Agroecology seeks to emulate nature in agro-ecosystems. It works in concert with natural flows and cycles and embraces diversity. It has been shown to enhance food production in small scale farming systems with low inputs and in the midst of climatic variability. But what does agroecology look like when scaled up to encompass diversified large crop fields and pastures? What does it look like when practiced in drier places? Does it imply or require larger social and economic shifts? Join us as we delve into how to think of agroecology on a larger scale.
Miguel A Altieri studied agronomy at the University of Chile, where he received a BS. He also obtained a Masters on agricultural sciences at the National University of Colombia. He graduated with a Ph.D. in entomology at the University of Florida. In 1981 he became Professor of Agroecology at the University of California, Berkeley in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and after 37 years of service he now serves as Professor Emeritus.
At Berkeley he taught agroecology and urban agriculture, but he also serves as guest professor in numerous Universities in Latin America, Spain and Italy. He has conducted most of his research in California and Latin America working closely with farmers on implementing principles of agroecology to design productive, biodiverse and resilient farming systems.
Altieri served as a Scientific Advisor to the Latin American Consortium on Agroecology and Development (CLADES) Chile, an NGO network promoting agroecology as a strategy for small farm sustainable development in the region. He also served for 4 years as the General Coordinator for the United Nations Development Programme’s Sustainable Agriculture Networking and Extension Programme which aimed at capacity building on agroecology among NGOs and the scaling up of successful local sustainable agricultural initiatives in Africa, Latin America and Asia. He was the chairman of the NGO committee of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research whose mission was to make sure that the research agenda of the 15 International Agricultural Research Centers benefited poor farmers. He was Director of the US-Brasil Consortium on Agroecology and Sustainable Rural Development (CASRD), an academic-research exchange program involving students and faculty of UC Berkeley, University of Nebraska, UNICAMP and Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina. He also served as scientific advisor to the Food and Agriculture Organization Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) program, which is devoted at identifying and dynamically conserving traditional farming systems in the developing world. He was for 6 years the President of the Latin American Scientific Society of Agroecology ( www.socla.co).
In 2006 he was awarded an Honorary Ph.D. 1996 Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca, Peru. In 2015 he received a Doctor Honoris Causa at the Universite Catholique du Lovain, Belgium. In 2017, he became Honorary Professor of the University of La Frontera in Chile. In 2018 he was inducted to the Earth Hall of Fame by the Kyoto Prefecture, Japan and received the Diploma de Reconocimiento ( recognition diploma) “Naturaleza, Territorio y Sociedad” from the Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico. In 2022 he recived an Honorary Doctorate from the Universidad Nacional Agraria de Habana, Cuba.
He has written more than 250 scientific articles and more than 40 books among them Agroecology: the science of sustainable agriculture, Biodiversity and pest management in agroecosystems and Agroecology: science and politics.
He is currently Co-Director of the Centro LatinoAmericano de Investigaciones Agroecologicas (CELIA –www.celia.agroeco.org) He is also a farmer in the hillsides of south west Antioquia, Colombia, where together with his wife Dr. Clara Nicholls established an agroecological lighthouse promoting food sovereignty projects in impoverished neighboring rural communities. Every year he serves as visiting professor at the Universidad Internacional de Andalucía, Spain , the University of Pavia, Italy and various Universities in Colombia and other Latin American countries.
