Agroecology Knowledge Hub

Efficiency : innovative agroecological practices produce more using less external resources

Increased resource-use efficiency is an emergent property of agroecological systems that carefully plan and manage diversity to create synergies between different system components. For example, a key efficiency challenge is that less than 50 percent of nitrogen fertilizer added globally to cropland is converted into harvested products and the rest is lost to the environment causing major environmental problems.

Agroecological systems improve the use of natural resources, especially those that are abundant and free, such as solar radiation, atmospheric carbon and nitrogen. By enhancing biological processes and recycling biomass, nutrients and water, producers are able to use fewer external resources, reducing costs and the negative environmental impacts of their use. Ultimately, reducing dependency on external resources empowers producers by increasing their autonomy and resilience to natural or economic shocks.

One way to measure the efficiency of integrated systems is by using Land Equivalent Ratios (LER). LER compares the yields from growing two or more components (e.g. crops, trees, animals) together with yields from growing the same components in monocultures. Integrated agroecological systems frequently demonstrate higher LERs.

Agroecology thus promotes agricultural systems with the necessary biological, socio-economic and institutional diversity and alignment in time and space to support greater efficiency.

Database

The initiative is taking place in the Rabat region. The Zirâa Al Hayate "Seed of Life" cooperative in the Rabat region distributes plant products from 10 farms with agroecology practices. The cooperative's farms started their activities with agroecology techniques in 2017.  The 10 participating farms of the cooperative are labeled Participatory...
Morocco
Innovation
2021
This open access book provides a panoramic view of the evolution of Spanish agriculture from 1900 to the present, offering a more diverse picture to the complex and multidimensional reality of agrarian production. With a clear transdisciplinary ambition, the book applies an original and innovative theoretical and methodological tool, termed Agrarian Social...
Spain
Book
2019
It was another hot and humid day, another power cut, the generator groaning in the background. Fans were spinning and pumping hot air around as the A/C didn’t work with the generator. I looked around the office, everyone seemed bored, scrolling through Facebook, chatting occasionally. I felt sad that there...
Timor-Leste
Article
2022
The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) has collaborated with partners to organize the first trailblazing three-day continental convening on AFRICAN AGROECOLOGICAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND TERRITORIAL MARKETS in Munyonyo, Uganda, from May 24th to 26th, 2022. The gathering brought together actors from over 30 countries, with over 130 persons in...
Conference proceedings
2022
Agroecology Europe (AEEU) is an international association of members who wants to exchange knowledge and experiences on agroecology, place agroecology high on the European agenda, and support the transition toward agroecological practices, sustainable food systems, and policies. To support exchange, reflection, and bottom-up contributions, Agroecology Europe is organizing together with local farmers,...
Event
2021