Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
assessment methods for sustainable land use within a framework of systems ecology. Students
examine the concept of sustainability, define general systems principles and review evaluation
methods for sustainable development and land use. 'Adaptive management - Project' com-
prises group work using available measurement tools and indicators with a client case in the
field. Students propose different development scenarios and recommend potential improve-
ments in the current situation and context of the farm. 'Systems ecology - Analysis tools' has
the goal of enriching the discourse on sustainable land use by using emergy accounting and its
implications for the environment and the economy (Odum 1996). Students learn emergy
systems language, major f flows and transformations, relationship of money to emergy, natural
systems and simulation using models.
Norway
An intensive semester at the Norwegian Agricultural University includes two courses - 'Agr-
oecology and farming systems (PAE 302)' and 'Agroecology and food systems (PAE 303)' -
where students work on issues with clients in the rural landscape and communities. Each
course begins with a three-day experience visiting farms and communities to provide context
and preliminary information, both in production and economics as well as in the ecological
reality and social integration of people in the landscape. This is followed by lectures and dis-
cussion, intermixed with library research and meetings among the teams and faculty. Student
groups formulate questions and indicators for measuring what they observe in the field and
the community. They become familiar in the research in specific technical fields, the available
technologies and the information resources that are appropriate to their location. The final
reports or client documents are presented to faculty, students and farmers for evaluation. The
intensive semester just described with its two courses has been envisioned as the compulsory
beginning for those choosing to complete a two-year MSc program in agroecology at the
Nordic universities. The semester in 2005 was open to students from other regions with an
interest in ecological agriculture at the Masters level.
United States of America
The most comprehensive resource listing on education and training is the website compiled by
the Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC 2005), which is operated by the
United States Department of Agriculture. The site includes both formal courses offered by
colleges and universities, and practical internships and apprenticeships available and adver-
tised by non-profit groups and individual farmers. There are many more opportunities
provided by farmers, but these are not publicly advertised and can be found by consulting with
the grassroots groups in sustainable agriculture around the country.
Many of the courses in organic farming have evolved from earlier courses designed around
the topics of sustainable agriculture and agroecology (Altieri and Francis 1992). Most courses
are taught at the upper division or graduate study levels, and assume a general basic under-
standing of the science of agriculture, and build on prior courses in soils, crop management,
crop protection, agricultural economics and sometimes ecology. The textbooks used are most
commonly those of Altieri (1995) or Gliessman (1998). Organic systems are examples of
farming strategies that incorporate many ecological design principles, with multiple goals of
production efficiency, acceptable economic returns, a benign impact on the immediate envi-
ronment and social viability. Local food systems are commonly used as a positive alternative to
the growing global food chain.
Some courses focus primarily on the biogeochemical cycles and production details, whereas
others introduce a stronger emphasis on farm and local community economics, as well as the
environmental and social implications of alternative production systems. There is some agree-
ment that agroecology should deal with the widest possible range of biological, economic,
