IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/natres/v24y2000i2p97-105.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Developing sustainable agricultural systems for small farmers in Latin America

Author

Listed:
  • Miguel A. Altieri

Abstract

The great majority of farmers in Latin America are peasants who still farm small plots of land, usually in marginal environments utilizing traditional and subsistence methods. The contribution of the 16 million peasant units to regional food security is however substantial. Research has shown that peasant systems, which mostly rely on local resources and complex cropping patterns, are reasonably productive despite their small land endowments and low use of external inputs. Moreover analysis of NGO‐led agroecological initiatives show that traditional crop and animal systems can be adapted to increase productivity by biologically re‐structuring peasant farms which in turn leads to optimization of key agroecosystem processes (nutrient cycling, organic matter accumulation, biological pest regulation, etc.) and efficient use of labour and local resources. Examples of such grassroots projects are herein described to show that agroecological approaches can offer opportunities to substantially increase food production while preserving the natural resource base and empowering rural communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Miguel A. Altieri, 2000. "Developing sustainable agricultural systems for small farmers in Latin America," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 24(2), pages 97-105, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:natres:v:24:y:2000:i:2:p:97-105
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-8947.2000.tb00935.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2000.tb00935.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2000.tb00935.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Altieri, Miguel A. & Rosset, Peter & Thrupp, Lori Ann, 1998. "The potential of agroecology to combat hunger in the developing world," 2020 vision briefs 55, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Jules N. Pretty, 1997. "The sustainable intensification of agriculture," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 21(4), pages 247-256, November.
    3. Altieri, Miguel A. & Masera, Omar, 1993. "Sustainable rural development in Latin America: building from the bottom-up," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 93-121, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vanessa de Lima Silva & Fabiane do Espírito Santo de Jesus & Edina Carla Mendes & Julie Silva de Lima & Larissa Queiroz de Magalhães Marinho & Tainara Santos Oliveira & Edilene Ferreira da Silva & Ita, 2023. "Analysis of Scientific and Technological Perspectives on the Development of New Food Products from Family Farming," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Miguel Altieri, 1999. "Applying Agroecology to Enhance the Productivity of Peasant Farming Systems in Latin America," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 197-217, September.
    2. Meike Weltin & Silke Hüttel, 2023. "Sustainable Intensification Farming as an Enabler for Farm Eco-Efficiency?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 315-342, January.
    3. Gazzarin, Christian & Jan, Pierrick, 2024. "Sustainable intensification of grass-based beef production systems in alpine regions: How to increase economic efficiency while preserving biodiversity?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    4. Alexandra Doernberg & Annette Piorr & Ingo Zasada & Dirk Wascher & Ulrich Schmutz, 2022. "Sustainability assessment of short food supply chains (SFSC): developing and testing a rapid assessment tool in one African and three European city regions," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(3), pages 885-904, September.
    5. Petan Hamazakaza & Gillian Kabwe & Elias Kuntashula & Anthony Egeru & Robert Asiimwe, 2022. "Adoption of Sustainable Agriculture Intensification in Maize-Based Farming Systems of Katete District in Zambia," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, June.
    6. Frisvold, George B. & Condon, Peter T., 1998. "The convention on biological diversity and agriculture: Implications and unresolved debates1," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 551-570, April.
    7. Kotu, Bekele Hundie & Oyinbo, Oyakhilomen & Hoeschle-Zeledon, Irmgard & Nurudeen, Abdul Rahman & Kizito, Fred & Boyubie, Benedict, 2022. "Smallholder farmers’ preferences for sustainable intensification attributes in maize production: Evidence from Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    8. Bárbara Ayala-Orozco & Julieta A. Rosell & Juliana Merçon & Isabel Bueno & Gerardo Alatorre-Frenk & Alfonso Langle-Flores & Anaid Lobato, 2018. "Challenges and Strategies in Place-Based Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Sustainability: Learning from Experiences in the Global South," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-22, September.
    9. Jakub Staniszewski & Łukasz Kryszak, 2022. "Do Structures Matter in the Process of Sustainable Intensification? A Case Study of Agriculture in the European Union Countries," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, February.
    10. Daniel Kramos, 2015. "The Topography of Possible Hungarian Renewable Energy Regions and Cities: A Possible Interpretation Based on Three Models," International Journal of Regional Development, Macrothink Institute, vol. 2(1), pages 1-16, June.
    11. Jakub Staniszewski & Anika Muder, 2023. "Structural and weather-related factors of the sustainable intensification process in agriculture of the European Union regions," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 69(10), pages 385-393.
    12. Tiziano Gomiero & Davide Pettenella & Giang Phan Trieu & Maurizio Paoletti, 2000. "Vietnamese Uplands: Environmental and Socio-Economic Perspective of Forest Land Allocation and Deforestation Process," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 119-142, June.
    13. Areal, Francisco J. & Jones, Philip J. & Mortimer, Simon R. & Wilson, Paul, 2018. "Measuring sustainable intensification: Combining composite indicators and efficiency analysis to account for positive externalities in cereal production," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 314-326.
    14. Weituschat, Chiara Sophia & Pascucci, Stefano & Materia, Valentina Cristiana & Caracciolo, Francesco, 2023. "Can contract farming support sustainable intensification in agri-food value chains?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    15. Luján Soto, Raquel & Cuéllar Padilla, Mamen & de Vente, Joris, 2020. "Participatory selection of soil quality indicators for monitoring the impacts of regenerative agriculture on ecosystem services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    16. Sidhoum, Amer Ait & Mennig, Philipp & Frick, Fabian, 2023. "Payments for agri-environmental schemes and green productivity in Germany: An impact assessment analysis," 97th Annual Conference, March 27-29, 2023, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 334513, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    17. Frisvold, George B. & Sullivan, John & Raneses, Anton, 2003. "Genetic improvements in major US crops: the size and distribution of benefits," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 109-119, March.
    18. Tom O’Donoghue & Budiman Minasny & Alex McBratney, 2022. "Regenerative Agriculture and Its Potential to Improve Farmscape Function," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-25, May.
    19. Weltin, Meike & Hüttel, Silke, 2019. "Farm eco-efficiency: Can sustainable intensification make the difference?," FORLand Working Papers 10 (2019), Humboldt University Berlin, DFG Research Unit 2569 FORLand "Agricultural Land Markets – Efficiency and Regulation".
    20. Hallie Eakin & John Patrick Connors & Christopher Wharton & Farryl Bertmann & Angela Xiong & Jared Stoltzfus, 2017. "Identifying attributes of food system sustainability: emerging themes and consensus," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(3), pages 757-773, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:natres:v:24:y:2000:i:2:p:97-105. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1477-8947 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.