What is it about?
The ever-growing planet population will reach 10 billion in 2050 according to estimates. The current agricultural and food system demonstrates every day a little more its inability to feed this population adequately. More than 10.7% of the current world population suffers from chronic undernourishment. The soaring world population has resulted in multiple environmental damages: the destruction of forests, overconsumption of water reserves, extensive use of pollutants, soil degradation, etc. However, a majority (72%) of the worldwide food is cultivated and gathered by 2.5 million smallholder producers on small family farms (<1 ha). Agroecology offers concrete solutions to climate breakdown and contributes to the preservation of natural resources essential for sustainable agricultural production.
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Photo by PROJETO CAFÉ GATO-MOURISCO on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Agroecology is a scientific discipline with enormous potential and the ability to lead the transition to a more inclusive, sustainable model of society based on more robust and more united social ties by relocating the economy. It embodies a credible, efficient, and human alternative while fully participating in the objectives of food sovereignty. It offers a real social transformation project that does justice to the proletariat of the countries of the south as the first food suppliers in the world through better management of agricultural soils. Agroecology improves soil fertility, biodiversity, and productivity, while reducing dependence on energy-intensive inputs.
Perspectives
Writing this article was a great pleasure as it has co-authors with whom I have had long standing collaborations. The soil support for agriculture can be well managed by adopting cultivation techniques, associated with plant cover of the soil (green manures, alley or mixed cropping with agroforestry species) and vigorous biological activity, by limiting or eliminating chemical fertilizer use, prioritizing local inputs and recycling of farm by-products (manure, compost, bio-char, crop waste, household waste), maintaining inherent fertility of soil, conserving soil biodiversity, and enhancing plant nutrient availability.
Dr Carine TEMEGNE NONO
University of Yaounde I
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Agroecology for Agricultural Soil Management, January 2021, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/978-981-16-3207-5_9.
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