Today we’re talking about agroecology, which applies ecological principles to agricultural systems and is considered to be a key strategy for both mitigating and adapting to global climate change, as well as being a solution to a number of the other ecological crises we’re facing and food security.

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in the third and final section of its latest review of climate science, released last month, that the threats posed by climate change are worse than ever and that while the window for taking action to avert the worst impacts of global warming may still be open, it won’t be for much longer. In a subsequent Special Report on Climate Change and Land addressing greenhouse gas changes in ecosystems, land use and sustainable land management, the IPCC urged a set of steps for policymakers to adopt, including agroecology and its tree-centric cousin, agroforestry.

In response, Mongabay is publishing a series of special features by bestselling author Anna Lappé about the power and promise of agroecology. For the first installment in the series, Lappé spoke with numerous experts about the growing agroecological movement, including University of California, Santa Cruz professor Maywa Montenegro, who joins us to discuss agroecology as a science, practice, and a movement.

We also speak today with Dr. Vandana Shiva, a Right Livelihood Award winner, defender of food sovereignty, and a well-known proponent of agroecology. Her brand new book, Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture: Sustainable Solutions for Hunger, Poverty, and Climate Change, synthesizes decades of agroecology research and implementation. Dr. Shiva shares how agroecology is an effective solution not just to climate change but also to a host of other ecological crises we’re facing, such as water scarcity, land degradation, and biodiversity loss.

Related reading:

• ”From traditional practice to top climate solution, agroecology gets growing attention” by Anna Lappé (13 April 2022)

• Carlisle, L., Montenegro de Wit, M., DeLonge, M. S., Iles, A., Calo, A., Getz, C., … & Press, D. (2019). Transitioning to sustainable agriculture requires growing and sustaining an ecologically skilled workforce. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 96. doi:10.3389/fsufs.2019.00096

Find all of Mongabay’s agroecology coverage from the ongoing series at this page.

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Follow Mike Gaworecki on Twitter: @mikeg2001

Banner photo: Dr. Vandana Shiva. Photo courtesy of Kartikey Shiva.

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