Emerging responses to the COVID-19 crisis from family farming and the agroecology movement in Latin America - A rediscovery of food, farmers and collective action

P Tittonell; M Fernandez; V E El Mujtar; P V Preiss; S Sarapura; L Laborda; M A Mendonça; V E Alvarez; G B Fernandes; P Petersen; I M Cardoso; 15 co-signing contributors

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103098

Emerging responses to the COVID-19 crisis from family farming and the agroecology movement in Latin America - A rediscovery of food, farmers and collective action

Agric Syst. 2021 May:190:103098. doi: 10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103098. Epub 2021 Mar 7.

Authors

P Tittonell^{1

2

3}, M Fernandez¹, V E El Mujtar¹, P V Preiss⁴, S Sarapura⁵, L Laborda¹, M A Mendonça⁶, V E Alvarez¹, G B Fernandes⁷, P Petersen⁸, I M Cardoso⁹; 15 co-signing contributors

Affiliations

¹ Agroecology, Environment and Systems Group, Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias de Bariloche (IFAB), INTA-CONICET, Modesta Victoria 4450 - CC 277, 8400 San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina.
² Agroécologie et Intensification Durable (AïDA), Centre de coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), Université de Montpellier, 34000 Montpellier, France.
³ Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences, Groningen University, PO Box 11103, 9700, CC, Groningen, The Netherlands.
⁴ Regional Development Posgraduate Program at University of Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil.
⁵ School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Canada, 50 Stone Rd E, Guelph N1G 2W1, ON, Canada.
⁶ Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) / Rural Economy Department (DER), Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n-Campus Universitário, Viçosa, MG36570-900, Brazil.
⁷ Centro de Tecnologias Alternativas da Zona da Mata (CTA-ZM), 36.570-000, Caixa Postal 128, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
⁸ AS-PTA Agricultura Familiar e Agroecologia, Brazil.
⁹ Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) / Soil Science Department (DPS), Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n-Campus Universitário, Viçosa, MG36570-900, Brazil.

Abstract

Context: In Latin America, the so-called informal sector associated with family farming and the agroecology movements were instrumental at coping with and adapting to the COVID-19 challenges.

Objective: To assess the nature and extent of the early initiatives (first three months) deployed by this informal sector to cope with and adapt to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food production and consumption in several countries of the region.

Methods: We used key used informant consultation (n = 168), an online survey (n = 125) and the detailed characterisation of regional case studies (n = 4). Textual data was analysed and categorised using Reinert's method, combined with similarity analysis.

Results and conclusions: 65% of the initiatives were 'local' in terms of geographic reach, 30% of them started within the first month after the pandemic and most of them were urban or urban-rural, whereas only 29% of them were exclusively rural. The analysis of the textual information captured through the survey revealed four major types of initiatives that were deployed or adapted in response to COVID-19:1.Direct producer-to-consumer food sales, generally existing before the COVID-19 crisis but adapted/strengthened to cope with it;2.Short value chains that linked rural and urban organisations and individuals supported by national or local governments, readapted through new health and safety protocols;3.Newly developed support and training programs on sustainable food production for self-consumption or local commerce, in rural, urban or peri-urban settings;4.Food assistance and aid initiatives focusing on vulnerable populations, relying on solidarity networks associated with the agroecological movement.

Significance: The pandemic highlighted the key role played by local food systems and value chains and the need to strengthening them through public policies, as a way to build food resilience in times of crisis.

Keywords: Agroecology; Family farming; Food policies; Pandemic; Short chains; Social movement; Vulnerability.