Agroecology and industrial ecology: two complementary alternatives for animal production in the 21st century

Abstract

Agroecology and industrial ecology can be viewed as complementary means for the design of sustainable animal farming systems: agroecology by stimulating natural processes to reduce inputs, and using diversity to increase system resilience and provide ecosystem services. Industrial ecology mainly aims to close system loops within a territory, thereby reducing demand for raw materials and lowering pollution. Animal farming systems have so far been ignored in most agroecological thinking. We propose five principles applicable to animal production systems: i) adopting health management practices that minimize the use of chemical drugs, ii) decreasing the inputs needed for production by using grazing lands and by-products, iii) decreasing pollution by optimizing the functioning of farming systems, iv) enhancing diversity within animal production systems to strengthen their resilience, and v) preserving biological diversity and associated ecosystem services by adapting management practices. Based on four case studies, we show how these different principles can be combined to improve economic and environmental performance. We discuss opportunities and resistance to change what needs to be considered for the scaling-up of agroecological systems. Among these, we stress the motivation of farmers to break input dependency and the question of workload.