Date & Hours: | Saturday, May 21, 2016, 13:00 - Sunday, May 22, 2016, 12:00 |
Venue: | Lecture Hall, RIHN( → Access) |
Organized: | Small-scale Economies Project, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) |
Language: | English |
Capacity: | 70 seats available *Pre-registration required ⇒ Registration Form(Excel / PDF) |
Contact: | Ms. Takehara Small-scale Economies Project, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) Phone: 075-707-2240/FAX:075-707-2508 |
Remarks: | Please send an email for registration including name, affiliation, email address and phone number to Ms. Takehara by no later than 17:00 on 10th May (Tue), 2016. You will receive a confirmation email regarding your participation. |
Junko Habu (RIHN)
Miguel Altieri(Professor University of California, Berkeley/RIHN Invited Scholar) ⇒ Lecture Schedule
『Agroecology: Integrating Traditional Knowledge to Empower Social Movements in the Struggle Against Industrial Agriculture』
Sanae Sawanobori(Professor, Keisen University)
Narumi Yoshikawa(Associate Professor, Prefectural Hiroshima University)
Kazumasa Hitaka(Associate Professor, Ehime University)
Shinji Hashimoto(Hashimoto Farm)
Moderator: Tomiko Yamaguchi (Professor, International Christian University)
(Registration and participation fees required)
Tomiko Yamaguchi (Professor, International Christian University)
Agroecology and Organic Farming: Case Studies from Japan
Ichiro Motono (Lecturer, Kyoto Seika University)
Session 1 : Organic Farming and Agroecology as Science
Session 2 : Social Design based on Agroecology
Junko Habu (Professor, RIHN)
『Agroecology: Integrating Traditional Knowledge to Empower Social Movements in the Struggle Against Industrial Agriculture』
This lecture will provide an overview of what we call ‘agroecological revolution’ in Latin America. As the expansion of agroexports and biofuels continues unfolding in Latin America and warming the planet, the concepts of food sovereignty and agroecology-based agricultural production gain increasing attention. New approaches and technologies involving the application of blended agroecological science and indigenous knowledge systems are being spearheaded by a significant number of peasants, NGOs and some government and academic institutions, and they are proving to enhance food security while conserving natural resources, and empowering local, regional and national peasant organizations and movements. An assessment of various grassroots initiatives in Latin America reveals that the application of the agroecological paradigm can bring significant environmental, economic and political benefits to small farmers and rural communities as well as urban populations in the region. The trajectory of the agroecological movements in Brazil, the Andean region, Mexico, Central America and Cuba and their potential to scale up agroecological initiatives and thus promote sustainable agrarian and social change is briefly presented and examined. We argue that an emerging threefold ‘agroecological revolution’, namely, epistemological, technical and social, is creating new and unexpected changes directed at restoring local self-reliance, conserving and regenerating natural resource agrobiodiversity, producing healthy foods with low inputs, and empowering peasant organizations. These changes directly challenge neoliberal modernization policies based on agribusiness and agroexports while opening new political roads for Latin American agrarian societies.