{"id":27142,"date":"2023-01-23t15:30:36","date_gmt":"2023-01-23t15:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.planetforward.com\/2023\/01\/23\/agroecology-reorienting-agriculture-in-sub-saharan-africa\/"},"modified":"2023-01-23t15:30:36","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23t15:30:36","slug":"agroecology-sub-saharan-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/agroecology-sub-saharan-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"agroecology: reorienting agriculture in sub-saharan africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

in the semiarid conditions of sub-saharan africa, stories of agriculture, environment, and community are interwoven with barriers. the region\u2019s productivity is at the mercy of seasonal rains, which carve out a narrow five-month growing period now increasingly unpredictable with changing climatic conditions. its communities grapple with seasonal food insecurity that perpetuates cycles of poverty and inequality. yet, between the parched ground and the people that depend on it, there are gaping cracks in scientific understanding where agricultural systems have failed to incorporate the social dimensions of sustainable food systems. for some, the study of sub-saharan africa\u2019s unique agricultural contexts, challenges, and communities is foreign and unfamiliar. for moses kansanga ph.d., it\u2019s a study of home.<\/p>\n

growing up in northern ghana, kansanga experienced food insecurity early in life. times of scarcity brought famine\u2026and bigger questions. \u201ca couple of kilometers out,\u201d he says \u201cthere was a food-secure region with year-round cultivation\u2026\u201d why? how? <\/p>\n

these questions guided his career, which began with the pursuit of finding out why his childhood geographical setting had the recurring issue of hunger. the beginning of the answer was in geography, of which he is now an associate professor at the george washington university. according to kansanga, geography is a tool to think and study across scale. he credits it for allowing him to \u201ccontextualize the challenges he observed at home outwardly to national and international dynamics\u201d of global food systems and environmental justice.<\/p>\n

as a researcher, kansanga\u2019s work has expanded to analyzing solutions to ecological issues in a contextually relevant manner that encompasses the complexities of communities like his own. his research focus on sustainable agriculture depicts how agriculture is enmeshed with interconnected systems of food security, equity, gender, and other social dynamics. in other words, kansanga\u2019s research is in the growing field of agroecology.<\/p>\n

what exactly is \u201cagroecology\u201d?<\/h2>\n

at its most basic, agroecology is a holistic approach to understanding agriculture within the context of various interacting economic, environmental, and social systems. for kansanga, agroecology emphasizes \u201creorienting agriculture in an ecologically friendly manner\u201d while maintaining a strong social justice dimension that addresses social inequalities in the food system. it\u2019s an approach that expands beyond academia and forms what the united nations food and agriculture organization<\/a> describes as a \u201ctransdisciplinary field\u201d that \u201cis concurrently a science, a set of practices, and a social movement\u201d composed of 10 key elements. see the fao’s explanatory video here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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the food and agriculture organization’s 10 elements of agroecology framework aims to encompass local contexts in understandings of agriculture, and includes: diversity, co-creation and sharing of knowledge, synergies, efficiency, recycling, resilience, human and social values, culture and food traditions, responsible governance, and circular and solidarity economy. (food and agriculture organization<\/a>\/cc by-nc-sa 3.0 igo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

the agroecological emphasis on examining social inequalities on a local scale has been especially central to kansanga\u2019s research, where he has found that it helps \u201ccreate an atmosphere for dialogue at the local level.\u201d this dialogue, kansanga says, often plays a key role in beginning difficult cultural discussions that reckon with themes of gender inequality and traditional family dynamics that play into agricultural systems. often, it comes with engaging communities in critical questions such as:<\/p>\n