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Ecological agriculture: Principles, practices, and constraints

Article  in  Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · June 2007

DOI: 10.1017/S1742170507001846

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Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems: 22(2); 109–117 doi:10.1017/S1742170507001846

Ecological agriculture: Principles,

practices, and constraints1
Fred Magdoff*
Department of Plant and Soil Science, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401, USA.
*Corresponding author: fmagdoff@uvm.edu

Accepted 2 January 2007 Research Paper

Abstract
The practice of ecological agriculture involves building the strengths of natural ecosystems into agroecosystems, purposely
disturbed to produce food and fiber. The overall strategies include using practices that (a) grow healthy plants with good
defense capabilities, (b) stressing pests, and (c) enhancing populations of beneficial organisms. These are accomplished
by enhanced habitat management both above ground and in the soil. Many of the practices that contribute to the overall
strategies are well known—such as intensive use of cover crops or reduced tillage. Reasons for why they have not been
more widely used are discussed. The special challenges facing ecological agriculture in the poor countries of the Third
World are also discussed. Re-engaging national governments in the active support of their agriculture and addressing the
structural inequalities (including access to land) are essential to overcome the many problems facing farmers in the poor
countries.

Key words: ecological agriculture, agroecology, soil management, crop management, farm subsidies, Third World agriculture

Why Ecological Agriculture? In addition, the ecological and sociological problems of

contemporary conventional agriculture are in the news
It is acknowledged by most observers that there are almost daily. Water pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus
currently plentiful supplies of food produced in the US and pathogens results in health hazards or algal blooms.
and around the world—certainly sufficient so that no person Some of these effects are local, others are regional
should go hungry or be in a position of food insecurity. (pollution of Lake Champlain or the Chesapeake Bay),
On the other hand, about half the people in the world are and some, such as the problems caused by nitrates entering
malnourished—3 billion people. In the US, according to the Gulf of Mexico, are truly continental in scope. Other
USDA, in 2004 ‘. . . 38.2 million people lived in food- environmental problems include accelerated soil erosion
insecure households, including 13.9 million children. by wind and/or water, pesticides in groundwater and on
Of these individuals, 7.4 million adults and 3.3 million food, the pesticide ‘treadmill’ caused by development of
children lived in households where someone experienced pest resistance to pesticides, routine use of antibiotics for
hunger during the year.’1 And a few years ago a New York animals leading to antibiotic-resistant strains of organisms,
Times article had a story with the following headline ‘Poor disease organisms contaminating meat and produce, pesti-
in India Starve as Surplus Wheat Rots.’2 As a Wall Street cide contamination of farm workers, and so on. A good part
Journal headline put it in 2004 ‘Want Amid Plenty, An of the nutrient pollution from agriculture is caused by a
Indian Paradox: Bumper Harvests and Rising Hunger.’3 geographic separation between animal production facilities
So, the current system of production can be considered, (consisting now mainly of large buildings and feedlots) and
in one important way to be quite a success story—there is a where the animal feeds are produced. This necessitates the
lot of food produced. And on the other hand, many people use of large quantities of commercial mined and processed
here and around the world are hungry and malnourished. potash and phosphate fertilizers as well as synthetic nitro-
gen fertilizers on the crop farms at the same time as
nutrients accumulate as manure on the animal farms.
Additionally, in the poor countries of the Third World, an
1
Modified from the keynote address to the conference ‘Sustainability in over-reliance on grain crop monocultures and loss of crop
the Balance: Juggling Environmental Health, Economic Profitability and
Social Equity in the Global Food System’, Friedman School of Nutrition diversity in the aftermath of the ‘green revolution’ has
Science and Policy, Tufts University, 11 April, 2006. resulted in a loss of well-balanced diets.
# 2007 Cambridge University Press
110 F. Magdoff
The development of factory farms and the physical agricultural commodities. Farmers producing undifferen-
separation of most of the animals from the land on which tiated commodities must take advantage of all the physical
their feed grows are of relatively recent origin, developing and financial economies of scale in order to reduce their
especially over the past 25–50 years4,5. Of longer duration, costs of production. In Iowa nowadays it takes about 1500
going back well over a century, has been the wide acres to make a living following conventional agriculture
separation between where people live and where their food practices. This decrease in farm numbers and in agri-
is produced. This causes both wasted energy for transport- businesses that served the smaller farms has led to the
ation of food as well as excess nutrient accumulation in and decline and death of many rural communities. And the
around urban areas. This issue, still very much with us system continues along its ‘merry’ way in the US only with
today in the problems of treating and disposing of massive massive government subsidies—in 2001 an astonishing
quantities of urban wastes, created some concern in the 47% of farm income came from government subsidies.8
19th century, as indicated by Karl Marx’s comments: Encouraged by agribusiness, agricultural science has
contributed to the conventional system, with all its negative
Capitalist production, by collecting the population in
environmental and social effects. It has done so by taking a
great centres, and causing an ever-increasing preponder- reductionist approach, where each issue that develops is
ance of town population, on the one hand concentrates viewed as an individual problem that needs to be addressed
the historical motive power of society; on the other hand, in isolation from all others. If soil fertility is low, just add
it disturbs the circulation of matter between man and the fertilizers. If there is a pest outbreak (weed, insect, disease),
soil, i.e., prevents the return to the soil of its elements then apply a pesticide. If the soil is compact, just use a
consumed by man in the form of food and clothing; subsoiler to relieve compaction. All issues are dealt with
it therefore violates the conditions necessary to lasting using a therapeutic approach. There is a ‘problem’ that
fertility of the soil. By this action it destroys at the same needs some intervention, or therapy, to solve it. But what
time the health of the town labourer and the intellectual if these ‘problems’ are better viewed as symptoms of
a deeper underlying and mostly hidden problem? What
life of the rural labourer.6
if these are caused by a poorly managed agricultural
Another critical issue is the extreme dependence on fossil ecosystem?
fuels in conventional agriculture and the entire food system.
Fuel is not only used to produce and power the large-scale
equipment now used in agriculture—the tractors and Principles of Ecological Agriculture
combines and trucks for transportation. It is also used for The term ecological agriculture used in this essay is similar
other purposes such as drying grain and for production of to agroecology in that it applies ecological principles and
agrichemicals. Although pesticide production is costly in approaches to agricultural ecosystems. While not excluding
energy terms, one of the most energy costly agrichemicals organic agriculture, it is a broader concept that may be
is the production, distribution, and application of nitrogen closer to ‘sustainable’ agriculture. Ecology is the ‘missing
fertilizers. The two nitrogen atoms of the N2 molecule, so science’ in traditional agricultural education and research.
abundant in our atmosphere (78%), are held together by a Undergraduate and graduate agriculture students have until
triple bond that takes high temperature, pressure, energy, very recently studied basic sciences such as biology,
and catalysts, to convert to ammonia—the first product of chemistry and physics, but not ecology. In addition, the
Haber–Bosch process and the starting point for all other various agricultural disciplines have even been fragmented
commercial N fertilizers. to sub-disciplines. No wonder the reductionist approach has
The opening up of forests and grasslands for intensive been the norm. In going about the work of agriculture
agricultural production has caused, and continues to cause, we purposefully disturb natural ecosystems (or formerly
a rapid decomposition (oxidation) of soil organic matter, natural ecosystems) for the purpose of producing food and
leading to substantial releases of carbon dioxide (CO2) into fiber crops and animal products of various kinds. These
the atmosphere. There is over three times more carbon agroecosystems can be approached as any other ecosystem.
stored in soils than is in the atmosphere as CO2. Thus, An ecological approach to agriculture involves designing
release of CO2 from soils through oxidation of organic the strengths of natural ecosystem into agroecosystems.
matter is of fairly large magnitude, while at the same time First we will discuss the strengths of natural ecosystems
the soils are becoming less healthy because of the loss and then discuss how to develop these strengths in the
of organic matter (see estimates of historical CO2 context of farm fields and farms.
releases7).
Conventional farmers have been forced to become larger
and highly mechanized—and, therefore, there are fewer of
Strengths of natural ecosystems
them—because of consolidation in the input and output Natural ecosystems exhibit certain strengths or character-
(purchasing, processing and distribution) industries and istics. These include the following:
low prices for their products. There are now few places to $ Efficiency. Efficient energy flows are characteristic of
purchase needed inputs or wholesale markets to sell natural systems. The sun’s energy captured by green
Ecological agriculture: Principles, practices, and constraints 111
plants is then used by many organisms, as fungi and relying heavily on ecological principles. Firstly, do every-
bacteria decompose organic residues and are then fed thing reasonably possible to build internal strengths
upon by other organisms, which are themselves fed upon into the agricultural ecosystem. This aims at preventing
by others higher up the foodweb. Natural ecosystems also ‘problems’ instead of dealing with them once they have
tend to be efficient in capturing and using rainfall and in appeared. Secondly, use routine ecologically sound prac-
mobilizing and cycling nutrients. This helps to keep the tices during the season to keep plants healthy. Thirdly, if
ecosystem from ‘running down’ through the excessive an unanticipated problem arises, use the most benign
loss of nutrients and at the same time helps maintain the reactive (therapeutic) means possible to deal with it. Let
quality of the groundwater and surface waters. Precipita- us deal with each of these individually.
tion tends to enter the porous soil, rather than runoff, A. Building internal strengths into the system is
providing water to plants as well as recharge to ground usually done during the off-season through the time the
water, slowly releasing water to streams and rivers. crops are planted (see Fig. 1). The overall goals are to
$ Diversity. A great biological diversity, both above create soil and above-ground conditions that promote the
ground and in the soil, characterizes many natural growth of healthy plants, to stress pests, and to promote
ecosystems in temperate and tropical regions. This beneficial organisms. This can be viewed at as ‘habitat
provides checks and balances, nutrient availability to management and conservation’ to promote sufficient
plants, checks on disease outbreaks, etc. For example, biological diversity and conditions for healthy growth of
competition for resources and specific antagonisms plants—above and below ground, in space (for example,
(such as antibiotic production) from the multitude of field boundary management) and in time (cover crops,
soil organisms usually keep soilborne plant diseases rotations). This is the heart of the matter, and for this reason
from severely damaging a natural grassland or forest. we will discuss it in greater depth than the other two overall
$ Self-sufficiency. A consequence of efficiency and strategies. Although Fig. 1 and the discussion below divides
diversity is that natural terrestrial ecosystems are self- strategies into ‘above ground’ and ‘below ground’ this is an
sufficient—requiring only inputs of sunlight and rainfall. artificial distinction. Many practices may have profound
$ Self-regulation. Because of the great diversity of effects both above and below the soil surface.
organisms, outbreaks (or huge population increases)
of diseases or insects that severely damage plants or Building strengths above ground
animals are uncommon. In addition, plants have a num- $ Select crops and varieties resistant to local pests (in

ber of defense mechanisms that help protect them from addition to other qualities such as yield, taste, etc.)
attack. $ Use appropriate planting densities (and companion

$ Resiliency. Disturbances occur in all ecosystems— crops)

natural or not. The stronger ones are more resistant to $ Plant perimeter (trap) crops that are more attractive to a

disturbances9 and are able to bounce back quicker. particular pest than the economic crop(s) growing in the
middle of the field and can intercept incoming insects.
$ Create field boundaries and zones within fields that are
Building characteristics of strong ecosystems attractive to beneficial insects. This usually involves
into agroecosystems planting a mix of flowering plants around or inside fields
We need to learn to design farms, farming systems and to provide shelter and food for beneficials.
landscapes to take advantage of the inherent strengths of $ Use cover crops routinely to provide multiple benefits

natural systems, using minimal amounts of external inter- such as habitat for beneficial insects, adding N and
ventions (inputs). Ideally, we would like to have agroeco- organic matter to soil, reducing erosion and enhancing
systems that are productive but without the many negative water infiltration into the soil, retaining nutrients in soil,
‘externalities’—or unwanted side effects—of conventional (and much more). It is possible to supply all of the
agriculture. We would like agricultural ecosystems to dem- nitrogen to succeeding crops by growing a vigorous
onstrate characteristics of strong ecosystems—efficiency, winter legume cover crop such as crimson clover in the
diversity, self-sufficiency, self-regulation and resilience. south and hairy vetch in the north.
The only way to really come close to reaching these goals is $ Use rotations that are complex, involve plants of

to view farms and fields as systems and approach them as different families and, if at all possible, include sod
such. This will not necessarily eliminate all the problems crops such as grass/clover hay that remain without soil
associated with contemporary conventional agriculture but disturbance for a number of years.
should go a long way to alleviating many of them. And we $ Reducing tillage is an important part of an ecological

must remember, of course, that ecologically managed approach to agriculture. Tillage buries residues, leaving
agricultural ecosystems, while mimicking strong natural the soil bare and more susceptible to the erosive effects
ecosystems, are still purposefully disturbed systems that of rainfall, and at the same time breaks up natural soil
will not look or function the same as natural systems. aggregates that help infiltration, storage and drainage of
Agricultural fields and their surroundings. There is a precipitation. (The use of practices that reduce erosion is
three-step overall strategy to the production of crops critical to sustaining soil productivity10.)
112 F. Magdoff

Preventive management—
pre-season through planting
time (building internal Post-planting
strengths into the system) planned
management
Reactive management
(if yield or quality
goals not being
1. Crop/plant selection achieved)
& planting management;
habitat conservation
& enhancement of field 3. In-season Overall Goal
and surroundings pest
prevention or
management 5. Reactive
pest
management

Create soil & above

ground conditions for Optimal crop yield
healthy plants with Healthy plants & quality—
enhanced defenses with minimal with high positive
Stress pests pest damage and low negative
Enhance beneficials environmental effects

6. Reactive
soil/nutrient
4. In-season
management
management to
2. Build healthy soil reduce
(below ground crop stress and/or
habitat conservation optimize yield
& enhancement) and quality

Figure 1. Ecological field management framework.

Building soil strengths $ Reduce soil compaction to a minimum by keeping off

$ Add large quantities of organic materials on a regular fields when they are too wet, redistributing loads, using
basis—animal manures, composts, tree leaves, cover traffic lanes, etc.
crops, rotation crops that leave large amounts of resi- $ Use a variety of practices to reduce erosion. These
due, etc. Soil organic matter and its management are include some mentioned above, such as keeping soil
at the heart of creating healthy soils11,12 that have covered with living vegetation or crop residue (using
significant internal strengths that produce healthy plants cover crops, rotation sod crops, and reducing tillage),
that have good defense mechanisms. These character- as well as other practices such as terracing, grassed
istics include good nutrient availability, good water waterways, strip cropping along the contour by alter-
(and air) relations, good conditions for plant roots to nating a row crop with a sod crop, using natural or
grow and explore, production of plant growth stimul- planted buffers between fields and streams, etc.
ating compounds by microorganisms, disease suppres- $ Use practices to supply supplemental fertility sources,
sion, low weed seed populations, etc. However, care when needed, that better match nutrient availability to
must be taken to not overload soils with nutrients by crop uptake needs (which vary during the season). This
continually using large quantities of organic materials helps to reduce both weed and insect damage.
such as composts from off the farm.
$ Use different types of organic materials because they Creative use of a combination of the practices discussed
have different effects on soil biological, chemical, and above, such as a good rotation, adding organic materials to
physical properties. soil, and intensive use of cover crops—goes a long way to
$ Keep soil covered with living vegetation and/or crop creating a more ecologically sound agriculture at the field
residues by using cover crops, sod crops in rotations, level. It creates the conditions that are hospitable to plant
and/or reduced tillage practices. This encourages water roots, allowing the development of strong and healthy
to infiltrate into the soil instead of running off the field, plants and helps promote the presence of naturally
taking sediments (and organic matter) along. occurring biological control organisms. This promotes
Ecological agriculture: Principles, practices, and constraints 113

Minimize inputs from off farm (fertilizers,

seeds, animal feeds, fuel, machinery,
pesticides, etc.)

Farm Maximize
Farm resources
use of local
Hired Human resources nutrient
labor (skills/knowledge, Decisions sources
tradition, ego, greed, self- on crop and animal (including
Labor image) enterprises result in produce waste)
treated with Natural resources basic approaches to
respect and
(including soil, water, production, marketing, Crop and
human
decency microclimate, diversity and community that animal Sale of
of habitats and income a) are environmentally sound, production product(s):
potential, etc.) b) provide farm family with
as local
Other (structures, desired quality of life, and
and direct
machinery, financial c) are socially responsible
Add to consumer
(assets–debt), etc.) value? as possible

Economics Government/policy Consumer ‘demand’ Minimize losses that adversely

impact off-farm resources
Pressure and information from parents, peers, lenders, agencies (e.g. nutrients lost through
run-off, eroded sediments,
Farm #2 leaching of pesticides)
Some losses can become resources if properly managed
For example, manure or compost produced on one farm being used by a different farm

Figure 2. Ecological farm management framework.

characteristics of efficiency in use of nutrients and water, ground habitat (reducing tillage, using legumes to supply
biological diversity above and below ground, self- N to other crops, etc.).
sufficiency, self-regulation and resilience. $ Maximize the use of locally available nutrients
B. Routine ecologically sound practices during the (manures, composts, cover crops, municipal leaves,
season include such activities as scouting to see if pest etc.)
problems are occurring and irrigating crops when rainfall is $ Mix animal and crop production whenever possible
insufficient. Pruning tree crops to reduce humidity (and, to provide a number of benefits—such as more efficient
therefore, fungal disease) is another one of these practices, cycling of nutrients on the farm (assuming that manure is
as is cultivation for weed control. handled well) and a reason to alternate sod (hay) crops
C. Reactive management may be needed to save crops with row crops. Mixed crop and animal production
if, despite using a preventive approach, a pest outbreak or systems offer the potential for developing intensive
other issue occurs. In this situation, the release of beneficial biological synergies. These multi-species crop/animal
biocontrol organisms may be the most benign approach systems can be extremely productive and provide
although targeted (non-broad-spectrum), low persistence, opportunities for small and limited resource farmers to
low toxicity pesticides might be needed instead. The use of thrive—assuming they have access to credit and markets.
a foliar spray to quickly get nutrients into a plant during the $ Add value to agricultural products to provide family
season can help overcome some deficiencies that appear with added income.
during the growing season. Reactive management becomes $ Sell products as local and direct to consumer as
the last line of defense in ecological management, rather possible. This has two effects. Firstly it usually provides
than the first or second. farmers with higher prices than they would receive
Farm scale. We cannot just stop at the field scale, through wholesale markets. Secondly, it creates more
because practices that are carried out in a particular field awareness of agriculture, agricultural issues, and pro-
are decided upon by farmers looking at their entire farm. vides a more direct connection between the public and
What are the principles at the farm scale that will help their food. Because products are sold locally, this also
guide a farmer making ecologically sound decisions that creates the possibility of better cycling of nutrients.
also provide the farm family with their desired quality of $ Minimize adverse effects on neighboring farms or the
life, including adequate income, while being socially environment.
sound (see Fig. 2)? $ Treat hired labor with respect and human decency, as
$ Minimize inputs from off the farm by building up soil the valuable resource that it is (this also reduces worker
organic matter and creating better above and below turnover).
114 F. Magdoff

Constraints to Ecological Agriculture farmstead cheeses, to processing meat and poultry, and so
in the US on. These farmers still represent only a small niche in US
agriculture, although very important in some areas and
The basic principles and many practices of ecological definitely still growing. But the increasing desire for
agriculture are well known. So why aren’t they being organic foods has been noticed by the ‘big guys,’ and we
practiced on most farms in the US and abroad? For more now have what should be a non sequitur—organic factory
complex rotations to be used on a majority of conventional farms. Very large-scale organic dairies as well as veg-
farms there need to be large and easily accessible markets etable and fruit farms are now common. And of all the
for the additional products—for example, something other outlets now getting interested in organic food, Wal-Mart
than corn and soybeans in the US corn belt. And while it is jumping in as part of its effort to attract upscale
makes ecological sense to reunite animals with the land that customers14,15. Thus, the small-scale farmer raising
raises their feeds, decisions made by large corporations crops and animals ecologically needs to cultivate a local
about where to place processing facilities and how they constituency—regardless of whether value is added to the
want ‘their’ animals raised makes it difficult for farmers to products sold—and/or enter into values-based marketing
sell large numbers of animals outside that industrial system networks with other farmers using their own brand(s).
that has developed. (It should be noted that the buy-local
movement has led to the development of new markets for
some farmers through the food service industry. How large Ecological Agriculture, Poor Countries,
and long lasting an effect this will have is yet to be seen.)
Another constraint in the US is that certain commodities
and Hunger
receive subsidy payments while others do not. Why leave a Possible alternate uses for crop residues is also a potential
relatively dependable system for one with many economic impediment in the Third World to implementation of an
unknowns? ecological agriculture that calls for returning as much
A major constraint that we may have in the future has biomass to the soil as possible. For example, dry cow dung
recently raised its head—the use of crops to produce in India is used as fuel and 60% of crop residues in China
energy. The price of corn increased by 60% in the fall of and 90% in Bangladesh are burned for fuel16.
2006, in response mainly to the increased use of the crop to In Africa and other parts of the Third World there are
produce ethanol. The USDA has projected that ethanol also many other constraints to a more sustainable and
production will use 20% of the US corn crop in 200613. ecologically based agriculture. Perhaps one of the largest
With numerous ethanol plants currently under construction, has been the near wholesale elimination of government
ethanol will take an increasing share of the corn market subsidies and other assistance to agriculture under recom-
and will compete with corn’s use as an animal feed and mendations and pressure from international organizations
feedstock for many byproducts such as high fructose syrup. such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The
With a more profitable corn crop, it will be difficult to shift abandonment of any real agricultural policy by many
corn belt farmers to more complex rotations. And with the governments has left most farmers at the mercy of local
accelerated push to produce ethanol (and other products) market forces. Very low and declining yields are not
from crop residues, less organic matter will be returned to uncommon as farmers attempt to eke out an existence on
the land, leaving soils less fertile. ‘worn-out’ soils17. Additional problems, such as endemic
It is true that there are many farmers practicing eco- corruption and poor basic infrastructure such as inadequate
logical approaches to their farms. However, very few of roads and storage facilities, only make things worse.
these are large-scale growers trying to sell their products Without significant assistance, it is very difficult for
into the undifferentiated wholesale commodity markets. farmers to escape a downward spiral of declining soil
There are also currently some government subsidies for fertility and yields. The recent push on the part of private
such farmers to follow more environmentally sound prac- US foundations to implement a ‘new green revolution’ in
tices such as using cover crops or planting riparian buffer Africa will most likely do little to alleviate hunger and
zones. However, even if an environmentally sound practice poverty because it focuses on traditional green revolution
or two are used, rarely does a full-fledged ecologically technologies (high-yielding varieties, commercial fertili-
based system develop. So farmers implementing a truly zers, pesticides and irrigation) instead of building an
ecologically based system tend to be mainly small-scale ecological agriculture, addressing structural inequalities,
growers who also try to capture for themselves some extra and having local groups and local and national governments
price above wholesale commodity prices—such as oper- take an active role in supporting agriculture18. It is certainly
ators of Community Supported Agriculture farms (CSAs) true that fertilizers will increase crop yields on many of the
and organic farmers that sell at farmers’ markets, farm nutrient-depleted soils of Africa. Irrigation and other
stands at the farm, and to local restaurants. practices will probably also help. However, these techno-
Over the past decade there has been a huge increase logies are neither unknown nor unused, and focusing on
in interest among farmers in developing value-added them misses the heart of the problem. The situation of
products—from bottling milk, to making yoghurt, to Ghana’s rice farmers has been described as follows: ‘In 1983,
Ecological agriculture: Principles, practices, and constraints 115
Ghana adopted free-market changes, followed by more in protective tariffs—a ‘remedy’ or ‘growth strategy’ recom-
1986. It earned accolades from the World Bank as the most mended to Third World countries by the IMF, the World
promising West African economy after cutting duties and Bank, and many NGOs—with the subsidies that US corn
eliminating the aid that protected its rice sector. While the growers receive only making things somewhat worse. Even
country’s overall economy is expanding, poverty in the without the subsidies, highly mechanized farmers in the US
rural north has spiraled. Farming has been set back decades: will be able to produce commodity crops at prices below
Men harvest with small, hand-held sickles; women clean the price that will permit the subsistence of a small farmer
and sort rice by hand. According to the Ghana Rice Inter- growing those crops on a small plot in the Third World and
professional Body, the country’s three-ton-per-hectare . . . trying to sell some portion in the local markets. Add to that,
yield is half what it could be.’19 It is the neglect of the the takeover of the agricultural input industries—as well
interests of small farmers by governments following ‘free as purchasing, processing and selling of agricultural
market’ policies that has worsened the agricultural situation products—by large transnational corporations means that
in many countries—including yield reductions in Ghana the small grower in the Third World is in a difficult
due to decreased fertilizer usage. In addition, relying on the situation, to say the least. One of the latest developments is
routine use of costly imported materials such as fertilizers the opening of large-scale European and US-owned super-
and pesticides, though helpful in emergency situations, is markets in poor countries. These supermarkets purchase
not a long-term solution to the problems of subsistence and produce only from large-scale growers, leaving the small
small farmers. That will require the development of an farmer with the traditional markets, now less lucrative and
ecologically based and diversified agriculture relying to the serving fewer people. As a 2004 headline in the New York
greatest extent possible on local resources and focused Times put it ‘Supermarket Giants Crush Central American
on building and maintaining healthy soils (as described Farmers’23.
above). Large-scale, highly mechanized agriculture is probably
A group of developing nations (the Group of 20, with the greatest threat to the existence of billions of people, for
sometimes more and sometimes less than 20, led by Brazil reasons that will be discussed below. It is also taking the
and India) has made the subsidies of US and European place of small-scale peasant agriculture in countries such as
farmers a key issue in the World Trade Organization’s Brazil. It is occurring in response to the profits that can be
negotiations. Their unwillingness to accept the conditions made by selling certain agricultural commodities on
imposed by the wealthy countries has led to the collapse of the world market. Brazil, for example, with its relatively
the Doha round of WTO negotiations that began in 2001 in cheap land and labor, has very low costs of production for
Qatar. Certainly, the subsidies paid to farmers in wealthy soybeans and exports approximately the same quantity of
countries allow products to be sold on the world market soy products as the US. In 2004, Brazil exported 20.3
below the actual cost of production. This, of course, makes metric tons (MT) of beans plus 14.8 MT of soy meal,
it difficult for farmers in the Third World to sell in the compared with US exports of 29.9 MT of beans and 5.4 MT
local market and to export abroad19. However, of all the of soy meal24. Once large-scale agricultural production of
problems of agriculture in the poor countries of the world, commodities is profitable, more small peasants are forced
subsidies to farmers in wealthy countries is a relatively from their lands by capitalist farmers—‘legally’ or
small issue compared to some of the others20. The main illegally. That Brazil exports a lot of soybeans, sugar and
threat to farmers in the Third World is not that prices for oranges (or orange juice), and coffee certainly helps its
agricultural products are too cheap because of subsidies to balance of trade with the rest of the world. On the other
US and European farmers. This might be an issue for highly hand, this can have very negative effects on the production
mechanized producers in the poor countries, but small-scale of food crops for internal use by subsistence and small-
producers selling commodities on the world wholesale scale commercial farmers.
market just cannot compete directly with highly mechan- Subsistence farmers forced off their land by a variety of
ized producers (with per person production perhaps 500 forces are flooding into the cities of the Third World. With
times or more that of a small-scale producer), wherever few jobs available they head to the slums and join the
they are21. For example, Jamaican farmers cannot compete ‘informal’ economy as best they can. It is estimated by the
with US farmers in crops that do not receive direct UN that of the half of the 6 billion people in the world that
subsidies, like carrots and onions, as well as in meat and lives in cities, about 1/3 of city dwellers live in slums—
chicken. Poor countries also compete among themselves, approximately 1 billion people. The conditions generally
with the added coffee acreage in Brazil and Vietnam get worse as cities and slums become larger. The chairman
partially responsible for a few years of very depressed of a district in Lagos, Nigeria described it as follows: ‘We
coffee prices worldwide. Vietnam, Taiwan and China are have a massive growth in population with a stagnant or
selling vegetables into the Philippines. shrinking economy. Picture this city ten, twenty years from
It is estimated that US corn entering Mexico under the now. This is not the urban poor—this is the new urban
NAFTA agreement has put some 1.5 million Mexican destitute.’25 Most slum dwellers are removed from both
farmers out of business22. But this is primarily due to the formal economy and from any chance of advancing
opening up markets by doing away with Mexico’s and breaking the cycle of poverty and hunger. George
116 F. Magdoff
Parker ended an article on Lagos on a note of extreme Africa is rightly placed on the emergency situation of
pessimism: ‘The really disturbing thing about Lagos’ supplying nutrients to vastly depleted soils, a more holistic
pickers and vendors is that their lives have essentially approach to soil management will be needed to unlock the
nothing to do with ours. They scavenge an existence real potential of agriculture on the continent. However,
beyond the margins of macroeconomics. They are, in the significant changes will only happen through major govern-
harsh terms of globalization, superfluous.’24 mental programs in each country—ones that mobilize
Samir Amin has estimated that 20 million highly the creativity and enthusiasm of the people and rely to
mechanized and productive farmers can produce all of the the greatest extent possible on the country’s own human
world’s food supply26. The number is probably significantly and natural resources. From a humanitarian as well as
less, but let us assume his number. What will happen to ecological point of view, this is one of humanity’s greatest
those billions of people engaged in agriculture in countries challenges.
that are not developing fast enough to productively absorb
the farmers leaving the land? This is a recipe for a human
catastrophe of the highest magnitude! In an era of
more expensive energy and global climate change, the Acknowledgements. I would like to acknowledge the influence
of the ideas of Dr W.J. Lewis of USDA/ARS regarding eco-
dependence of industrial agriculture on cheap energy and system characteristics and the input of faculty and students of
relatively stable climate might decrease its advantages the Department of Plant and Soil Science at the University
over smaller scale more ecologically sound and resilient of Vermont for the field and farm framework figures.
systems. However, for the foreseeable future, large-scale
mechanized agricultural production remains a massive
threat to the small farmers of the world.
There is a growing realization that countries need to take References
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