Latin American Scientific Society of Agroecology (SOCLA)

Abstract

Written by prominent agroecology researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, the Universidad de Antioquia, and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, this article analyzes the global processes affecting 21st-century Latin American agriculture, including private-sector dominance of biotechnology, the release of GMOs, and free trade agreements. The authors document the importance of peasant-family agriculture in the region, which produces 51% of the maize, 77% of the beans, and 61% of the potatoes consumed in Latin America, and present agroecology as a comprehensive scientific framework for sustainable management. The text presents the 2005 creation of the Latin American Scientific Society of Agroecology (SOCLA), with 260 members from 14 countries, and announces its First Scientific Congress in Medellín in August 2007.