Agroecology Knowledge Hub

Culture and food traditions: by supporting healthy, diversified and culturally appropriate diets, agroecology contributes to food security and nutrition while maintaining the health of ecosystems

Agriculture and food are core components of human heritage. Hence, culture and food traditions play a central role in society and in shaping human behaviour. However, in many instances, our current food systems have created a disconnection between food habits and culture. This disconnection has contributed to a situation where hunger and obesity exist side by side, in a world that produces enough food to feed its entire population.

Almost 800 million people worldwide are chronically hungry and 2 billion suffer micronutrient deficiencies. Meanwhile, there has been a rampant rise in obesity and diet-related diseases; 1.9 billion people are overweight or obese and non-communicable diseases (cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes) are the number one cause of global mortality. To address the imbalances in our food systems and move towards a zero hunger world, increasing production alone is not sufficient.

Agroecology plays an important role in re-balancing tradition and modern food habits, bringing them together in a harmonious way that promotes healthy food production and consumption, supporting the right to adequate food. In this way, agroecology seeks to cultivate a healthy relationship between people and food.

Cultural identity and sense of place are often closely tied to landscapes and food systems. As people and ecosystems have evolved together, cultural practices and indigenous and traditional knowledge offer a wealth of experience that can inspire agroecological solutions. For example, India is home to an estimated 50,000 indigenous varieties of rice – bred over centuries for their specific taste, nutrition and pest-resistance properties, and their adaptability to a range of conditions. Culinary traditions are built around these different varieties, making use of their different properties. Taking this accumulated body of traditional knowledge as a guide, agroecology can help realise the potential of territories to sustain their peoples.

Database

The YALTA initiatives developed a handbook on agroecology to further support its implementation among the youths and other actors in agroecology. This handbook is a consolidation of information from different sources on agroecology and basic production practices. It aims at imparting knowledge to the agriprenuers, especially the youths but can also...
Manual
2022
For many generations subsistence farmers have successfully grown their own fruits and vegetables, and reared their own livestock. KwaHhohho in Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal, has a rich history of these traditional farming practices. But these are under threat, and this small farming community is fighting to save their natural seeds and traditional...
South Africa
Video
2014
This report advocates for a shift in African agricultural practices, focusing on legume-centered agroecological strategies. It highlights the problems associated with industrialized agriculture's heavy reliance on inorganic fertilizers, which exacerbates food insecurity and environmental degradation. The mid-20th-century Green Revolution, emphasizing monoculture cereal crops and non-renewable inputs, has fallen short of expectations. High...
Policy brief/paper
2023
This initiative is taking place in the Agreste da Borborema region and is led by the Oziel Pereira community. Their aim is to use the role of collective action mechanisms in the agroecological transition at the community level. The Agreste da Borborema is a region marked by high levels of rural...
Brazil
Innovation
2021
Agroecological case studies all over the globe show agroecology in practice.
Case study
2016
« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 ... 122