FiNCO farms for knowledge exchange: A Colombian seed for a good Anthropocene

Ambio. 2023 May;52(5):963-975. doi: 10.1007/s13280-022-01821-0. Epub 2023 Jan 26.

Abstract

Returning to Earth's safe operating space requires driving social-ecological transformations toward a new human-nature configuration, while navigating changes and creatively dealing with crises. Family farms in the Colombian Andes have been navigating changes by using modalities of integrated management that recognize family interdependence with nature, which illustrates social-ecological resilience on a small scale. We potentiated family farming by creating FiNCO (Farms for knowledge exchange) as a strategy that renews the connection between disciplines, academia and farmers, and the rural and urban sectors, in order to promote knowledge co-production and landscape stewardship. In this sense, FiNCO is considered as a seed for a good Anthropocene. This paper is an invitation to plant FiNCO seeds in different social-ecological contexts and to share those experiences as an ideal way to create abilities to transform the upcoming humanity challenges into opportunities for humanity's needed transformation.

Keywords: Family agriculture; Knowledge co-production; Landscape stewardship; Resilience thinking; Social–ecological resilience; Transdisciplinarity.

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture*
  • Colombia
  • Ecosystem*
  • Farms
  • Humans
  • Seeds