Introduction the Idea That Industrial Agriculture Is Successful In
Introduction The idea that industrial agriculture is successful in providing food security during a time of climate change and increasing world hunger is grounded in the ontology and episteme of neoliberal economics. However, neoliberal economics offers a very specific worldview and is guided by a particular set of concepts and indicators. Other fields have been expanding their scope and measures by working across disciplines, with the environmental sciences, for example, attracting chemists, geneticists, botanists, astronomers and more (Davis & Ruddle, 2010; Martin, Roy, Diemont, & Ferguson, 2010). Similarly, ecology brings together natural scientists with those who know traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), for the former have found indigenous knowledge useful in perceiving dynamic interdependencies (Brook & McLachlan, 2008; Terer, Muasya, Dahdouh-Guebas, Ndiritu, & Triest, 2012). The study of agriculture recently expanded to include the field of agroecology, which also incorporates TEK, for measurement and understanding (Altieri, 2004; Björklund et al., 2012). Yet, neoliberal economics remains dominant and often directs global policy assessment of food production. The episteme of neoliberal economics 1 is central to approaches to agriculture by the G8 (and their Davos World Economic Forum conferences), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the World Bank (WB), but it is also endorsed by most G20 economies (or members). Their policies affirm the industrial farming system, with economies of scale for increasing yields and efficiency, linked to a single global market. They believe this approach is the answer to feeding growing populations in the face of climate change threats to food production. However, assumptions behind neoliberal economic theories, both the centralizing concepts and their measures, devalue the attributes of smallholder food production.
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