From farms to territories: rethinking agricultural transitions in the Andes

This article argues for shift in Andean agriculture transition from isolated, plot-level management toward territorial-level Non-Conventional Agricultural Systems (NCAS). In fragmented minifundio landscapes, ecological processes such as pesticide drift, water flows, pest dynamics, and pollination extend beyond farm boundaries, while social fragmentation can constrain collective action. Drawing on our experience with Pesticide-Free Agriculture (PFA) in the Ecuadorian Andes, we explore how a clearly defined collective objective – the elimination of synthetic pesticides – can provide a concrete entry point for territorial coordination and broader agroecological transitions. PFA is not proposed as an alternative to agroecology, but as a complementary pathway that can mobilize agroecological knowledge, practices, and forms of collective organization while allowing locally differentiated trajectories. Our experience highlights six interrelated dimensions of territorialization: collectively validated rules, participatory monitoring, peasant agroecology schools, the strengthening of local ecological knowledge, the pursuit of common objectives, and periodic collective decision-making. Together, these processes can transform geographical proximity into a platform for political agency, collective governance, and the defense of communal resources. Beyond PFA, we argue that agricultural transitions in the Andes – and potentially in other small-scale farming systems – require moving beyond the isolated farm toward territories where collective action can foster resilient landscapes that secure food sovereignty, cultural identity, and ecosystem integrity.