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Dear readers,
With this newsletter of the CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology, we would like to thank you for your commitment to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis.
Whether you work in one of our seven focus countries or elsewhere in the world, whether you are a farmer, extensionist, policy maker, member of an NGO, the private sector or a governmental agency: As a reader of this newsletter you have somehow been connected with the implementation of this Initiative.
We reflect on last year's progress with the implementation of the Initiative, forming partnerships and characterizing the territories where agroecological innovations will be assessed and codesigned within particular social, economic and political contexts. With partners we are starting identifying the most suitable agroecological innovations and transition pathways.
Your engagement has been critical and makes us confident about the success of this Initiative in making food systems more environmentally and economically sustainable, and socially equitable.
Marcela Quintero and Chris Dickens
Lead and co-lead of the Initiative
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Transdisciplinary co-creation of innovations in Agroecological Living Landscapes
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The CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology engages with food system actors in seven countries: Burkina Faso, Kenya, Tunisia and Zimbabwe in Africa, India and Lao PDR in Asia, Peru in Latin America. Transition pathways in each country will encompass different parts of the food systems, for example, farming practices, business models, services, consumption etc. Depending on local contexts, the Initiative conceptualizes three possible transition pathways, namely: (i) agroecological ‘intensification’ (for low-production systems with low inputs); (ii) the ‘re-design’ of small-scale farming (for low profitability systems with high external inputs); and (iii) ’conversion’ (for high productive farms with high negative social and environmental impacts).
The illustration below summarizes the location of the territories, the objectives of the agroecological innovations and main partners.
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More information from the focus countries:
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Engaging with stakeholders and establishing Agroecological Living Landscapes
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Reflection on the early challenges faced with stakeholder engagement and the establishment of Agroecological Living Landscapes.
Read more
By Bernard Triomphe (CIRAD) and Nadia Bergamini (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT).
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Number of Food System Actors engaged in the cocreation of agroecological innovations:
Results of Year 1 engagement across seven countries
To date, 1,346 food system actors have been engaged in seven countries, assessing contexts and envisioning possible agroecological transitions that will allow the codesign of agroecological innovations.
Read the analysis of collected data
 Illustration: Type of food system actors engaged in seven countries, 2022
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Further readings
Contacts
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Agroecological evidence-based assessments
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The measure of agroecology: Developing an assessment framework to capture economic, environmental and social impacts of agriculture and food systems
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With a growing interest in agroecology globally, there is also an increased need to evaluate its performance across different scales and contexts. Holistic assessment frameworks are required to determine the agronomic, economic, environmental, and social performance of farming systems at different stages of transition towards agroecology. Read more
By Chaturangi Wickramaratne (IWMI), Sarah Jones (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), Christine Lamanna (CIFOR-ICRAF) and Matthias Geck (CIFOR-ICRAF).
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A case against silver bullets: Context assessments are key for agroecological transitions in diverse food systems
The context assessment in each of the territories where the Initiative operates aimed at: (a) determining the environmental, economic, and social context of the agricultural and food systems, (b) compiling data and information available as evidence of the context, and (c) determining to which extent the 13 agroecological principles are currently applied. The information compiled serves as a baseline for the Initiative and informs the development of targeted interventions.
Read more
By Cargele Masso (IITA), Christine Lamanna (CIFOR-ICRAF), Matthias Geck (CIFOR-ICRAF) and Sarah Jones (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT).
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Understanding and influencing behavioral change
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Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in agroecological transformation processes
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The Initiative’s Work Package 5 supports behavior change research and engagements in the global network of Agroecological Living Landscapes, working from the basic notion that diverse behavioral changes are required to foster an agroecological transformation.
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By Véronique Alary (CIRAD/ICARDA), Frédéric Baudron (CIMMYT), Marcela Beltran (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), Thomas Falk (IFPRI), Sarah Freed (WorldFish), Nadia Guettou Djurfeldt (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), Guillaume Lestrelin (CIRAD), Sonali Singh (IFPRI), Taurai Zingwena (CIMMYT).
Further reading
- Haley Zaremba, Marlène Elias, Anne Rietveld and Nadia Bergamini. 2022. Toward a Feminist Agroecology. Infobrief. Bioversity International, Rome. Brief, Article, and Presentation
Contacts
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Inclusive business models with focus on agroecological principles
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Supporting the development of agroecological business models by linking food system actors along the value chain
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Photo:WP3 meeting Zimbabwe, Credit: CIMMYT
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Identifying opportunities and challenges of integrating agroecology into a business model requires getting an overview of the respective enterprise’s most relevant links to food system actors along its value chain, which the initiative is doing through the rapid agroecological value chain analyses (RAVCAs) in selected territories.
Read more
By Manuel Narjes (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), Boubaker Dhehibi (ICARDA), Christine Chege (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), Hambulo Ngoma (CIMMYT), Simone Staiger-Rivas (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT).
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Holistic (agroecological) business model assessment: Agricultural Cooperative of Aromatic Cacao Colpa de Loros in Peru
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The importance of cacao production as a main livelihood for many of the small producers along Ucayali’s ecological corridor justifies a first focus on the cocoa value chain as an entry strategy for agroecology in the territory.
Read more
By Manuel Narjes (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), Ernesto Parra (Cooperativa Agraria de Cacao Aromático Colpa de Loros).
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Photo credit: CIAT
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Policies and institutional arrangements conducive to agroecological transitions
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Policy and institutional decision making towards agroecological transformation: Initial activities of the Agroecology Initiative
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Photo: Policy stakeholder mapping, Zimbabwe.
Credit: CIMMYT
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The Initiative aims to provide evidence in support of national and local change agents in their pursuit of an agroecological transformation. Because of the critical role that policy and institutional change are expected to play in fostering the transformation, one of the initiative's work packages is devoted to this topic.
Read more
By Aymen Frija (ICARDA), Ruth Meinzen-Dick (IFPRI), Frank Place (IFPRI).
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Further readings
Contacts
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Visit our Website --------- Follow us on social media #AgroecologyInitiative ------------ www.cgiar.org
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