Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T12:58:05.608Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An ecological basis for the development of alternative agricultural systems for small farmers in the Third World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Miguel A. Altieri  and
M. Kat Anderson
Miguel A. Altieri
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Division of Biological Control, University of California, Berkeley, 1050 San Pablo Ave., Albany, CA 94706.
M. Kat Anderson
Affiliation:
Graduate student in the Department of Forestry and Resource Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94702.
Get access

Abstract

A strategy for small farm development in the Third World is suggested, emphasizing preservation of traditional farming systems while maintaining biological and genetic diversity. Basing agricultural development on indigenous knowledge, technology, and social organization can provide important guidelines for the design of cropping systems that allow low-income farmers to produce subsistence and cash crops with minimal dependence on external inputs. Suggested alternative agricultural strategies are based on diverse farming systems that achieve moderate to high levels of productivity by manipulating and exploiting resources that are internal to the farm. The resulting systems are more sustainable and economical, thus increasing the equity of the system. Several rural development programs in Third World countries, especially in Latin America, that incorporate these agroecological principles are discussed. In contrast to approaches that have been transferred from the United States without necessarily being suited to the circumstances of small farmers, and which require the purchase of expensive external inputs, these programs include sustainability, stability, and equity as goals, along with increased production. Rural development strategies based on peasant systems that are biologically and economically stable are proving to be a viable survival alternative for a great portion of the impoverished rural population in the Third World.

Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , Winter 1986 , pp. 30 - 38
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Alcorn, J. B. 1984. Development policy, forests, and peasant farming: Reflections on huastec-managed forests' contributions to commercial production and resource conservation. Economic Botany 38:384–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Altieri, M. A., van Schoonhoven, A., and Doll, J. D.. 1977. The ecological role of weeds in insect pest management systems: a review illustrated with bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cropping systems. PANS 195–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Altieri, M. A. and Letourneau, D. K.. 1982. Vegetation management and biological control in agroecosystems. Crop Protection 1:405–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Altieri, M. A., Letourneau, D. K., and Davis, J. B.. 1983. Developing sustainable agroecosystems. Bio-Science 33:45–49.Google Scholar
5.Altieri, M. A. 1983. Agroecology: The scientific basis of alternative agriculture. Divison of Biological Control, University of California, Berkeley. 162 p.Google Scholar
6.Altieri, M. A. 1985. Developing pest management strategies for small farmers based on traditional knowledge. Bulletin of the Institute for Development Anthropology 3:13–18.Google Scholar
7.Alverson, H. 1984. The wisdom of tradition in the development of dry-land farming: Botswana. Human Organization 43:1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Armillas, P. 1971. Gardens on swamps. Science 174:653–661.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Augstburger, F. 1983. Agronomic and economic potential of manure in Bolivian valleys and highlands. Agrie. Ecosyst. and Environment 10:335–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Bartlett, P. F. 1980. Adaptation strategies in peasant agricultural production. Ann. Rev. Anthr. 9:545–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Bayliss-Smith, T. P. 1982. The ecology of agricultural systems. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
12.Beets, W. C. 1982. Multiple cropping and tropical farming systems. Gower, Harts., England.Google Scholar
13.Brush, S. B. 1982. The natural and human environment of the central Andes. Mountain Research and Development 2:14–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Byerlee, D., Collinson, M., Perrin, R., Winkelman, D., and Biggs, S.. 1980. Planning technologies appropriate to farmers-concepts and procedures. Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIM-MYT), Mexico City. 71 p.Google Scholar
15.Centro de Educacion y Technologia (CET). 1983. “La huerta campesina organica”. Inst. de Estudios y Publicaciones Juan Ignacio Molina, Santiago, Chile. 45 p.Google Scholar
16.Chacon, J. C. and Gliessman, S. R.. 1982. Use of the “non-weed” concept in traditional tropical agroecosystems of south-eastern Mexico. Agro-Ecosystems 8:1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Chang, J. H. 1977. Tropical agriculture: Crop diversity and crop yields. Econ. Geogr. 53:241–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Clawson, D. L. 1985. Harvest security and intraspecific diversity in traditional tropical agriculture. Econ. Bot. 39:56–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Christanty, L. O., Abdoellah, O., and Iskander, J.. 1985. Traditional agroforestry in West Java: The pekarangan (homegarden) and talun-kebun (shifting cultivation) cropping systems. In: Marten, G. (ed.) The Human Ecology of Traditional Tropical Agriculture. Westview Press, Boulder (in press).Google Scholar
20.Conway, G. R. 1985. Agricultural ecology and farming systems research. Paper presented at the Farming Systems Research (FSR) Workshop held at Hawkesbury Agricultural College, May 12–15, 1985 under the auspices of the Australian Council for International Agricultural Research.Google Scholar
21.Cox, G. W. and Atkins, M. D.. 1979. Agricultural Ecology. W. H. Freeman and Sons. San Francisco. 214 pp.Google Scholar
22.Datta, S. C. and Banerjee, A. K.. 1978. Useful weeds of West Bengal rice fields. Econ. Bot. 32:247–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.de Janvry, A. 1981. The agrarian question and reformism in Latin America. The John Hopkins Univ. Press, Baltimore. 311 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.de Janvry, A. 1983. Perspectives for Inter-American Foundation programs in Chilean agriculture. 94 pp. (unpublished material).Google Scholar
25.Denevan, W. M., Treace, J. M., Alcorn, J. B., Padoch, C., Denslow, J., and Paitan, S. F.. 1984. Indigenous agroforestry in the Peruvian Amazon: Bora indian management of swidden fallows. Interciencia 9:346–357.Google Scholar
26.Douglass, G. K. (ed.). 1984. Agricultural sustainability in a changing world order. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.Google Scholar
27.Egger, K. 1981. Ecofarming in the tropics-characteristics and potentialities. Plant Res. Dev. 13:96–106.Google Scholar
28.Gliessman, S. R., Garcia, E. R., and Amador, A. M.. 1981. The ecological basis for the application of traditional agricultural technology in the management of tropical agro-ecosystems. Agroecosystems 7:173–185.Google Scholar
29.Grossman, L. S. 1984. Peasants, subsistence ecology and development in the highlands of Papua, New Guinea. Princeton Univ. Pres, NJ. 302 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30.Harlan, J. R. 1976. Genetic resources in wild relatives of crops. Crop Sci. 16:329–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31.Harwood, R. R. 1979. Small farm development-understanding and improving farming systems in the humid tropics. Westview Press, Boulder, CO. 160 pp.Google Scholar
32.Heichel, G. H. 1978. Stabilizing agricultural energy needs: Role of forages, rotations and nitrogen fixation. J. Soil and Water Conserv. Nov. Dec. pp. 279–282.Google Scholar
33.Hildebrand, P. 1979. Generating technologies for tra ditional fanners: The Guatemalan experience. Proc. IX Int. Congress of Plant Protection, pp. 31–34. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
34.Hirschman, A. O. 1984. Getting ahead collectively: Grassroots experiences in Latin America. Pergamon Press, NY. 101 pp.Google Scholar
35.ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics). 1981. Proceedings of the International Workshop on Intercropping. 10–13 Jan. 1979. Hyderabad, India.Google Scholar
36.King, F. H. 1927. Farmers of forty centuries. Cape, London.Google Scholar
37.Matteson, P. C., Altieri, M. A., and Gagne, W. C.. 1984. Modification of small farmer practices for better pest management. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 39:383–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
38.Morales, H. L. 1984. Chinampas and integrated farms. Learning from the rural traditional experience, pp. 188–195. In: di Ostri, F. et al. , (eds.) Ecology in Practice. Tycooly Int. Pub. Ltd., Dublin.Google Scholar
39.National Academy of Sciences. 1972. Genetic vulnerability of major crops. NAS, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
40.Oasa, E. K. 1984. Farming systems research: A change in form but not in content. Human Organization (in press).Google Scholar
41.Papendick, R. I., Sanchez, P. A., and Triplett, G. B.. 1976. Multiple Cropping. Special Publ. No. 27. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI. 378 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42.Pearce, A. 1975. The Latin American Peasant. Frank Cass, London.Google Scholar
43.Perelman, M. 1977. Farming for Profit in a Hungry World. Allanheld, Osmun and Co., Publ. Inc., Montclair, NJ. 238 pp.Google Scholar
44.Pimentel, D. and Pimentel, M.. 1979. Food, Energy and Society. Edward Arnold, London.Google Scholar
45.Prescott-Allen, R. and Prescott-Allen, C.. 1982. The case for in situ conservation of crop genetic resources. Nature and Resources 23:15–20.Google Scholar
46.Ruthenberg, H. 1971. Fanning Systems in the Tropics. Oxford Univ. Press, London.Google Scholar
47.Schatan, J. 1985. America Latina: deuda externa y desarollo. Investigacion Economica 171:305–357.Google Scholar
48.Shaner, W. W., Phillipp, P. F., and Schmehl, W. R.. 1982. Farming systems research and development: Guidelines for developing countries. Westview Press, Boulder, CO. 414 pp.Google Scholar
49.Sumner, D. R. 1982. Crop rotation and plant productivity. CRC Handbook of Agricultural Productivity 1:273–313.Google Scholar
50.Webster, C. C. and Wilson, P. N.. 1980. Agriculture in the Tropics. Tropical Agriculture Series, 2nd Ed.Longman, London.Google Scholar
51.Wiersum, K. F. 1981. Viewpoints on agroforestry. Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
52.Wilson, G. F. and Kang, B. T.. 1981. Developing Stable and Productive Biological Cropping Systems for the Humid Tropics. In: Stonehouse, B. (ed.) Biological Husbandry. Butterworths, London.Google Scholar
53.Wilken, G. C. 1977. Integrated forest and small-scale farm systems in middle America. Agroecosystems 3:291–302.Google Scholar
54.Wilkes, H. G. 1977. Hybridization of maize and teosinte in Mexico and Guatemala and the improvement of maize. Econ. Bot. 31:254–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
55.Zandstra, H. G., Price, E. C., Litsinger, J. A., and Morris, R. A.. 1981. A methodology of on-farm cropping systems research. IRRI, Los Banos, Philippines. 144 pp.Google Scholar