models for promoting biodiversity, sustaining yield without
agrochemicals, and conserving ecological integrity while
accounting for no less than 50% of the agricultural output
for domestic consumption in most countries (ETC Group
2009).
The realization of the contribution of peasant agriculture
to food security in the midst of scenarios of climate change,
economic and energy crisis led to the concepts of food
sovereignty and agroecologically based production systems
to gain much worldwide attention in the last two decades.
Two recent major international reports (IAASTD 2009; de
Schutter 2010) state that in order to feed nine billion people
in 2050, we urgently need to adopt the most efficient farming
systems and recommend for a fundamental shift towards
agroecology as a way to boost food production and improve
the situation of the poorest. Both reports based on broad
consultations with scientists and extensive literature reviews
contend that small-scale farmers can double food production
within 10 years in critical regions by using agroecological
methods already available. The food challenge will be met
using environmentally friendly and socially equitable technologies
and methods, in a world with a shrinking arable
land base (which is also being diverted to produce biofuels),
with less and more expensive petroleum, increasingly limited
supplies of water and nitrogen, and within a scenario of
a rapidly changing climate, social unrest, and economic
uncertainty (IAASTD 2009). The only agricultural system
that will be able to confront future challenges is one that will
exhibit high levels of diversity, productivity, and efficiency
top left quadrant in Fig. 1.