Enhancing the function and provisioning of ecosystem services in agriculture: Agroecological principles

Hainzelin Etienne. 2015. Enhancing the function and provisioning of ecosystem services in agriculture: Agroecological principles. In : Agroecology for food security and nutrition proceedings of the fao international symposium 18-19 September 2014, Rome, Italy. FAO. Rome : FAO, 37-49. ISBN 978-92-5-108807-4 International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition, Rome, Italie, 18 Septembre 2014/19 Septembre 2014.

Résumé : Agroecology is essentially based on the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural production, and thus represents a true rupture from the way agriculture has been seen and analysed by mainstream science for over a century. Agroecology does not have a consensual definition; it represents a conceptual space to think about agricultural sustainability through strong interactions between science and society with a wealth of new concepts, questions and tools. Among the diverse 'incarnations' of agroecology, the lowest common denominator is found at plot level. The basic and common principle is to increase biomass production by enhancing the services provided by living organisms and by taking the optimal advantage of natural resources, especially those which are abundant and free (e.g. solar radiation, atmospheric carbon and nitrogen, rainfall). Agroecology aims to manage, and in some cases to increase, production in a sustainable and resilient way that will maintain and improve the natural capital in the long term. It will enhance the ecological processes and interactions of functional biodiversity above- and below-ground, over space and in time, by both intensifying biological cycles for nutrients, water and energy, and controlling the aggressors of crops. Because ecosystem services are involved, agroecology has long been working on larger scales (i.e. farms, landscapes, watershed basins, value chains, food systems). Agroecology has had a deep engagement with interdisciplinary research, in particular focusing on some of the drivers of agricultural development such as food industries and distribution, consumer health, public policies, etc. Because agroecology strongly depends on locally available natural resources including agrobiodiversity, it cannot prescribe ready-to-use technical packages to farmers. Rather, agroecological models and solutions are built by mingling scientific and traditional knowledge and by strongly relying on local learning and innovation processes. With the many challenges ahead, agroecology represents a true alternative avenue for agricultural transformation; while it questions the role and practices of agricultural research and calls for a significant renewal.

Auteurs et affiliations

• Hainzelin Etienne, CIRAD-DG-Direction générale (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0003-1303-3082

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/591590/)

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