Organic agriculture and agroecology in Latin America

Description

This chapter provides an account of the development and current status of agroecology and organic agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It highlights the main contributions made by LAC farmers, practitioners, researchers and value chain actors to the worldwide growth of agroecology and organic agriculture. It provides an overview of certified and non-certified organic agriculture in the region, the guarantee systems in place and the markets for such products. National standards and regulations for organic agriculture are included, as well as programmes for organic agriculture and agroecology which have been developed over the last 20 years. Numerous factors including favourable policies, capacity building, provision of good quality public services and infrastructure development are discussed and found to be key to promoting the transition of smallholders into more sustainable farming systems. The chapter concludes with a review of the performance of organic systems in the LAC region.

Table of contents

1 Introduction 2 Principles 3 Organisations and movements 4 Production and business 5 Institutions and policies 6 Performance of organic systems 7 Summary and future trends 8 Acknowledgements 9 References