The paper discusses the integration of social sciences views into agroecology as the basis for an interdisciplinary research approach on natural resource management and rural development in the Latin-American tropics.

As a disciplines that integrates ecological concepts for managing anthropogenic ecosystems, agroecology is a sound ground to promote innovative processes in rural development. However, agroecology per se is not enough to tackle the complex social and environmental dynamics present in the rural areas. The paper proposes several approaches to complement agroecological practices, including actor-oriented approaches, livelihood analysis, political ecology, participatory research and environmental rights. The analysis presented in the paper aims at identifying approaches that can be combined to develop interdisciplinary research on rural development and integrated conservation of rural territories.