Indicators of Sustainability - Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems - page 301

FIGURE 21.1 An example of the highly productive traditional corn-based agroecosystem of upland central Mexico. This
system, often integrating trees and crops, has flourished for hundreds of years .

• maximize yield without sacrificing the long-

term productive capacity of the entire system
and the ability of humans to use its resources
optimally

all the characteristics outlined above, but it must be
designed so that all the functions of these characteristics
are retained.
If we are to use traditional agroecosystems as a model
for designing modern sustainable systems, we must under-
stand the traditional agroecosystems at all levels of their
organization, from the individual crop plants or animals
in the field to the food production region or beyond. The
examples of traditional practices and methods presented
throughout this topic provide an important starting point
for the process of understanding how ecological sustain-
ability is achieved.
Traditional agroecosystems can also provide impor-
tant lessons about the role that social systems play
in sustainability. For an agroecosystem to be sustainable,
the cultural and economic systems in which its human
participants are embedded must support and encourage
sustainable practices and not create pressures that under-
mine them. The importance of this connection is revealed
when formerly sustainable traditional systems undergo
changes that make them unsustainable or environmentally
destructive. In every case, the underlying cause is some

• maintain spatial and temporal diversity and

continuity

• conserve biological and cultural diversity

• rely on local crop varieties and often incorpo-

rate wild plants and animals

• use production to meet local needs first

• are relatively independent of external economic

factors

• are built on the knowledge and culture of local

inhabitants.

Traditional practices cannot be transplanted directly
into regions of the world where agriculture has already
been “modernized,” nor can conventional agriculture be
converted to fit the traditional mold exactly. Nevertheless,
traditional practices and agroecosystems hold important
lessons for how modern sustainable agroecosystems
should be designed. A sustainable system need not have