Applying agroecology to enhance the productivity of peasant farming systems in Latin America

摘要

The great majority of farmers in Latin America are peasants whostill farm small plots of land, usually in marginal environmentsutilizing traditional and subsistence methods. The contribution ofthe 16 million peasant units to regional food security is, however,substantial. Research has shown that peasant sys- tems, which mostlyrely on local resources and complex cropping patterns, are reasonablyproductive despite their land endownents and low use of externalinputs.