An agroecological analysis of the adaptations of resource poor rice farmers from a Philippine barangay

Abstract

The search for more sustainable modes of agricultural production is one of the greatest challenges facing the modem world. Agroecologists suggest that sustainable modes of production must adopt ecological principles and restore and reinvigorate agricultural communities. Using an agroecological framework, this thesis explores the possibilities for sustainable adaptations amongst resource poor rice farmers from the Philippine barangay (village) of Campagao. The thesis explores the adaptations of Campagao's rice farmers over the last thirty years, a period which saw substantial changes in agricultural practice within the barangay. Using a reinvented agroecological approach that emphasises the importance of linking ecological and social systems, and dealing directly with the political, social and epistemological barriers to sustainable agricultural production, this thesis reviews the possibilities open to resource poor rice farmers in the Philippines. The thesis suggests that the agroecological approach needs to focus more on the development of persistent, enabling social mechanisms that support ecologically-informed practices, and that encourage new, locally renewable practices. The thesis suggests how this may occur within the context of the Philippines. Show more