The primary obstacle to sustainable food security is an economic model and thought system, embodied in industrial agriculture, that views life in disassociated parts, obscuring the destructive impact this approach has on humans, natural resources, and the environment. Industrial agriculture is characterized by waste, pollution, and inefficiency, and is a...

En Afrique soudano-sahélienne, les jachères longues jouent un rôle fondamental dans le main- tien de la fertilité des terres. Des travaux de recherche ont permis de mieux comprendre les mécanismes agro-écologiques en jeu. Peuvent-ils permettre de mettre au point des innova- tions techniques permettant de reproduire ces effets, là où...

Au hameau de Kpayéroun, situé au Nord du Bénin (Commune de Djougou), les cultures principales sont l’igname,le manioc, le  haricot africain (Vignaunguiculata) et le sorgho. Fondée en 2009, l'association ORAD (Organisation des Ruraux pour une Agriculture Durable) est composée d’agriculteurs du hameau (autour de 45 adhérents) qui ont constaté les...

If diversified farming systems (DFS) are to thrive again in the United States, policies and preferences must evolve to reward the environmental and social benefits of sustainable farming and landscape management. Compared with conventional agricultural policies, policies aiding ecological diversification are underdeveloped and fragmented. We consider several examples of obstacles...

Legitimacy is at the heart of knowledge politics surrounding agriculture and food. When people accept industrial food practices as credible and authoritative, they are consenting to their use and existence. With their thick legitimacy, industrial food systems paralyze the growth of alternative agricultures, including agroecology. Questions of how alternative agricultures...

The three case studies presented in this report represent successful approaches, both in terms of the techniques they have applied, and because of the active involvement of farmers’ organizations in changing the policies needed to ensure their success. Agroecological systems, which start from the interplay between the natural environment and...