Open Lecture: There is no agroecological transition without territorial organization: Lessons from the participatory research plan of the Argentine agri-food roundtable

This course aims to systematize and disseminate the experience of Territorial Plan for Participatory Research and Political Action of the Argentine Agri-Food Roundtable (MAA), developed within the framework of the Agroecology Fund's IPA-Global Initiative (2024-2026).

Throughout four modules, the process of building a collective political subject will be addressed, which articulates the National Indigenous Peasant Movement – ​​Somos Tierra (MNCI-ST), the Union of Land Workers (UTT), the Federation of Federated Cooperatives (FECOFE), the Federation of Nucleated Organizations of Family Agriculture (FONAF) and Federated Bases, among other grassroots peasant organizations and movements.

The chair revives the Latin American tradition of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and the Dialogue of Knowledge, as developed by Orlando Fals Borda and Paulo Freire, and applies it to the critical analysis of agri-food systems, the dispute over land and water, and the construction of agroecological alternatives from popular movements.

The academic value of this experience lies in the fact that This is not an external "case study".The MAA has been at the forefront of a participatory action-research process where communities defined the questions, collected the data, validated the findings, and used the knowledge to influence public policy. This chair, therefore, not only teaches about peasant agroecology, but it does from the systematization carried out by the subjects of change themselves.

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Contents:

• Context of agricultural extractivism in Argentina: land concentration, agribusiness and food crisis.
  
• Birth of the Argentine Agri-food Roundtable (June 9, 2021, recovered farm in Lavalle, Mendoza).
  
• The MAA as a political subject: founding organizations (UTT, MNCI-ST, FECOFE) and those that joined (FONAF, Federated Bases).
  
• The 9 laws of the "Agricultural Program for Food", with emphasis on the Land Access Act and the Rural Lease Act.
  
• Conflicts over land, water and common goods in contemporary Argentina.

Guiding questions for the class:

• What does it mean that 1% of farms control 36% of the land?
• How is a political subject constructed that disputes the definition of "the field"?
• What is the relationship between land concentration and the food crisis?

Suggested Reading:

• MAA (2023). Operating Manual of the SPG for Popular Agroecological Certification (Introduction and context).
• Page|12 (2023). Coverage of the Caravan to Congress (newspaper archive).

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Contents:

• Dimensions of agroecology: productive, ecological, social, cultural, political.
  
• The 5 stages of agroecological transition according to CEFIC:
  
  1. Efficiency in the use of inputs
  2. Substitution of external inputs
  3. Redesign of the agroecosystem
  4. Direct connection between producers and consumers
  5. Organization, association and cooperativism
     
• The 6 agroecological principles for the design of agricultural systems: recycling, diversification, soil conservation, biological interactions, ecological pest management, cultural bases.
  
• From monoculture to diversified systems: concrete examples of farms in transition.

Guiding questions for the class:

• Why can't agroecology be reduced to "producing without pesticides"?
• What are the main barriers to the transition (access to land, debt, mistrust)?
• What role does peasant training play in the transition?

Suggested Reading:

• CEFIC (2022). Manual for the agroecological transition (stages and principles section).

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Contents:

• What is a Participatory Guarantee System and why does it challenge trade certification?
  
• The Popular Agroecological Certification (CAP) of the MAA: operational structure (Local Commission, National Commission), instruments (Field Guide, Moral Contract, Agroecological Seal).
  
• Short marketing circuits: fairs, bags, Public Food Company (EPA), "Soberana" brand of yerba mate.
  
• The rural-urban link: organized consumers and public procurement.
  
• SPG as a tool for political advocacy: dispute over official recognition.

Guiding questions for the class:

• Who certifies what we eat: a company or the community?
• How do you build trust without intermediaries?
• What challenges does the SPG face in a context of state dismantling?

Suggested Reading:

• MAA (2023). Operating Manual of the SPG for Popular Agroecological Certification (sections: operation, instruments, roles).
• Rural Time (2024-2025). Supplements of the Tiempo Argentino newspaper (selection: fairs and marketing).

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Contents:

• Popular education and peasant training: experience of the CLACSO-MNCI-ST Open Chair.
  
• CEFIC and the pedagogy of alternation (school time – community time).
  
• Rural Time as a popular communication device: supplement of the Tiempo Argentino newspaper, coverage of struggles, construction of alternative narrative.
  
• How a territorial experience translates into public policy: from the Caravanazo to Congress to the 9 laws of the Agrarian Program.
  
• Strategic alliances: CLACSO, INTA, CONICET, CELS, national universities.

Guiding questions for the class:

• How is a counter-hegemonic narrative about "the countryside" constructed?
• What role do training and communication play in political advocacy?
• How to link social movements and academia without falling into extractivism?

Suggested Reading:

• Rural Time (2024-2025). Supplements of the Tiempo Argentino newspaper (selection: political impact and legislative coverage).
• Colectivo Situaciones (2002). «On the method». In Hypothesis 891.