In Latin America and the Caribbean, natural disasters occur more frequently every day. Climate crisis is growing rapidly and our relationship with nature should become the priority of public policies. In the absence of intervention from States, diverse organizations like the Latin American and Caribbean Agroecological Movement (MAELA for it's acronym in Spanish) promotes agroecology as an essential and strategic practice of sustainability with the joint work of villages in the region.
The concern about these catastrophes lies not only in the frequency and rigidity in which they develop, but also with the normalisation of these by societies and governments, thus diverting the focus on the implementation and urgent analysis of events for their resolution and investment both now and in the future. Devastating forest fires in Colombia, Guatemala and Chile, extreme heat waves in Central America, floods in Argentina and Brazil are just the beginning of the deterioration process for the territory that continue to be held as isolated periods.
The latest fires in Colombia, Chile and Guatemala have been exasperated by unsustainable farming practices that remain obsolete alongside systematic deforestation of forests. In Colombia, for example, more than 174.000 hectares of Amazon rainforest were deforested in 2022 alone, according to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM for its acronym in Spanish.) Answered pressure from the economic interests of private companies drives frequently fires that wipe out biodiversity, territories and endanger lives of local communities. The destruction of these ecosystems wich regulate climate and the emissions of greenhouse gases that increase exponentially over the years are the direct causes of the extreme heat wave that happened in Central America in recent months. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the temperature of some of the regions of Guatemala reached 42 °C, marking an all-time record. Low-income populations are most affected as they do not have the infrastructure and basic needs covered to cope with these extreme waves.
The atrocious deforestation in the Amazon reached 13.235 square kilometers in 2021, according to data from the National Institute of Special Research of Brazil (INPE for its acronym in portuguese), altering hydrological cycles and causing large and continuous floods in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. Households and territories of communities become practically irreparable due to the frequency of rains. It is so persistent that they do not allow the construction of an infrastructure that can cope with them.
A radical twist in the relationship that humans have with the earth and nature is imminent and is relegated to deniers positions of politicians and businessmen who prioritize the increase of economic capital over the preservation of resources. In this context, among other organizations, MAELA was born, which links peasant organizations, producer families, landless communities, social organizations and indigenous communities that defend the family farming model under agroecological techniques. More than 200 peasant organizations are grouped in MAELA, driven by the use of agroecology as a strategy of good living and food sovereignty. MAELA is present in 20 countries throughout Latin America and its practices are built on the knowledge and experiences provided by peasant communities and people trained in sustainable rural development. The objective of these agroecological practices is mainly based on promoting biodiversity, the urgency of cooling the planet, the sustainable usage of common goods and attention to soil health, avoiding the use of synthetic chemicals, destructive and agrotoxic collection practices.
Climate crises directly generate the loss of flowers and fruits in local productions during the flowering seasons. The amount of harvests is decreasing and the lack of drinking water in these territories accelerates the deficiency of agricultural development. To overcome this situation, the rural communities of MAELA have decided to increase biodiversity in crops, incorporating plants that retain humidity. The continuous dialogue between producers leads to the exchange of experiences and continuous results of the practices to detail their improvement as soon as possible. By increasing biodiversity, it directly affects an improvement in soil health and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, which entails a strategy for the process of slowing down climate change.
The producers that make up MAELA not only advocate for the productive cycles of nature and the care of the land, but also for the strengthening of support and union between communities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. They consider agroecology as a way of life not only for the planet but for people, since it generates tools of care and value for the territories and for working together. The preservation of native seeds, another of their agroecological strategies, is crossed by inherited ancestral knowledge that is shared by the diversity of cultures and ways of caring for the land. Generating a healthy capacity to produce food, a healthy environment and respect for different species is born and grows and walks the same path: to preserve life.