Application of the Lume Method to an Agroecological Horticultural System in Córdoba, Argentina

Abstract

The Cordoba Green Belt, in Argentina, is a local food supply region that is reducing its surface area. Agroecology is established as a paradigm for the transformation of these agroecosystems, encompassing ecological, productive, social, cultural, and economic aspects. The Method of Economic-Ecological Analysis of Agroecosystems constitutes a proposal to evaluate the multiple aspects that intervene in decision-making in diversified family systems. In Córdoba, there are few studies that include the systematization of local information on horticultural production systems, which reflect diversity, productivity, and socio-economic impact in the agroecological transition process. The objective of the work was to evaluate the agroecological production unit of the Movement of Urban Farmers of Córdoba, from the Lume method. From the analysis of information, results were obtained that allowed sizing the production destined for self-consumption and the own production of inputs, and the great contribution of reciprocal relations. This allows valuing the non-monetary elements that give autonomy, identifying the limitations due to the high systemic costs of renting land and other services, and visualizing the gradual and sustained application of the principles of agroecology in a transition process.