Agroecology is a big word. At AFD we use it all the time and we have for years. Often as a concept and a set of good practices we wish and hope to promote in the course of the five to ten years of the projects we finance as a donor agency. Also, as a reassurance that we are pushing agricultural development in the “South” away from some of the flaws, risks and downfalls (namely in environmental and social terms) of the “conventional” model of the “North”.

The world today is facing many challenges, among which demographic pressure and the natural resources of the earth, we are reaching the limits of. The demographic factor is directly linked with the food security issue since it is imperative that we produce more in order to feed our growing population. To this must be added the evolution of alimentary diet which accompany the progressive improvements we have seen in the lives of the poorest segments of the population. Having reached the outer physical limits of our planet, we can only intensify each farming acre’s productivity so as to preserve the natural areas still left to us, such as forests, while avoiding the non-sustainable development of marginal lands. When we include the stakes related to nutrition and climate change, it is easy to understand the complexity of the challenges facing us. This is particularly true in Southeast Asia due to the immense demographic pressure felt in most countries1.