ABSTRACT
In this chapter I focus upon the development of agroecological knowledge systems in El Salvador over the last twenty years, with emphasis on their capacity to generate and sustain postcolonial food networks. Agroecology is the study of ecological processes that operate in agricultural production systems. First used in the early twentieth century, the term was popularized after the Second World War when increasing awareness of the environmental consequences of industrializing agri-food technologies led to the emergence of new networks and forums of knowledge production that emphasized a systems perspective. In Central America such networks emerged through widespread critiques of Green Revolution technologies introduced during the 1960s, and were consolidated through the development of a farmer-to-farmer (campesino a campesino; CaC) model for testing and sharing traditional agricultural techniques. The CaC model of organizing agricultural production was mobilized on a significant scale in El Salvador during the 1980s, when the country was reeling from a twelve-year civil war. The model was adapted for the Salvadorian context, and has also been hybridized with external forms of organizing associated with conflict-resolution and international aid initiatives.
