The EU Dare Project has one main educational goal, to raise awareness about the impact that agroecology can have on our climate and how and why it is a great answer to climate change. Let’s dive into agroecology and its benefits!
The growing threat of the changing climate and the rising temperature of our globe resulting in heatwaves, floods, droughts and disease and pest outbreaks is a big challenge for many farmers. The array of problems and challenges is many, not only environmentally but also socially and economically. Introducing agroecological systems presents a great potential to fight against those threats. Some of the main benefits are:
Resilience
After many years of implementing agroecological systems, it can be said that the results of these systems are impressive. Many farmers are documenting much greater resilience of crop fields to climate change phenomena such as extreme weather, floods and droughts. Agroecological farms all over the world suffer up to 50% less crop damage after weather anomalies and recover much faster than conventional ones.
Sustainability and Improved Livelihoods
Many livestock farmers observe an increase in income and significant food security after having introduced three or more agroecological practices while both decrease when only one or two of those practices are being implemented. Additionally, sustainable solutions are having a decreasing effect of soil erosion and are improving vegetative cover by conserving topsoil.
Less environmental impact
By promoting agricultural biodiversity, agroecological systems are reducing the negative impact of agriculture on the environment. Organically held soil captures a higher percentage of carbon dioxide from the air. It has therefore not only less negative impact but also provides an efficient method to fight air pollution and other threats caused by climate change.
It is evident that at the farm level, agroecology seeks to improve biodiversity and ecosystem services, or the benefits that ecosystems provide for human well-being. At the food system level, agroecology is guided by concepts such as integrity, social justice, participation, and good stewardship of land and natural resources, with the goal of contributing to the progressive achievement of the right to food. It uses transdisciplinary science and farmers’ traditional wisdom to co-create breakthrough solutions. Agroecology is based on social movements that advocate for the overall improvement of the food system. The practices vary depending on the environment and can include strategies such as agroforestry, integrated water resource management and soil conservation. Agroecology offers climate change adaptation and mitigation benefits, such as higher and more diversified incomes.
In the near future, the EU-Dare project team will publish a set of educational modules. The three macro topics of these learning materials are:
- Introduction to Agroecology,
- The Link between Agroecology and the Community and
- Practical Agroecological systems
Stay tuned for more information and visit our Facebook and Instagram pages where we publish project updates every week!
