Nassib Mugwanya’s call for attention to the difficult reality of smallholder farmers across Uganda and Africa is welcome. Life as a smallholder farmer is arduous and full of uncertainties, and many challenges will be (or already are) exacerbated by climate change. Efforts to improve living conditions for this large group ought to be a priority for anyone interested in “sustainable development” — indeed, much more so than many governments’ budgets reflect.
But in contrast to Mugwanya, we argue based on recent dissertation research and 19 years of experience from development practice and participatory research that agroecology has great potential as a model of agricultural development. And it is a more sustainable and smallholder-inclusive model than conventional “modernization” at that. How can our conclusions differ so drastically? We will here respond to Mugwanya’s central criticisms, all of which are important points of debate: (1) that agroecology is just another word for “traditional farming,” (2) that agroecology cannot contribute to agricultural intensification, and (3) that claims about “social justice” as an outcome of agroecology are unsubstantiated. Read more …