Agroecological Farming : Why Isn’t Change Happening Faster?

23 April 2025. If Organic and Agroecological Farming are the Answer, Why Isn’t Change Happening Faster?

There is a sizable body of research demonstrating how organic and agroecological farming increase biodiversity and help farmers find resilient solutions to ever-more frequent periods of drought and deluge. However, there is still inertia and resistance to change. This webinar explored the mechanics and practicalities needed to make conversion to organic farming appealing and achievable and farmers’ motivations and intentions when looking at how to make changes to their farm systems.

• Dr. Shadi Hashem is a social scientist at the University of Aberdeen, specialising in sustainability transitions, with a focus on promoting sustainable production, supply chains, and consumption. His current research within the VISIONARY project aims to enhance the sustainability of agri-food systems by generating in-depth insights into the drivers and barriers influencing the transition towards more sustainable food provisioning systems.

"Uptake to organic conversion remains achingly slow, despite featuring in various policy agendas like the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy. Where and what are the pressures and knotty interconnections that influence whether a decision to convert to organic is made or shelved? In depth interviews across the sector in Denmark, Germany, Scotland and Spain have identified how broader systems (supply chains, policy, business models etc) influence, on top of decisions made on farm. There is a need for a profound re-configuration of the whole agri-food system; and in this space, potential levers for expansion are revealed."

• Andreia Arbenz is an agricultural scientist and PhD researcher at Agroscope, Switzerland, and the University of Bonn, Germany. As part of the Agroecology-TRANSECT project, she explores how Swiss grassland farmers make decisions in the transition to agroecology, examining their current agroecological performance, intentions to enhance it, and the influence of social norms in scaling out agroecology. 

""The study focuses on key elements – diversity, synergies, efficiency, recycling – and looks at the why some farmers intend to make changes and others don’t, and of those who did, what the most common changes were. Unsurprisingly, the results show that farming – and farm businesses – are complex and multifaceted, with many moving parts. Demographics and behaviour affect decision-making at farm level, and points out that using a one-size-fits-all approach to scaling up agroecology may not be an effective strategy."

This webinar was jointly held by the Agroecology-TRANSECT, and VISIONARY, an EU project networking scientists, NGOs and practitioners across Europe with an interest in steering Europe’s food system toward a more sustainable future.