Miguel Altieri is a Chilean born agronomist and entomologist. He is a Professor of

Agroecology Agroecology (US: a-grō-ē-ˈkä-lə-jē) is an academic discipline that studies ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. Bringing ecological principles to bear can suggest new management approaches in agroecosystems. Th ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management.

Career

Miguel Altieri studied agronomy at the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, where he received a bachelor's degree. He graduated with a Ph.D. in entomology at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. In 1981 he became Professor of

agroecology Agroecology (US: a-grō-ē-ˈkä-lə-jē) is an academic discipline that studies ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. Bringing ecological principles to bear can suggest new management approaches in agroecosystems. Th ...

at the

in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. He has been teaching courses in agroecology, agroforestry and

urban agriculture Urban agriculture, urban farming, or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas. It encompasses a complex and diverse mix of food production activities, including fisheries and fo ...

. He is an advocate of

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

and is highly critical of large agribusiness corporations such as Cargill, Monsanto, and ADM. He has conducted most of his research in California and Chile working closely with farmers and workers to implement principles of

integrated pest management Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) is a broad-based approach that integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. IPM aims to suppress pest populations below the econ ...

intercropping Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice that involves growing two or more crops in proximity. In other words, intercropping is the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously on the same field. The most common goal of intercropping is ...

, cover cropping, crop-field border vegetation manipulation, and other sustainable practices of

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also i ...

. Altieri served as a Scientific Advisor to the Latin American Consortium on Agroecology and Development (CLADES) Chile, an NGO network promoting agroecology as a strategy for small farm sustainable development in the region. He also served for 4 years as the General Coordinator for the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

’s Sustainable Agriculture Networking and Extension Programme which aimed at capacity building on agroecology among NGOs and the scaling-up of successful local sustainable agricultural initiatives in Africa, Latin America and Asia. He was the chairman of the NGO committee of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research whose mission was to make sure that the research agenda of the 15 International Agricultural Research Centers benefited poor farmers. He was Director of the US-Brasil Consortium on Agroecology and Sustainable Rural Development (CASRD), an academic-research exchange program involving students and faculty of UC Berkeley, University of Nebraska, UNICAMP and Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina. AS of 2011 he has been advisor to the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) leads the programme Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), which helps identify ways to mitigate threats faced by these systems and their people and enhance the ...

(GIAHS) program, which is devoted at identifying and dynamically conserving traditional farming systems in the developing world. He is the President of the Latin American Scientific Society of Agroecology. In 2012, he supported farming the Gill Tract, a UC owned part of land. in 2017, he became Honorary Professor of the University of La Frontera

Publications

Altieri is the author of more than 200 publications, and more than a dozen books including ''Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture'' (1987, 1995, 2018), ''Biodiversity and pest management in agroecosystems'' (1994, 2004) and ''Agroecology and the Search for a Truly Sustainable Agriculture'' (with Clara I. Nicholls, 2005).
The significance of diversity in the maintenance of the sustainability of traditional agro-ecosystems
ILEIA Newsletter, 3.2, July 1987
SOCLA’s Ph.D. programme: A new cadre of scientists-activists
Farming Matters, 29.3, September 2013
Agro-ecological approaches to enhance resilience
LEISA India, 14.2, June 2012
Managing pests through plant diversification
LEISA Magazine, 22.4, December 2006

References

Transnational Institute The Transnational Institute (TNI), is an international non-profit research and advocacy think tank that was founded in 1974, Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to their website, the organization promotes a "... just, democratic and sustainable wor ...

, 12.01.2012 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Altieri, Miguel Living people Agroecologists Chilean agronomists University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni University of California, Berkeley College of Natural Resources faculty Year of birth missing (living people)

Career

Publications

References

External links