Title of document: A quantitative and qualitative historical analysis of the scientific discipline of agroecology Authors: A. Wezel; V. Soldat Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Department of Agroecosystems, Environment and Production, ISARA, Lyon, France Year of publication: 2009 Main issues / topics addressed: agroecology, agroecosystem, agronomy, biodiversity, organic farming, rural development, sustainability In general, agroecology deals with different topics and questions related to agricultural production. In the last two decades, the term agroecology has been increasingly used with different meanings (Wezel et al., in press). On the one hand it is used for the scientific discipline of agroecology, that will be the topic of this paper; but, on the other hand the term agroecology is also used in the sense of a movement or as an agricultural practice (Wezel, 2007; Wezel, et al., in press). Environmental movements in the 1960s often emerged in opposition to industrialized agriculture, when public policies did not consider the environmental impact of agriculture, in particular pesticides, or the social aspects of rural development. Initially, the term agroecology was not used explicitly to describe a movement. It was only in the 1990s when the word started to be used in this sense, especially in the USA and in Latin America, to express a new way of considering agriculture and its relationship to society, and its place within it.   Read More

Title of document: Profiles of People’s Organizations In Rural Asia Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: ASIADHRRA; AGRITERRA Year of publication: 2002 Geographic focus: Asia This study entitled Profiles of People’s Organizations in Asia under the auspices of AsiaDHRRA and Agriterra covered seven countries: Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines. It attempted to do the following: 1. generate a reliable and updated individual profile of selected farmers’ organizations (FOs); 2. identify the issues, problems and needs of these FOs; and 3. consolidate the results of the individual profile and draw a regional sketch of farmers’ organizations and their development needs. Through the study, AsiaDHRRA hopes to provide a guide to rural development stakeholders in their direction setting, program planning, and provision of services to their constituents.   Read More

Title of document: Farmers’ Sustainable Agriculture Perception in the Vietnam Uplands: the Case of Banana Farmers in Quang Tri Province Authors: Nguyen Van Thanh; Patana Sukprasert; Chinawat Yapwattanaphun Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Department of Horticulture; Department of Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand. Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: Vietnam Main issues / topics addressed: Perception, sustainable agriculture, upland farmers Upland farmers in Vietnam are associated with the lowest income and face serious issues of natural resources degradation and environmental pollution because of poor agricultural practices. To persuade the upland farmers to adopt sustainable practices, it is vital first to assess their perception of sustainable agriculture. This study aimed to measure banana farmers’ perception towards sustainable agriculture and its determinants in the Vietnam uplands based on a case study in Quang Tri province. Stratified sample technique was used to randomly select 300 respondents from 2 upland districts of Quang Tri. The primary data were gathered by using a structured questionnaire with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.84. The results showed that the majority (84.7%) of the farmers had low to mode rate perceptions of sustainable agriculture. Farmers had positive perceptions towards sustainable agriculture in issues related to protection of agricultural resources, negative effects of agrochemicals on human health and the environment, input application, crop rotation, product consumption and roles of farmer groups; whereas, they had moderate perceptions about issues related to production profits, plant residue use and modern technology application. In addition, the study revealed that agricultural programs on TV, education, ethnic group, economic status and credit use were the factors that affected farmers’ sustainable agriculture perceptions.   Read More

Title of document: Asia at the Crossroads Prioritising Conventional Farming or Sustainable Agriculture? Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: ACTION AID; 1. Muong ethnic minotiry sisters Ban Thi Cuc, 19, left, and Ban Thi Yen, 20, work on their family rice field in Duong hamlet, Vay Nua commune, Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province, Vietnam. © Chau Doan / OnAsia / ActionAid. 2. Emergency response to floods in Cambodia © ActionAid. 3. Multi-Purpose Farm in Cambodia © CEDAC / ActionAid. 4. Limited access to water in Myanmar. © Celso Marcatto / ActionAid. 5. Pesticide use in Sanya, Hainan Island, Hainan Province, China © Li Xiaoguo / Xinhua Press / Corbis. 6. Tractor spraying fertilizer in a conventional agricultural system © Imageplus / Corbis Year of publication: 2012 Geographic focus: Asia In June of 2012, representatives of over 140 nations are expected to take part in the “Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development”. The conference – scheduled 20 years after the first Rio conference saw an agreement that the United Nations must do something to address environmental degradation and global warming – is expected to focus heavily on the concept of the “green economy”. The “green economy” includes the idea that livelihoods, growth and environmental sustainability must go hand-in-hand in developing countries. While the concept itself may be laudable, it will be an unattainable ideal unless governments show a willingness to adopt a new development model – one based on human rights as opposed to profit for elites. A key example of the need for change – both in terms of the right to livelihood, environmental sustainability and the right to sufficient and nutritious food – is the agriculture sector. This paper seeks to address fundamental questions about the agriculture sector in Southeast Asia and China and to begin to sketch what a way forward – a way towards the “green economy” – may look like.   Read More

Title of document: Agroecology and Advocacy: Innovations in Asia Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy; the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development Year of publication: 2011 Geographic focus: Asia Main issues / topics addressed: The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems. Rising food prices, increasing climate instability and food riots have sparked profound political changes around the world and put agriculture high on the international agenda. What kind of agriculture is best suited to respond to those challenges, however, is the subject of profound disagreement. Too much of the current policy debate on food security, climate change and agriculture assumes that industrial agriculture and related biotechnology are the only options for feeding a growing global population. Agribusiness and agrochemical companies have created and supported this image through aggressive advertising, lobbying and support for research institutions.   Read More

Title of document: The tyranny of taste: The case of organic rice in Cambodiaapv_1458 Authors: Maylee Thavat Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Resource Management in Asia-Pacific Program, Crawford School of Economics and Government, Australian National; University, Coombs Building, Fellows Road, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. Year of publication: 2011 Geographic focus: Cambodia Main issues / topics addressed: agrarian transition, Cambodia, consumption studies, organic agriculture, post productivism School of agroecology: Organic Agriculture Fair-trade and organic products are often sold at price premiums justified by smaller production volumes that are associated with greater social and environmental responsibility. The consumption of these products confers on the consumer a greater sense of morality – and usually a claim to better taste. This paper tells the story of attempts to promote organic/fair-trade rice production by de facto organic Cambodian farmers for export to North American and European markets in order to assist poor farmers to trade their way out of poverty. It demonstrates that instead of promoting sustainable agriculture and fair trade between developed and developing markets, organic/fair-trade projects may impose First World consumer ideals and tastes that are out of step with the larger realities of agrarian transition in Cambodia and the wider region of developing Southeast Asia.   Read More

Title of document: ORGANIC AGRICULTURE AND “SAFE” VEGETABLES IN VIETNAM: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRO-FOOD SYSTEM SUSTAINABILITY Authors: Luke Simmons; Steffanie Scott Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: University of Waterloo   Geographic focus: Vietnam School of agroecology: Organic Agriculture Organic agriculture is often promoted as a possible route for farmers in the global south to follow in the quest for greater agricultural sustainability. By allowing farmers better access to the global markets for organic food, it is hoped that sustainable livelihoods will develop. But what happens when this approach is viewed through the lens of a low energy future? It is increasingly recognised that world energy supplies in the form of readily available oil and natural gas are very close to peaking and will soon start to decline. This poses a serious challenge to agricultural development activities that rely on these fuels. This challenge is explored in the context of Vietnam, a fast-growing country with heavily taxed natural resources and millions of smallholder farmers seeking to improve their livelihoods. This paper reports on field research and a review of secondary sources to assess the trends and prospects for organic agriculture to address agro-food system sustainability. As certified organic agriculture is only just emerging in Vietnam, the production of safe vegetables for the domestic market is also discussed. It is argued that organic agriculture in Vietnam is not centered on environmental concerns and is instead driven largely by the demand from export markets. There has been very little development of the domestic market for organic products in Vietnam despite the fact that there are strong concerns around food safety and food quality, particularly amongst urban consumers.   Read More

Title of document: Organic Agriculture in Lao PDR Lessons - Learnt from Organic Production and Marketing Groups Authors: Thiphavong Boupha Year of publication: 2014 Geographic focus: Lao PDR Main issues / topics addressed: Organic Production and Marketing Groups School of agroecology: Organic Agriculture 1.Provision of training on organic production technologies, formation, management, ICS and basic business planning of producing groups and processors; 2.Provision of training materials, tools and equipments for organic production; 3.Setting up and provision of group fund and facilitation of access to credit; 4.Support on cost of organic certification; 5.Provision of facilities for market place, and in kind support to producer groups participating in public showcase events and market linkages 6. Provision of linkages among producers, processors, retailers in domestic and export markets; 7.Support on daily working allowance for government staff.   Read More

Title of document: Session 1 Lessons from PROFIL and PRO Rice - Document in Lao language Geographic focus: Lao PDR School of agroecology: Organic Agriculture   Read More

Title of document: Replacing Chemicals with Biology: Phasing out highly hazardous pesticides with agroecology Authors: Meriel Watts; Stephanie Williamson Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: PAN International Year of publication: 2015 School of agroecology: Organic Agriculture Adverse effects of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) on people and the environment have been a global concern for many years. In 2006, this was clearly expressed by the FAO Council when it recommended a progressive ban on HHPs. The concern crystallized at UNEP’s Fourth International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM4) in Nairobi in 2012, with the submission of a conference room paper supported by at least 65 countries and organizations. The proposed resolution included supporting “a progressive ban on HHPs and their substitution with safer alternatives”. While the resolution was not immediately adopted, countries participating in subsequent regional meetings of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) have reiterated concern about HHPs and called for more information on ecosystem-based alternatives. At SAICM’s Open-Ended Working Group in December 2014, following a call by the entire African region for a global alliance to phase-out these chemicals, it was agreed a proposal would be developed for ICCM4.   Read More