Agroecology as a transformative movement has gained momentum
in many countries worldwide. In several cases, the implementation
of agroecological practices has grown beyond isolated, local
experiences to be employed by ever-greater numbers of families
and communities over ever-larger territories and to engage more
people in the processing, distribution, and consumption of
agroecologically produced food. To understand the nonlinear,
multidimensional processes that have enabled and impelled the
bringing to scale of agroecology, we review and analyze emblematic
cases that include the farmer-to-farmermovement in Central
America; the national peasant agroecologymovement in Cuba; the
organic coffee boom in Chiapas, Mexico; the spread of Zero Budget
Natural Farming in Karnataka, India; and the agroecological
farmer–consumer marketing network “Rede Ecovida,” in Brazil. On
the basis of our analysis, we identify eight key drivers of the process
of taking agroecology to scale: (1) recognition of a crisis that
motivates the search for alternatives, (2) social organization, (3)
constructivist learning processes, (4) effective agroecological
practices, (5) mobilizing discourses, (6) external allies, (7) favorable
markets, and (8) favorable policies. This initial analysis shows that
organization and social fabric are the growth media on which
agroecology advances, with the help of the other drivers. A more
detailed understanding is needed on how these multiple dimensions
interact with, reinforce, and generate positive feedback with
each other to make agroecology’s territorial expansion possible.
Bringing agroecology to scale: key drivers and emblematic cases
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