“Some might say agroecology is catching on in the world, and it is true that the momentum is undeniable,” says Pierre Ferrand, Agricultural Officer at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. “But why is something so compelling also so contentious?”
Ferrand moderated a recent Asian regional dialogue to discuss a new compendium from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, “The Politics of Knowledge”，它探讨了围绕农业生态学的全球知识，同时解决了可能破坏其扩张的误导性叙述和问题。
“We want to set a different tone” for discussions on agroecology, Ferrand says. “Peers talking to peers about how we can counter some of this narrative.”
该汇编介绍了多个案例研究，证明了农业生态学建立气候韧性的能力，同时滋养社区。根据农业生态绩效评估的粮农组织工具（TAPE) methodology, agroecological farms score higher on several metrics including dietary diversity and food security; benefits for family farming; better soil health; more agrobiodiversity; and greater presence of beneficial animals and pollinators.
然而，作为通往更可持续的粮食系统和变革变革的途径，农业生态学仍然有争议。费兰德说，一些资助者，研究人员和政策制定者对农业生态学的生存能力，盈利能力和可扩展性持怀疑态度。
“The same questions [that are asked of agroecology] are seldom asked of industrial agriculture,” says Ashlesha Khadse, Regional Director at Thousand Currents, a nonprofit supporting community-led initiatives in the Global South. “Where is the evidence that industrial agriculture will feed the world in the face of the looming climate crisis, in the face of a crisis of inequality?”
According to Khadse, the argument that the human population is growing exponentially, and therefore food production must grow exponentially, “has kept us locked into the status quo for the longest time…this ‘feed the world’ argument has been debunked on many occasions.”
Instead, speakers agreed that funders and donors should engage with the agroecological farmers and local organizations already working and building success stories within communities across the globe.
“Agroecology is about dialogue between different forms of knowledge, it’s about dialogue between modern science and also Indigenous knowledge and farmers’ knowledge,” says Khadse.
这包括摆脱对技术的狭窄关注，与所有合作伙伴（尤其是农民）认识和合作。
“Family farmers are not just food producers but are knowledge producers and solution providers,” says Ma. Estrella Penunia, Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development.
零预算自然农业兼安得拉邦社区托管自然农业（APCNF）的顾问Vijay Kumar Thallam表示，专注于点对点方法的农业生态投资已取得了重大的经济结果。对于APCNF过渡计划中的农民，农作物产量的净价值增加了80％，而每次农作物周期的水消耗降低了50％，生物多样性改善。
塔拉姆说：“社会资本原来是最关键的要求。”
But the journey takes a village. The entire community must be a part of the transition, according to Thallam: “Agroecology is something that is done by the people, not something governments or CSOs [civil society organizations] do for the people.”
Thallam还强调了妇女在培养，验证和扩展农业生态项目中的作用。在安得拉邦，有90％的农村妇女被组织成自助群体和联邦。
Thallam说：“女性网络是我们拥有的最重要的平台。”
Marlene Ramirez, Secretary General of the Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (AsiaDHRRA), says these findings show that family farmers must be co-creators in the pursuit of technological innovations: “We need to learn from one another, build from lessons learned from experiences.”
中国国际CSA网络（URGENCI）联合总裁Shi Yan博士等先驱已经显示了基于社区的组织如何成功地扩展整个地区。自Yan于2012年创立共享收获以来，中国最早遵循社区支持的农业（CSA）模型的农场之一，全国数千个类似的CSA农场在全国开业。
国际农业发展基金（IFAD）全球高级自然资源管理专家Rikke Olivera表示，讨论还阐明了投资界当前投资组合中的差距。
“A lot of the answers are here today,” says Olivera. “It shows how dynamic this is and how fast this is moving.”
Olivera emphasizes the need to improve how evidence for agroecology is created, tracked, and interpreted, which investors like IFAD can use in discussions and negotiations with governmental organizations.
“Even though agroecology needs to be community-created and based in community knowledge, science is still important,” says Olivera.
True cost accounting will be critical in building these agroecological success stories, according to Olivera. This means looking at nutritional and biodiversity benefits, rather than simply calories, to calculate the impact of agroecological projects. Broader socio-economic benefits, such as the approaches’ ability to pull farmers out of poverty, should also be closely tracked.
在捐助者社区中，印度Ate Chandra Foundation的首席运营官Gayatri Lobo认为，未经证实的实验和研究需要提供更多资金。
“作为捐助者，我们通常会以非常线性的方式进行扩展，这也许是最安全的资助方式。但是听今天的演讲，我认为捐助者需要投入高风险资金是必须的。” Lobo说。
“我们需要像风险投资家一样思考……对于捐助者来说，要投入资金来征服这些叙述很重要。”
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