Action Research Towards Agroecological Transitions

30 August 2022. Action Research Towards Agroecological Transitions - Set Off Webinar by CGIAR.

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• and Watch the recording

The triple threat of climate change, Covid, and conflict is revealing the inherent fragility of food systems worldwide along with their negative impacts on natural resources as well as their prominent role in worsening climate change and social inequities. Agroecology shows enormous potential for helping address these crises, and the time has come for more concerted action to realize its possibilities. Target countries: Burkina Faso, India, Kenya, Lao PDR, Peru, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe.

• This webinar was an opportunity to present the Agroecology Initiative and discuss donor and partner perspectives on how contextually relevant agroecological principles can be applied by farmers and communities across a wide range of contexts and supported by other food system actors.
• The “set off” webinar brought together leaders, funders, partners and 218 participants from 48 countries.
• Consult the Initiative brochure here.

Food systems worldwide are falling far short of sustainability goals. Not only do these systems leave aglobal total of 820 million people undernourished, while also worsening social inequities and – from food production to consumption – biodiversity loss, water pollution, and natural resource depletion. Moreover, food systems account for about a third of the global greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change.

Agroecology is a transdisciplinary, participatory, and action-oriented approach for codesigning options that enhance food system resilience, equity, and sustainability. Based on a thorough understanding of the ecological, economic, and social dimensions of food systems, these options can be implemented at the farm, landscape, or food system level, contributing to more efficient resource use, reducing agriculture’s ecological footprint, strengthening its resilience, while contributing to social equity and responsibility – all necessary for achieving sustainability.

Agroecology further assigns importance to involving a range of stakeholders, especially, farmers, in the

co-creation of knowledge and options that fit particular contexts. The CGIAR Initiative on Transformational Agroecology Across Food, Land and Water Systems will engage with food system actors in seven countries (Burkina Faso, India, Kenya, Lao PDR, Peru, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe) to find better ways of putting into practice agroecological principles.

The 90-minute event was an opportunity to present the Imitative and discuss how food systems actors can design, test, and adapt technological and institutional innovations for agroecological transitions, from food production to consumption.

Background

In territories referred as “Agroecological Living Landscapes”, this CGIAR program will engage with diverse stakeholders, including farmer associations or communities, researchers from multiple disciplines, private companies, international and national non-governmental organizations as well as local, regional, and national policymakers:

• Assess and demonstrate which agroecological innovations (practices, business models, and institutional arrangements) work best, where, why, and for whom.
• Identify business opportunities and financial mechanisms for local enterprises to deal with agroecological innovations.
• Determine the most suitable policies and mechanisms of policy integration for promoting effective and sustainable agroecological transitions.
• Develop strategies and action plans that encourage and support sustainable behavior change oriented to agroecological principles and transitions.

Participating organizations and networks include:

The CGIAR initiative involves researchers from eight international centers, working closely with the French Agricultural Research and Cooperation Organization (CIRAD) and CIFOR-ICRAF as well as the German International Cooperation (GIZ), Switzerland’s Biovision Foundation, and various national and subnational policymakers.

• The Swiss Cooperation
• The European Commission
• Biohub Trust, Zimbabwe
• The Government of Andhra Pradesh, India
• The Inter-Sectoral Forum on Agroecology and Agrobiodiversity (ISFAA)
• The Transformative Partnership Platform on Agroecology (Agroecology TPP)

Publications:

Haley Zaremba, Marlène Elias, Anne Rietveld and Nadia Bergamini. 2022. Toward a Feminist Agroecology. Infobrief. Bioversity International, Rome.
Place F, Niederle P, Sinclair F, Carmona NE, Guéneau S, Gitz V, Alpha A, Sabourin E and Hainzelin E. 2022. Agroecologically-conducive policies: A review of recent advances and remaining challenges. Working Paper 1. Bogor, Indonesia: The Transformative Partnership Platform on Agroecology
Jones, S.K., Bergamini, N., Beggi, F. et al. Research strategies to catalyze agroecological transitions in low- and middle-income countries. Sustain Sci (2022).

Contacts:

• Zimbabwe: Frédéric Baudron, CIMMYT
• Kenya: Lisa Fuchs, CIFOR-ICRAF
• Burkina Faso: ​Eric Scopel,​​​​​​​ CIRAD
• Tunisia: Véronique Alary, CIRAD-ICARDA
• Laos PDR: Mark Dubois, IWMI
• India: Alok Sikka, IWMI
• Peru: Gabriela Wiederkehr-Guerra (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT)
• Program coordination: Gabriela Wiederkehr-Guerra (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT)
• Communications: Simone Staiger-Rivas (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT)

Stakeholder perspectives

Taken together, the new Agroecology Initiative, its active community of supporters, its broad and inclusive partnerships, and the diverse body of national experiences provide a much-needed boost for the agroecology movement, as it seeks to transform food systems in the face of growing crises.

Photo: Silver oak and black pepper in a tea orchard. Wayanad, India. Worldagroforestry Center, Devashree Nayak. Natural Farming in India: G. Muralidhar, co-lead and senior consultant at Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), cited several issues that the CGIAR Initiative can help address, including policy development, program expansion to other landscapes, and improvement of mixed crop-livestock farming systems. The Natural Farming Program in Andhra Pradesh also needs to address the agency of women and vulnerable communities, while connecting farmers more profitably with markets outside their local areas and enhancing their access to technical innovations.   Green Growth strategy in Laos: Phonevilay Sinavong, head of project management and consolidation with the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), noted that during the Covid-19 pandemic communities benefitting from the Green Growth strategy saw improvement in their resilience and food security. NAFRI will work with the CGIAR initiative to build evidence that offers the government a sound basis for developing policies that foster agroecology.   National agroecology strategy in Kenya: Martin Oulu, co-lead of the African Inter-sectoral Forum on Agrobiodiversity and Agroecology (ISFAA), on linkages with the formulation of a national agroecology strategy in Kenya: (1) better coordination of the agroecology transition, (2) integration of agroecological principles, practices, and policies with other sectors like health, and education, (3) stronger incentives for behavioral change, and (4) mobilization of public and private finance in support of agroecology initiatives.

Case study Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe, farm inputs are very expensive and climate change impacts are severe. The initiative will build on the agroecological policy framework already in place and on several projects currently promoting agroecological principles. With coordination provided by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the initiative will help build agroecological living landscapes in two territories with contrasting conditions and landscapes. In a video by the CIMMYT team, farmers and partners in these territories share their expectations about diversifying agricultural production through a mixed farming approach and about enhancing their capacity to adapt to climate change.