Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance

Fair food for all Australians

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The Agroecology Action Research Network

The Agroecology Action Research Network (AARN) is an initiative of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) as part of our over-arching goal of fostering an agroecological and food sovereignty transition in Australia.

AARN will connect researchers, farmers and educators, to promote their work in transforming Australian food and agriculture systems, and support the development of agroecology farmer field schools to foster action-oriented and farmer-led scholarship in agroecology.

Our work is organized around the notions that knowledge can translate into power and action, agricultural research can inform our understanding of the agroecological innovations happening on farms already,and inspire new ideas of what is possible on farms and off.

We assert that people and communities should be the primary decision-makers shaping our food and agriculture systems. We support and promote participatory research projects to help us understand what is already working in agricultural communities, what is not, and what we can do differently. Key areas of activity include:

  • Active engagement between farmers and researchers to determinefarmers’research needs
  • Creation and maintenance of a database of:
    • Research
    • Researchers
    • Farmers
  • Connect honours, postgraduate, and early career researchers to AARN to co-create research projects with farmers.
  • Development of and support for Agroecology Farmer Field Schools

The AARN will bring researchers and farmers together in order to promote scholarly engagement in those areas that are most relevant to, and that will most benefit small-scale farmers working towards an ethical, ecologically-sound and socially-just food system.

In doing so, the AARN aims to increase the visibility of agroecology and food sovereignty research in Australia amongst researchers, research students, policymakers, farmers, and social movements. To this end, the AARN will also promote active dissemination of current research and other communications via a listserv subscription that will be made available to its members.

AFSA supports the view that “constructing knowledge for food sovereignty, agroecology and biocultural diversity entails reversing top-down research”.  We believe that Australia’s agroecology and food sovereignty transition will succeed best if led by farmers and actively supported by scholars.

Hence, AARN particularly aims to support action-oriented and activist research methodologies. To this end, AFSA will commence Farmer Agroecology Schools in mid-2021. Events will be run by farmers on their farms, and we encourage researchers at all stages of their careers to participate and contribute as well to support farmer-led and co-created scholarship around needs and opportunities in agroecological research.

Outreach to farmer members and allies shows that growers are interested in a broad range of research questions across different disciplines, from social science to botany and ecology. There is considerable demand for research in regard to the efficacy of sustainable practices, such as organic disease management, no-kill cropping, and no-till agriculture, and carbon sequestration has also been raised as an area of interest in more research.

Respondents have also expressed an interest in research exploring the links between food production and ecosystem function and biodiversity, particularly in the context of running a viable farm. Specifically, some of the questions raised concern ecosystem stressors, multi-species grazing, the influence of inter-cropping on fungal networks.

From a social research perspective, farmers have expressed a desire for more research on the nature of, and transition to, alternative economies (including alternative distribution and ownership models). Other areas of interest include consumer behaviour, especially vis-à-vis buying local and small-scale, and public misinformation and demonisation of farming as an inherently unsustainable industry.

If you are researcher in a relevant field and would like to join the network, please let us know more about your work through the form below or contact AARN at agroecology@afsa.org.au

Complete the AARN Researcher Form

 

Key readings on agroecological transitions

Anderson, C.R., Bruil, J., Chappell, M.J., Kiss, C. and Pimbert, M. (2021). Agroecology Now! Transformations towards more just and sustainable food systems. Palgrave. Macmillan. Available at: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030613143

HLPE. (2019). ‘Agroecological and other innovative approaches for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition’. A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security, Rome.

Iles, A. (2020). Can Australia transition to an agroecological future? Agroecology and Sustainable food systems. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2020.1780537

IPES-Food. (2016). ‘From Uniformity to Diversity: A paradigm shift from industrial agriculture to diversified agroecological systems.’ http://www.ipes-food.org/_img/upload/files/UniformityToDiversity_FULL.pdf

Pimbert, M.P (2018). Democratizing knowledge and ways of knowing for food sovereignty, agroecology and biocultural diversity. In M.P. Pimbert (ed.) Food sovereignty, agroecology and biocultural diversity: constructing and contesting knowledge. Routledge.

Rosset, P.M. and Altieri, M.A. (2017). Agreocology: Science and politics. Fernwood Publishing.

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Recent Posts

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Latest submissions

Local Laws submission to defend the right to common resources

Last week AFSA made a submission to the Hepburn Shire Council to defend residents’ rights to forage, collect firewood, have more than 20 chooks, and salvage materials from the tip and roadside without need for a permit. We were concerned that these laws originated from overzealous risk management policies rather than residents’ interests. Further, they […]

FSANZ proposes ‘licence to sell lettuce’ – AFSA says NO

On 3 May 2019, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) released an information paper on its proposed approach to a review of food safety standards in the Food Standards Code (the Review). The intention is to create a consistent and up-to-date approach to food safety management with regard to so-called “high-risk horticulture,” which includes a […]

NSW Fresh Food Pricing Parliamentary Inquiry Hearing

On Friday 22 June 2018, AFSA attended the NSW Fresh Food Pricing Parliamentary Inquiry Hearing at Parliament House in Sydney. AFSA was selected and recognised as a key stakeholder in the food system by the parliamentary members in this Upper House inquiry. Tammi Jonas, president of AFSA, and our paralegal Sarah de Wit were welcomed […]

Response to the Proposed Draft Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry

View AFSA’s entire submission here.  The current review of the Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals – Domestic Poultry offers the first opportunity in 15 years to improve the minimum welfare standards for domestic poultry in Australia. It provides the chance to modify Australian standards to reflect current animal welfare science and […]

Poultry Welfare Reforms Fact Sheet

The Codes for animal welfare for poultry are being reviewed for the first time in over 15 years. The result will be one Australia-wide Code on animal welfare for poultry. Two main documents, along with an independent Farmed Bird Science Welfare Review and many supporting papers, have been released for public comment: The Draft Standards […]

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Recent posts

  • Solidarity Session 13 – Emerging tech with Friends of the Earth April 6, 2021
  • Contribute to AFSA’s next book! April 1, 2021
  • Stakeholder Open Webinar – Sustainable Agriculture – 23 March March 17, 2021
  • Intervention on the Global Biodiversity Framework calls for support to peasants and indigenous peoples’ as stewards of biodversity February 26, 2021
  • Submission to the Independent Review of the Agvet Chemicals regulatory system February 15, 2021

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