Industrial agriculture is a major driver of global change, with crop productivity also threatened by such change. Diversified farming systems that incorporate adaptive, ecosystem-based management have the potential to generate greater ecosystem functions, and increase food security and diet quality. Consequently, some governments are building new forms of public support for diversified, multifunctional food systems through development of mediated markets, such as targeted public food procurement programs. For instance, Brazil is renowned for innovative policy programs linking support for more sustainable rural production with community food security goals. We examined social and ecological outcomes of two programs under Brazil’s Zero Hunger policy umbrella in two Brazilian states, Mato Grosso and Santa Catarina, which have contrasts in conditions for agriculture including climate, topography, access to credit, and incentives for farm diversification. We hypothesized that stable markets for diversified products, the presence of farmer networks, and a price premium for organic and agroecological production, would increase farm-scale agrobiodiversity, household dietary diversity, and use of agroecological practices. Our transdisciplinary approach included focus groups, analysis of crop and soil samples, on-farm experimentation, and semi-structured surveys with farmers and other actors in the food system.
Results/Conclusions
In Mato Grosso, where diversified farms are marginalized compared to industrial crop production, transitions to agroecological practices face greater constraints than in Santa Catarina. However, in both regions, farmer cooperatives and networks were central to accessing the public procurement programs, and to adoption of agroecological practices. Farm families selling their products through mediated market programs had significantly greater agrobiodiversity, soil phosphorus and particulate organic matter, and a significant increase in the area of the farm in horticultural production. These farms also had greater participation by women in decision-making about household agricultural activities compared to farms not enrolled in the program. In Mato Grosso, agroecological practices increased household food self-sufficiency, while in Santa Catarina they had no effect on household dietary diversity. However, dietary diversity was significantly higher in households where women had greater control over household income. In future work, we will explore the effects of agroecological practices in more detail through an on-farm experiment, including assessing crop nutritional quality and changes in labor on farms adopting agroecological practices. Ecological principles can inform more sustainable management of agroecosystems, but there remains a need for coordinated efforts to evaluate the multifunctional outcomes of diversified agroecosystems at larger spatial scales.