiversity, genetic diversity, species diversity in ecosystems. Playing around with intercropping,
poly cropping, and agroforestry systems at the level of the farm means that bringing in a lot of diversity
that offers a lot of opportunities to strengthen the resilience of a farming system. This one-way
agroecology contributes to making farming more resilient, through the reintroduction of biodiversity.
But it also has to think about how to make the other elements of the food system resilient. And
essentially, it means shortening food chains, bringing food systems on the proximity principle to bring
together the producers and consumers in the shorter food webs because this is the way to reducing
carbon emission.

HUMAN AND SOCIAL VALUES

Denice Natalie Repique
II-BSA

Gender disparities are tackled by agroecology by offering resources for women. Women make up almost
half of the agricultural workers worldwide. They are essential for household food stability, dietary
diversity, and overall health. People may use agroecological approaches to tackle poverty, hunger, and
malnutrition. They also advocate environmental stewardship and human rights, such as the right to
food. According to Dr. Agatha Raisin-Bennett, author of "Agro-ecology: The New Rural Pathways to
Prosperity," it establishes dignity, equity, inclusion, and justice at the core of food systems.

CULTURE AND FOOD TRADITIONS

Almost 800 million people around the world are chronically hungry, and 2 billion are deficient in
micronutrients. Overweight or obesity affects 1.9 billion people globally, and non-communicable
diseases (cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes) are the leading cause of death. Rising production
alone would not suffice to fix the imbalances in our food systems. According to Shashank Joshi,
agroecology plays a critical role in rebalancing traditional and modern food habits, bringing them
together in a way that encourages balanced food production and consumption while also supporting the
right to adequate food.

RESPONSIBLE GOVERNANCE
At various scales, responsible governance mechanisms are the best support for agroecology. Many
countries have already adopted laws, regulations, and programs to promote biodiversity-enhancing
agricultural management. Governance of land and natural resources is a clear example. In a speech by
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that
agroecological principles and practices are not only important for social justice, but they also provide
incentives for long-term investments in soil, biodiversity, and ecosystem services.

CIRCULAR AND SOLIDARITY ECONOMY

One-third of all produced food is lost or wasted, leaving food protection and nutrition untouched. The
carbon footprint of food waste is proportional to 3.5 Gt CO2 emissions per year. Equitable solutions
based on local needs, resources, and capacities are promoted through agroecological approaches.
According to experts, re-designing food systems based on circular economy concepts will help solve the
global food waste crisis.

In conclusion, permaculture, buying locally and organically, agroforestry, intercropping, regenerative

agriculture, and a variety of other sustainable agriculture activities are all part of agroecology. What
constitutes agroecology is still up for discussion. However, agroecology activities usually generate more
biodiversity, more sustainable agriculture, and economies; mitigate climate change, and increase access
to healthy and sustainable food. Even if you are a farmer or just a customer, still we should all do our
duty to advocate more socially and environmentally responsible farming practices.