The agroecological transition of farms in the Ecuadorian Andes through
the lens of The Main Agroecological Structure
Abstract
Agroecology has been addressed as one of the most prominent alternatives
to achieve sustainability in agriculture, both for land and people. For
this reason, academics, authorities, social leaders and organizations
from many fields have urged a transition from modern conventional to
agroecological agriculture. However, farms are complex systems, and this
transition demands the transformation of a broad set of characteristics
and practices that are a consequence of the farm administrator
decisions. These are, in turn, conditioned by its specific context
(social, educational, economic, political). Therefore, a clear
understanding of the main drivers behind the management of farms is
vital for supporting an effective transition, where the process remains
stable and does not return to the previous state (conventional
production) or reaches an alternative state (permanent degradation). For
this reason, this research evaluated the Main Agroecological Structure
(MAS) of 20 farms in different degrees of agroecological transition, in
five locations of the northern-central Andean region of Ecuador. The
farms had a moderately developed structure on average (71.05 over 100),
and MAS variation was significantly related to the study site. One of
the main differences between sites was a more extended prevalence of
cooperation and development programs. For this reason, the author
proposes that MAS measurements should be complemented with deeper
analyses of the capacity-building background of each site. This study
aims to establish a baseline of the MAS in Ecuador, and to provide new
tools for monitoring agroecological transition.