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

Since 2003, the Brazilian Congress of Agroecology (CBA) has been held with the active and wide participation of educational, research and extension institutions and organized civil society involved with the demands of family farming and family production logics in general. Initially thought as a space for valuing agroecology as a...
Brazil
Event
2019
The main aim of the conference is to engage with key policy makers and stakeholders, including from the government at central and local levels, parliament, development partners, civil society, private sector, academia and media, to exhibit and exchange best cases on how EOA is at the core of sustainable development...
United Republic of Tanzania
Event
2019
The 7th edition of the Forum Origin, Diversity and Territories – ODT 2019 proposes to explore and put into perspective the theme of agroecology: Multiple Transitions of Territories. The ODT Forum is a unique learning experience, which will be held in 2019 between 4 and 6 December in Lausanne, in...
Event
2019
Agroecology incorporates a more environmentally linked and more socially sensitive approach to agriculture, focused not only on production but also on the ecological sustainability of the production system. Regarding classical agronomy, agroecology introduces key elements such as the ecological approach and the concern for the environment and society. This cycle of...
Spain
Event
2020
For several decades, civil society organizations (CSOs), farmers (POs) and research institutions are taking initiatives to develop agroecology in Senegal. The municipality of Ndiob has particularly distinguished itself through its exemplary policy. Finally, the Senegalese state has recently placed the transition among the five major initiatives of the Commission's Priority...
Senegal
Event
2020