Agriculture is crucial for many African economies. However, current agriculture and food systems face challenges due to climate change and non-climatic stresses. To address these issues, increasing resilience of food systems and ecosystems is essential, and an agroecological transition towards sustainable agri-food systems is considered a central task for the future. The EU-cofunded action "ProSilience" works specifically on this task. It is embedded in the Global Programme “Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security” (ProSoil), which is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. ProSilience is being implemented in Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Madagascar. It also includes cross-country activities covering all seven partner countries of ProSoil. Transformative change effort in the context of agroecological transition can only be realized if initiated and sustained by committed and visionary partners in the countries. As drivers of change, they influence and shape the future and have a key role to play in building alliances with other stakeholders, advancing efforts of transition, developing and communicating knowledge around agroecological transitioning. Implementing change as an individual, requires much more than being highly skilled. A set of…

The Measuring Agroecology and its Performance (MAP) project aims to generate evidence on the multidimensional performance of agroecology by using the Tool for Agroecological Performance Evaluation (TAPE) and the Agroecology Criteria Tool (ACT). It strives to foster agroecological transitions through developing stakeholders’ capacities on measuring agroecology and its performance as well as through generating evidence on the contribution of agroecology to holistically achieving societal goals. The project leverages activities of the Metrics project which is part of the TRANSITIONS programme. The Measuring Agroecology and its Performance project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union (EU) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Project scope and aim The project will help develop capacity for partners:  on the use of TAPE and its multifunctional nature with ICRAF country offices, implementing partners and enumerators, and other relevant stakeholders at national and local levels, including decision makers, in selected countries/regions that are able to take up the recommendations derived from TAPE; on the use of ACT with staff of development cooperation stakeholders at the country level and key partner organizations at the global level; on the multidimensional performance of agroecology and…

The Agroecology and Circular Economy for Ecosystem Services (ACE4ES) project represents a transformative multidisciplinary initiative underpinned by technology and innovation, capacity building, governance strengthening and mass communication. ACE4ES seeks to revolutionize agricultural and food systems by integrating agroecological principles and circular economy practices to enhance the resilience of livelihoods and landscapes, particularly in rice and maize production across Africa. Through research, technology validation, and knowledge-sharing activities, ACE4ES aims to address key knowledge and implementation gaps in agroecology, contributing to evidence-based advocacy and informed policy-making. By fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders and leveraging existing initiatives, ACE4ES accelerates agroecological transitions and promotes sustainable agriculture on a broader scale. The project's integration within the Agroecology TPP aligns with the platform's goals of building inclusive communities of practice, advancing collaborative approaches, and facilitating knowledge co-creation to achieve transformative change in agricultural systems. Project scope and aim The ACE4ES project aims to implement agroecology and circular economy technologies to mitigate Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) in rice and maize production across Africa. Its scope encompasses research, technology validation, and knowledge transfer activities to enhance the resilience of livelihoods and landscapes. By focusing on SLCP reduction, ACE4ES addresses critical environmental and socio-economic challenges while promoting sustainable agricultural…

Globally, agriculture covers 40% of the earth's surface and food systems are responsible for one-third of humanity's contribution to global climate change. Yet, smallholder and subsistence farmers are among the most vulnerable to climate change, facing extreme weather events and food price volatility that threaten livelihoods, biodiversity, and food security.

to support Agroecological TRANSITIONS for building resilient and inclusive agricultural and food systemsTo accelerate the transition towards agroecological approaches, several critical questions need to be addressed, including: how to measure agricultural performance in ways that allow equitable comparison; how to ensure shifts towards agroecology are sustainable and equitable; what roles the public and private sectors should play in such a transition; and what kinds of tools and resources will best support widespread and systemic change. Project scope and aim Conventional metrics of agricultural interventions limit performance to a narrow set of productivity measures, such as yield or income. Such approaches fail to capture the externalities of agriculture, including its impact on farmer livelihoods and health, biodiversity and ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions and food system resilience to name a few. In this project, we seek to develop novel, holistic metrics of food system performance through embedding participatory research in on-going agroecological development projects across eight countries in the global south. Through these partnerships, as well as the Agroecology TPP, we will develop, test and disseminate novel metrics that support national goals and put agroecology on a level playing field with other agricultural development approaches. Through the participatory development and testing…

The Agroecological Transitions Program for Building Resilient and Inclusive Agricultural & Food Systems In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), agricultural investment remains a priority for economic development. Sustainability is a key challenge in LMICs, as many of the current agricultural practices reduce soil fertility and greatly depend on external inputs. Agroecological approaches are increasingly recognized as a means to improve sustainable development of food systems, ensuring the regenerative use of natural resources and ecosystem services, while also addressing the need for more socially equitable decision-making. Climate-informed agroecological transitions require a multi-faceted support to farmers, enabling them to shift to more sustainable agriculture production systems that increase food security while minimizing negative ecological and human impacts. Yet, supporting farmers to make the transition to agroecology globally has been constrained by a lack of: metrics to holistically assess agroecology and guide outcome-based policy and investment incentives and investments to support innovative pathways and traceable private-public sector models for agroecology tools, including digital tools, that provide technical support and performance assessments for practioners. In addition, current guidance to agroecology has not integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation practices. TRANSITIONS aims to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions by farmers at significant scales in LMICs through…

Agriculture is crucial for many African economies. However, current agriculture and food systems face challenges due to climate change and non-climatic stresses. To address these issues, increasing resilience of food systems and ecosystems is essential, and an agroecological transition towards sustainable agri-food systems is considered a central task for the future. The EU-cofunded action "ProSilience" works specifically on this task. It is embedded in the Global Programme “Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security” (ProSoil), which is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. ProSilience is being implemented in Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Madagascar. It also includes cross-country activities covering all seven partner countries of ProSoil. Transformative change effort in the context of agroecological transition can only be realized if initiated and sustained by committed and visionary partners in the countries. As drivers of change, they influence and shape the future and have a key role to play in building alliances with other stakeholders, advancing efforts of transition, developing and communicating knowledge around agroecological transitioning. Implementing change as an individual, requires much more than being highly skilled. A set of…

to support Agroecological TRANSITIONS for building resilient and inclusive agricultural and food systemsTo accelerate the transition towards agroecological approaches, several critical questions need to be addressed, including: how to measure agricultural performance in ways that allow equitable comparison; how to ensure shifts towards agroecology are sustainable and equitable; what roles the public and private sectors should play in such a transition; and what kinds of tools and resources will best support widespread and systemic change. Project scope and aim Conventional metrics of agricultural interventions limit performance to a narrow set of productivity measures, such as yield or income. Such approaches fail to capture the externalities of agriculture, including its impact on farmer livelihoods and health, biodiversity and ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions and food system resilience to name a few. In this project, we seek to develop novel, holistic metrics of food system performance through embedding participatory research in on-going agroecological development projects across eight countries in the global south. Through these partnerships, as well as the Agroecology TPP, we will develop, test and disseminate novel metrics that support national goals and put agroecology on a level playing field with other agricultural development approaches. Through the participatory development and testing…

In the light of multiple, urgent and interconnected food system challenges – including but not limited to the climate and biodiversity crises, the triple burden of malnutrition and growing inequity – holistic and context-specific food system transformations are crucial. Agroecology is increasingly recognized as a promising approach for transforming food systems, rendering them more resilient, equitable and sustainable in all dimensions. However, a key challenge to scaling agroecology is how to measure its performance in ways which allow for fair comparison with alternatives. Common practice when evaluating agri-food systems has been to measure a narrow set of metrics, mainly focused on productivity and economic returns. Yet, such approaches fail to take the multi-functionality of agri-food systems into account, overlooking the environmental and social benefits of agroecology and the negative externalities of conventionally intensified systems. What is needed are ways to measure the performance of different agri-food system approaches holistically and inclusively, so that policymakers, donors, development actors, and farmers can make informed decisions regarding their investment in agroecology or alternative approaches. Drawing on a desk review, in-depth case studies and stakeholder engagements in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tunisia, this study will identify and synthesize common barriers and opportunities for assessing…

Overview The CGIAR Initiative on 'Transformational Agroecology across Food, Land and Water Systems' works with small-scale farmers across seven nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The initiative builds on the premise that to be successful, agroecology must be flexible with solutions tailored to specific environmental, socio-cultural, economic, and political contexts rather than offering prescriptive approaches. To achieve this, the initiative prioritizes participation, co-creation and sharing of knowledge to catalyze technological and institutional innovations; behavioral change across food system actors; and safeguarding social equity and responsibility among farmers and other food system actors during transitions. The initiative works with farmers and other food system actors to ensure that agriculture harnesses nature’s goods and services whilst minimizing adverse impacts on the environment and improving knowledge co-creation and inclusive relationships among food system actors. It also support the application of agroecological principles in food, land, and water systems, working to co-develop and implement agroecological innovations across the food system. Visit the website Follow the hashtag #AgroecologyInitiative Download the brochure To sign up for the newsletter or receive further information, please contact Simone Staiger Project scope and aim The initiative works through five separate but inter-related work packages: Transdisciplinary co-creation of innovations in…

The Agroecological Transitions Program for Building Resilient and Inclusive Agricultural & Food Systems In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), agricultural investment remains a priority for economic development. Sustainability is a key challenge in LMICs, as many of the current agricultural practices reduce soil fertility and greatly depend on external inputs. Agroecological approaches are increasingly recognized as a means to improve sustainable development of food systems, ensuring the regenerative use of natural resources and ecosystem services, while also addressing the need for more socially equitable decision-making. Climate-informed agroecological transitions require a multi-faceted support to farmers, enabling them to shift to more sustainable agriculture production systems that increase food security while minimizing negative ecological and human impacts. Yet, supporting farmers to make the transition to agroecology globally has been constrained by a lack of: metrics to holistically assess agroecology and guide outcome-based policy and investment incentives and investments to support innovative pathways and traceable private-public sector models for agroecology tools, including digital tools, that provide technical support and performance assessments for practioners. In addition, current guidance to agroecology has not integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation practices. TRANSITIONS aims to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions by farmers at significant scales in LMICs through…

Driving agroecological transitions in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa through transdisciplinary Agroecology Living Labs (CANALLS)Funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No.101083653, CANALLS is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action that commenced in January 2023. This ambitious project will span a duration of 48 months, during which it aims to facilitate knowledge exchange, promote innovation, and enhance the resilience and productivity of agricultural systems in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa. The humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa hold much promise for enhancing food and nutritional security within and beyond Africa. With a rich variety of agroecological zones and diverse farming systems, they are home for a great part of the rural population and a large diversity of living organisms, offering vital ecosystem services and potential for sustainable development. Still, if we are to tap into this potential, we need to address the complex environmental, social and economic challenges they face, which in cases are exacerbated by conflict and high vulnerability. Project scope and aim CANALLS aims to drive agroecological transitions in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa via multi-actor transdisciplinary Agroecology Living Labs (ALLs). Our vision is to create a…

The overall aim of the ASSET project is to transform food and agricultural systems in Southeast Asia into more sustainable, safe and inclusive, through harnessing the potential of agroecology. ASSET endeavors to develop and promote a shared vision of agroecology and safe food system transitions through a comprehensive approach that includes research, networking, policy advocacy, capacity development, awareness raising, and communication. ASSET fosters technical, organizational, and institutional innovations at territorial level in flagship programs, while generating evidence on their performance and impact. Building upon regional reliable initiatives and institutions, it supports a dialogue on linking agricultural and market transformations in policy frameworks at local, national and regional level, and strives to bring successful approaches to scale. It is implemented by GRET as general coordinator, in strong collaboration with CIRAD in charge of the scientific coordination, and in partnership with a Consortium of 20 international, European, and national Institutions and organizations as well as two United Nations agencies. The consortium engages with governments, civil society, private sector and smallholder farmers to generate and transform knowledge into sustainable innovation processes and policies, sensitive to youth and gender equality. Project scope and aim The overall aim of the ASSET Project is to transform…

Driving agroecological transitions in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa through transdisciplinary Agroecology Living Labs (CANALLS)Funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No.101083653, CANALLS is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action that commenced in January 2023. This ambitious project will span a duration of 48 months, during which it aims to facilitate knowledge exchange, promote innovation, and enhance the resilience and productivity of agricultural systems in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa. The humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa hold much promise for enhancing food and nutritional security within and beyond Africa. With a rich variety of agroecological zones and diverse farming systems, they are home for a great part of the rural population and a large diversity of living organisms, offering vital ecosystem services and potential for sustainable development. Still, if we are to tap into this potential, we need to address the complex environmental, social and economic challenges they face, which in cases are exacerbated by conflict and high vulnerability. Project scope and aim CANALLS aims to drive agroecological transitions in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa via multi-actor transdisciplinary Agroecology Living Labs (ALLs). Our vision is to create a…

Globally, agriculture covers 40% of the earth's surface and food systems are responsible for one-third of humanity's contribution to global climate change. Yet, smallholder and subsistence farmers are among the most vulnerable to climate change, facing extreme weather events and food price volatility that threaten livelihoods, biodiversity, and food security.

Driving agroecological transitions in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa through transdisciplinary Agroecology Living Labs (CANALLS)Funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No.101083653, CANALLS is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action that commenced in January 2023. This ambitious project will span a duration of 48 months, during which it aims to facilitate knowledge exchange, promote innovation, and enhance the resilience and productivity of agricultural systems in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa. The humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa hold much promise for enhancing food and nutritional security within and beyond Africa. With a rich variety of agroecological zones and diverse farming systems, they are home for a great part of the rural population and a large diversity of living organisms, offering vital ecosystem services and potential for sustainable development. Still, if we are to tap into this potential, we need to address the complex environmental, social and economic challenges they face, which in cases are exacerbated by conflict and high vulnerability. Project scope and aim CANALLS aims to drive agroecological transitions in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa via multi-actor transdisciplinary Agroecology Living Labs (ALLs). Our vision is to create a…

Agriculture is crucial for many African economies. However, current agriculture and food systems face challenges due to climate change and non-climatic stresses. To address these issues, increasing resilience of food systems and ecosystems is essential, and an agroecological transition towards sustainable agri-food systems is considered a central task for the future. The EU-cofunded action "ProSilience" works specifically on this task. It is embedded in the Global Programme “Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security” (ProSoil), which is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. ProSilience is being implemented in Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Madagascar. It also includes cross-country activities covering all seven partner countries of ProSoil. Transformative change effort in the context of agroecological transition can only be realized if initiated and sustained by committed and visionary partners in the countries. As drivers of change, they influence and shape the future and have a key role to play in building alliances with other stakeholders, advancing efforts of transition, developing and communicating knowledge around agroecological transitioning. Implementing change as an individual, requires much more than being highly skilled. A set of…

to support Agroecological TRANSITIONS for building resilient and inclusive agricultural and food systemsTo accelerate the transition towards agroecological approaches, several critical questions need to be addressed, including: how to measure agricultural performance in ways that allow equitable comparison; how to ensure shifts towards agroecology are sustainable and equitable; what roles the public and private sectors should play in such a transition; and what kinds of tools and resources will best support widespread and systemic change. Project scope and aim Conventional metrics of agricultural interventions limit performance to a narrow set of productivity measures, such as yield or income. Such approaches fail to capture the externalities of agriculture, including its impact on farmer livelihoods and health, biodiversity and ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions and food system resilience to name a few. In this project, we seek to develop novel, holistic metrics of food system performance through embedding participatory research in on-going agroecological development projects across eight countries in the global south. Through these partnerships, as well as the Agroecology TPP, we will develop, test and disseminate novel metrics that support national goals and put agroecology on a level playing field with other agricultural development approaches. Through the participatory development and testing…

The Measuring Agroecology and its Performance (MAP) project aims to generate evidence on the multidimensional performance of agroecology by using the Tool for Agroecological Performance Evaluation (TAPE) and the Agroecology Criteria Tool (ACT). It strives to foster agroecological transitions through developing stakeholders’ capacities on measuring agroecology and its performance as well as through generating evidence on the contribution of agroecology to holistically achieving societal goals. The project leverages activities of the Metrics project which is part of the TRANSITIONS programme. The Measuring Agroecology and its Performance project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union (EU) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Project scope and aim The project will help develop capacity for partners:  on the use of TAPE and its multifunctional nature with ICRAF country offices, implementing partners and enumerators, and other relevant stakeholders at national and local levels, including decision makers, in selected countries/regions that are able to take up the recommendations derived from TAPE; on the use of ACT with staff of development cooperation stakeholders at the country level and key partner organizations at the global level; on the multidimensional performance of agroecology and…

Sustainable food systems that feed the world, support local communities, and protect ecosystems require that more transformative investment practices are mainstreamed across the business community. TLI fosters mainstreaming by working with investors, the national business ecosystem, and global and regional development communities. This involves a multi-pronged approach that aims to drive innovation simultaneously and in coordination across three levels: investment; national business ecosystems; and the global development community. Transformative Land Investment works with investors and other stakeholders to support adoption of inclusive business and agroecology practices. By securing land tenure and livelihoods of 300 000 rural people, the nitiative will contribute to Switzerland’s global effort towards more sustainable food systems. Project scope and aim The project adopts an integrated and holistic approach involving coordinated actions that: prevent negative LBI impacts manage how impacts play out incentivize LBI adoption of better business models and practices support LBIs in improving their business models and implementation Modality This will be achieved by: Out- and up-scaling TLIs that avoid negative societal impacts and contribute towards more inclusive and resilient food system Establishing country-level policies and supportive regulatory frameworks, laws and incentive schemes that enable investor adoption of TLI principles Establishing global and regional agreements,…

The Agroecological Transitions Program for Building Resilient and Inclusive Agricultural & Food Systems In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), agricultural investment remains a priority for economic development. Sustainability is a key challenge in LMICs, as many of the current agricultural practices reduce soil fertility and greatly depend on external inputs. Agroecological approaches are increasingly recognized as a means to improve sustainable development of food systems, ensuring the regenerative use of natural resources and ecosystem services, while also addressing the need for more socially equitable decision-making. Climate-informed agroecological transitions require a multi-faceted support to farmers, enabling them to shift to more sustainable agriculture production systems that increase food security while minimizing negative ecological and human impacts. Yet, supporting farmers to make the transition to agroecology globally has been constrained by a lack of: metrics to holistically assess agroecology and guide outcome-based policy and investment incentives and investments to support innovative pathways and traceable private-public sector models for agroecology tools, including digital tools, that provide technical support and performance assessments for practioners. In addition, current guidance to agroecology has not integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation practices. TRANSITIONS aims to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions by farmers at significant scales in LMICs through…

Globally, agriculture covers 40% of the earth's surface and food systems are responsible for one-third of humanity's contribution to global climate change. Yet, smallholder and subsistence farmers are among the most vulnerable to climate change, facing extreme weather events and food price volatility that threaten livelihoods, biodiversity, and food security.

to support Agroecological TRANSITIONS for building resilient and inclusive agricultural and food systemsTo accelerate the transition towards agroecological approaches, several critical questions need to be addressed, including: how to measure agricultural performance in ways that allow equitable comparison; how to ensure shifts towards agroecology are sustainable and equitable; what roles the public and private sectors should play in such a transition; and what kinds of tools and resources will best support widespread and systemic change. Project scope and aim Conventional metrics of agricultural interventions limit performance to a narrow set of productivity measures, such as yield or income. Such approaches fail to capture the externalities of agriculture, including its impact on farmer livelihoods and health, biodiversity and ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions and food system resilience to name a few. In this project, we seek to develop novel, holistic metrics of food system performance through embedding participatory research in on-going agroecological development projects across eight countries in the global south. Through these partnerships, as well as the Agroecology TPP, we will develop, test and disseminate novel metrics that support national goals and put agroecology on a level playing field with other agricultural development approaches. Through the participatory development and testing…

In the light of multiple, urgent and interconnected food system challenges – including but not limited to the climate and biodiversity crises, the triple burden of malnutrition and growing inequity – holistic and context-specific food system transformations are crucial. Agroecology is increasingly recognized as a promising approach for transforming food systems, rendering them more resilient, equitable and sustainable in all dimensions. However, a key challenge to scaling agroecology is how to measure its performance in ways which allow for fair comparison with alternatives. Common practice when evaluating agri-food systems has been to measure a narrow set of metrics, mainly focused on productivity and economic returns. Yet, such approaches fail to take the multi-functionality of agri-food systems into account, overlooking the environmental and social benefits of agroecology and the negative externalities of conventionally intensified systems. What is needed are ways to measure the performance of different agri-food system approaches holistically and inclusively, so that policymakers, donors, development actors, and farmers can make informed decisions regarding their investment in agroecology or alternative approaches. Drawing on a desk review, in-depth case studies and stakeholder engagements in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tunisia, this study will identify and synthesize common barriers and opportunities for assessing…

Sustainable food systems that feed the world, support local communities, and protect ecosystems require that more transformative investment practices are mainstreamed across the business community. TLI fosters mainstreaming by working with investors, the national business ecosystem, and global and regional development communities. This involves a multi-pronged approach that aims to drive innovation simultaneously and in coordination across three levels: investment; national business ecosystems; and the global development community. Transformative Land Investment works with investors and other stakeholders to support adoption of inclusive business and agroecology practices. By securing land tenure and livelihoods of 300 000 rural people, the nitiative will contribute to Switzerland’s global effort towards more sustainable food systems. Project scope and aim The project adopts an integrated and holistic approach involving coordinated actions that: prevent negative LBI impacts manage how impacts play out incentivize LBI adoption of better business models and practices support LBIs in improving their business models and implementation Modality This will be achieved by: Out- and up-scaling TLIs that avoid negative societal impacts and contribute towards more inclusive and resilient food system Establishing country-level policies and supportive regulatory frameworks, laws and incentive schemes that enable investor adoption of TLI principles Establishing global and regional agreements,…

The Agroecology and Circular Economy for Ecosystem Services (ACE4ES) project represents a transformative multidisciplinary initiative underpinned by technology and innovation, capacity building, governance strengthening and mass communication. ACE4ES seeks to revolutionize agricultural and food systems by integrating agroecological principles and circular economy practices to enhance the resilience of livelihoods and landscapes, particularly in rice and maize production across Africa. Through research, technology validation, and knowledge-sharing activities, ACE4ES aims to address key knowledge and implementation gaps in agroecology, contributing to evidence-based advocacy and informed policy-making. By fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders and leveraging existing initiatives, ACE4ES accelerates agroecological transitions and promotes sustainable agriculture on a broader scale. The project's integration within the Agroecology TPP aligns with the platform's goals of building inclusive communities of practice, advancing collaborative approaches, and facilitating knowledge co-creation to achieve transformative change in agricultural systems. Project scope and aim The ACE4ES project aims to implement agroecology and circular economy technologies to mitigate Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) in rice and maize production across Africa. Its scope encompasses research, technology validation, and knowledge transfer activities to enhance the resilience of livelihoods and landscapes. By focusing on SLCP reduction, ACE4ES addresses critical environmental and socio-economic challenges while promoting sustainable agricultural…

The Agroecological Transitions Program for Building Resilient and Inclusive Agricultural & Food Systems In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), agricultural investment remains a priority for economic development. Sustainability is a key challenge in LMICs, as many of the current agricultural practices reduce soil fertility and greatly depend on external inputs. Agroecological approaches are increasingly recognized as a means to improve sustainable development of food systems, ensuring the regenerative use of natural resources and ecosystem services, while also addressing the need for more socially equitable decision-making. Climate-informed agroecological transitions require a multi-faceted support to farmers, enabling them to shift to more sustainable agriculture production systems that increase food security while minimizing negative ecological and human impacts. Yet, supporting farmers to make the transition to agroecology globally has been constrained by a lack of: metrics to holistically assess agroecology and guide outcome-based policy and investment incentives and investments to support innovative pathways and traceable private-public sector models for agroecology tools, including digital tools, that provide technical support and performance assessments for practioners. In addition, current guidance to agroecology has not integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation practices. TRANSITIONS aims to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions by farmers at significant scales in LMICs through…

Agriculture is crucial for many African economies. However, current agriculture and food systems face challenges due to climate change and non-climatic stresses. To address these issues, increasing resilience of food systems and ecosystems is essential, and an agroecological transition towards sustainable agri-food systems is considered a central task for the future. The EU-cofunded action "ProSilience" works specifically on this task. It is embedded in the Global Programme “Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security” (ProSoil), which is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. ProSilience is being implemented in Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Madagascar. It also includes cross-country activities covering all seven partner countries of ProSoil. Transformative change effort in the context of agroecological transition can only be realized if initiated and sustained by committed and visionary partners in the countries. As drivers of change, they influence and shape the future and have a key role to play in building alliances with other stakeholders, advancing efforts of transition, developing and communicating knowledge around agroecological transitioning. Implementing change as an individual, requires much more than being highly skilled. A set of…

Globally, agriculture covers 40% of the earth's surface and food systems are responsible for one-third of humanity's contribution to global climate change. Yet, smallholder and subsistence farmers are among the most vulnerable to climate change, facing extreme weather events and food price volatility that threaten livelihoods, biodiversity, and food security.

to support Agroecological TRANSITIONS for building resilient and inclusive agricultural and food systemsTo accelerate the transition towards agroecological approaches, several critical questions need to be addressed, including: how to measure agricultural performance in ways that allow equitable comparison; how to ensure shifts towards agroecology are sustainable and equitable; what roles the public and private sectors should play in such a transition; and what kinds of tools and resources will best support widespread and systemic change. Project scope and aim Conventional metrics of agricultural interventions limit performance to a narrow set of productivity measures, such as yield or income. Such approaches fail to capture the externalities of agriculture, including its impact on farmer livelihoods and health, biodiversity and ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions and food system resilience to name a few. In this project, we seek to develop novel, holistic metrics of food system performance through embedding participatory research in on-going agroecological development projects across eight countries in the global south. Through these partnerships, as well as the Agroecology TPP, we will develop, test and disseminate novel metrics that support national goals and put agroecology on a level playing field with other agricultural development approaches. Through the participatory development and testing…

Overview The CGIAR Initiative on 'Transformational Agroecology across Food, Land and Water Systems' works with small-scale farmers across seven nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The initiative builds on the premise that to be successful, agroecology must be flexible with solutions tailored to specific environmental, socio-cultural, economic, and political contexts rather than offering prescriptive approaches. To achieve this, the initiative prioritizes participation, co-creation and sharing of knowledge to catalyze technological and institutional innovations; behavioral change across food system actors; and safeguarding social equity and responsibility among farmers and other food system actors during transitions. The initiative works with farmers and other food system actors to ensure that agriculture harnesses nature’s goods and services whilst minimizing adverse impacts on the environment and improving knowledge co-creation and inclusive relationships among food system actors. It also support the application of agroecological principles in food, land, and water systems, working to co-develop and implement agroecological innovations across the food system. Visit the website Follow the hashtag #AgroecologyInitiative Download the brochure To sign up for the newsletter or receive further information, please contact Simone Staiger Project scope and aim The initiative works through five separate but inter-related work packages: Transdisciplinary co-creation of innovations in…

Current global challenges put strong emphasis on the urgent need for a sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems. As recognized by several landmark reports, integrated biodiverse approaches including agroecology are a key part of the response. Foresight processes that properly incorporate integrated biodiverse approaches – including agroecology - to foster sustainable food system transformations can help decision-makers prepare for an anticipated change and provoke a desired transition that is supported by the majority of stakeholders. Therefore, sustainable food system transformations require appropriate tools designed to make behavior change attractive. In particular, agricultural foresight methodologies need to: consider new drivers look at the whole food systems and not only at some elements build appealing narratives and imagine new quantitative models able to represent complex practices and larger number of crops and food system components incorporate policy makers in the whole process and take into account interactions between geographical scales. This project contributes to GIZ’s Support of Agroecological Transformation Processes in India (SuATI) program and to the Scaling up Agroecology Initiative. Project scope and aim The project intends to improve the contribution of foresight approaches to sustainable food systems transitions through agroecology by: Confronting and learning from recent foresight processes to…

The Agroecological Transitions Program for Building Resilient and Inclusive Agricultural & Food Systems In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), agricultural investment remains a priority for economic development. Sustainability is a key challenge in LMICs, as many of the current agricultural practices reduce soil fertility and greatly depend on external inputs. Agroecological approaches are increasingly recognized as a means to improve sustainable development of food systems, ensuring the regenerative use of natural resources and ecosystem services, while also addressing the need for more socially equitable decision-making. Climate-informed agroecological transitions require a multi-faceted support to farmers, enabling them to shift to more sustainable agriculture production systems that increase food security while minimizing negative ecological and human impacts. Yet, supporting farmers to make the transition to agroecology globally has been constrained by a lack of: metrics to holistically assess agroecology and guide outcome-based policy and investment incentives and investments to support innovative pathways and traceable private-public sector models for agroecology tools, including digital tools, that provide technical support and performance assessments for practioners. In addition, current guidance to agroecology has not integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation practices. TRANSITIONS aims to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions by farmers at significant scales in LMICs through…

Agriculture is crucial for many African economies. However, current agriculture and food systems face challenges due to climate change and non-climatic stresses. To address these issues, increasing resilience of food systems and ecosystems is essential, and an agroecological transition towards sustainable agri-food systems is considered a central task for the future. The EU-cofunded action "ProSilience" works specifically on this task. It is embedded in the Global Programme “Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security” (ProSoil), which is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. ProSilience is being implemented in Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Madagascar. It also includes cross-country activities covering all seven partner countries of ProSoil. Transformative change effort in the context of agroecological transition can only be realized if initiated and sustained by committed and visionary partners in the countries. As drivers of change, they influence and shape the future and have a key role to play in building alliances with other stakeholders, advancing efforts of transition, developing and communicating knowledge around agroecological transitioning. Implementing change as an individual, requires much more than being highly skilled. A set of…

In Kenya, the proportion of the population experiencing severe food insecurity has alarmingly increased from 15% in 2016 to 28% in 2023. Additionally, the prevalence of undernourishment escalated from 22.3% in 2013, affecting 10 million people, to 29.4% in 2022, impacting 14.7 million people. These figures highlight a reversal of nearly two decades of progress in combating hunger and malnutrition.  The main factors contributing to this problem include continuous cultivation without the judicious use of agricultural inputs, inappropriate land use, and poor land management practices. These practices have severely depleted soil fertility, particularly in smallholder farms, which is a fundamental biophysical root cause of declining per capita food production in sub-Saharan Africa. The situation is exacerbated by Kenya's reliance on rainfed agriculture, making its agricultural production highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Moreover, the lack of strong institutional coordination, an absence of coherent policy frameworks, and weak extension and advisory services further hinder efforts to transition to more sustainable agricultural practices, such as agroecology and the use of bio-inputs. However, there are significant opportunities for change that the project aims to capitalize on. The global and regional push towards sustainable agriculture, as exemplified by the Nairobi Declaration on…

to support Agroecological TRANSITIONS for building resilient and inclusive agricultural and food systemsTo accelerate the transition towards agroecological approaches, several critical questions need to be addressed, including: how to measure agricultural performance in ways that allow equitable comparison; how to ensure shifts towards agroecology are sustainable and equitable; what roles the public and private sectors should play in such a transition; and what kinds of tools and resources will best support widespread and systemic change. Project scope and aim Conventional metrics of agricultural interventions limit performance to a narrow set of productivity measures, such as yield or income. Such approaches fail to capture the externalities of agriculture, including its impact on farmer livelihoods and health, biodiversity and ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions and food system resilience to name a few. In this project, we seek to develop novel, holistic metrics of food system performance through embedding participatory research in on-going agroecological development projects across eight countries in the global south. Through these partnerships, as well as the Agroecology TPP, we will develop, test and disseminate novel metrics that support national goals and put agroecology on a level playing field with other agricultural development approaches. Through the participatory development and testing…

Farmer-led Tools, Dashboard Development, and the Future of Farming (Farmer Dashboards)The Farmer-led Tools, Dashboard Development and the Future of Farming project is interested in identifying participatory ways of collecting farm-level data, and in understanding how that data can be made accessible to smallholders – with particular focus on women and girls – via ‘farmer dashboards’ to improve their farming practices. The project is funded by Global Affairs Canada’s Fund for Innovation and Transformation (GAC FIT) and implemented in collaboration with the Coady International Institute (Canada) and the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) of India. Project scope and aim The project builds on previous ICRAF work in the Middle Nyando Block, straddling Kisumu and Kericho counties, including the Accelerating Adoption of Agroforestry (Triple A) project, an asset-based community-driven development (ABCD) project implemented from 2015 to 2019. The project works with lead-farmers to develop individual farmer data reports that feature various analyses of farm-level data that had been collected over the previous 6 years with the help of the paper-based integrated household leaky bucket tool. Caption Modality Qualitative research is conducted to understand the Triple A lead-farmers’ expectations and interests in terms of (a) the kind of data, (b) level and detail of…

The Measuring Agroecology and its Performance (MAP) project aims to generate evidence on the multidimensional performance of agroecology by using the Tool for Agroecological Performance Evaluation (TAPE) and the Agroecology Criteria Tool (ACT). It strives to foster agroecological transitions through developing stakeholders’ capacities on measuring agroecology and its performance as well as through generating evidence on the contribution of agroecology to holistically achieving societal goals. The project leverages activities of the Metrics project which is part of the TRANSITIONS programme. The Measuring Agroecology and its Performance project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union (EU) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Project scope and aim The project will help develop capacity for partners:  on the use of TAPE and its multifunctional nature with ICRAF country offices, implementing partners and enumerators, and other relevant stakeholders at national and local levels, including decision makers, in selected countries/regions that are able to take up the recommendations derived from TAPE; on the use of ACT with staff of development cooperation stakeholders at the country level and key partner organizations at the global level; on the multidimensional performance of agroecology and…

Overview The CGIAR Initiative on 'Transformational Agroecology across Food, Land and Water Systems' works with small-scale farmers across seven nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The initiative builds on the premise that to be successful, agroecology must be flexible with solutions tailored to specific environmental, socio-cultural, economic, and political contexts rather than offering prescriptive approaches. To achieve this, the initiative prioritizes participation, co-creation and sharing of knowledge to catalyze technological and institutional innovations; behavioral change across food system actors; and safeguarding social equity and responsibility among farmers and other food system actors during transitions. The initiative works with farmers and other food system actors to ensure that agriculture harnesses nature’s goods and services whilst minimizing adverse impacts on the environment and improving knowledge co-creation and inclusive relationships among food system actors. It also support the application of agroecological principles in food, land, and water systems, working to co-develop and implement agroecological innovations across the food system. Visit the website Follow the hashtag #AgroecologyInitiative Download the brochure To sign up for the newsletter or receive further information, please contact Simone Staiger Project scope and aim The initiative works through five separate but inter-related work packages: Transdisciplinary co-creation of innovations in…

The social ecology of rangelands in changing savanna environments The stewardship of rangelands in Africa is undermined by overstocking and land degradation, entailing the potential collapse of the existing social-ecological rangeland system. One key factor of rangeland degradation and key driver of their conversion to other land uses is the spread of alien invasive plant species that affect both the environment and pastoral livelihoods. Invasion has been observed to massively accelerate in recent years, with land management, conditions of water availability, and soil fertility shaping the observed spread dynamics. In addition, factors such as policies (i.e., act to sedentarize nomadic pastoralists, Land Act), physical insecurity and violent conflicts, as well as infrastructure developments (road construction, geothermal development and associated 'infrastructuring') are likely to drive system shifts, which, in turn, may accelerate invasive spread dynamics. The seasonal availability and quality of pasture are increasingly restricted by the expansion of crop agriculture and the establishment of wildlife conservancies. Further, rainfall variability drives seasonal and inter-annual variability in the availability and quality of forage. In addition, the undesired spread of the exotic invasive plants - such as Parthenium hysterophorus, Opuntia spp. and Prosopis juliflora - is negatively affecting agro-pastoral livelihoods in the Kenyan…

Regreening Kenya by scaling asset-based community-driven development tools and processes, RK-ABCD Overview Regreening Kenya by scaling asset-based community-driven development tools and processes, RK-ABCD The ABCD approach encourages communities and individual households to identify their existing assets and to use what they already have more efficiently and effectively to improve their own lives. It is based on three principles: ‘everyone has gifts’, ‘relationships build a community’, and ‘start with what you have’. Community groups assess their existing assets and strengths. This allows them to develop a clearer understanding of who they are, what they want and what they like, and are hence able to identify their identities, interests and preferences (IIPs). Such assets include: Knowledge, skills and talents (human assets) Community associations and formal organisations and institutions (social assets) Natural resources that support livelihood activities (natural assets) Existing infrastructure and household possessions (physical assets) Means that circulate in the local economy (financial assets) Based on these IIPs, community groups formulate community action plans (CAPs) towards the desired future change for their lives, communities, and landscapes. Aligning their existing assets and strengths, the community members then define different pathways towards realisation of these objectives, including a step-wise activity plan. These pathways differ…

The Agroecological Transitions Program for Building Resilient and Inclusive Agricultural & Food Systems In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), agricultural investment remains a priority for economic development. Sustainability is a key challenge in LMICs, as many of the current agricultural practices reduce soil fertility and greatly depend on external inputs. Agroecological approaches are increasingly recognized as a means to improve sustainable development of food systems, ensuring the regenerative use of natural resources and ecosystem services, while also addressing the need for more socially equitable decision-making. Climate-informed agroecological transitions require a multi-faceted support to farmers, enabling them to shift to more sustainable agriculture production systems that increase food security while minimizing negative ecological and human impacts. Yet, supporting farmers to make the transition to agroecology globally has been constrained by a lack of: metrics to holistically assess agroecology and guide outcome-based policy and investment incentives and investments to support innovative pathways and traceable private-public sector models for agroecology tools, including digital tools, that provide technical support and performance assessments for practioners. In addition, current guidance to agroecology has not integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation practices. TRANSITIONS aims to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions by farmers at significant scales in LMICs through…

Sustainable food systems that feed the world, support local communities, and protect ecosystems require that more transformative investment practices are mainstreamed across the business community. TLI fosters mainstreaming by working with investors, the national business ecosystem, and global and regional development communities. This involves a multi-pronged approach that aims to drive innovation simultaneously and in coordination across three levels: investment; national business ecosystems; and the global development community. Transformative Land Investment works with investors and other stakeholders to support adoption of inclusive business and agroecology practices. By securing land tenure and livelihoods of 300 000 rural people, the nitiative will contribute to Switzerland’s global effort towards more sustainable food systems. Project scope and aim The project adopts an integrated and holistic approach involving coordinated actions that: prevent negative LBI impacts manage how impacts play out incentivize LBI adoption of better business models and practices support LBIs in improving their business models and implementation Modality This will be achieved by: Out- and up-scaling TLIs that avoid negative societal impacts and contribute towards more inclusive and resilient food system Establishing country-level policies and supportive regulatory frameworks, laws and incentive schemes that enable investor adoption of TLI principles Establishing global and regional agreements,…

Overview The CGIAR Initiative on 'Transformational Agroecology across Food, Land and Water Systems' works with small-scale farmers across seven nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The initiative builds on the premise that to be successful, agroecology must be flexible with solutions tailored to specific environmental, socio-cultural, economic, and political contexts rather than offering prescriptive approaches. To achieve this, the initiative prioritizes participation, co-creation and sharing of knowledge to catalyze technological and institutional innovations; behavioral change across food system actors; and safeguarding social equity and responsibility among farmers and other food system actors during transitions. The initiative works with farmers and other food system actors to ensure that agriculture harnesses nature’s goods and services whilst minimizing adverse impacts on the environment and improving knowledge co-creation and inclusive relationships among food system actors. It also support the application of agroecological principles in food, land, and water systems, working to co-develop and implement agroecological innovations across the food system. Visit the website Follow the hashtag #AgroecologyInitiative Download the brochure To sign up for the newsletter or receive further information, please contact Simone Staiger Project scope and aim The initiative works through five separate but inter-related work packages: Transdisciplinary co-creation of innovations in…

The overall aim of the ASSET project is to transform food and agricultural systems in Southeast Asia into more sustainable, safe and inclusive, through harnessing the potential of agroecology. ASSET endeavors to develop and promote a shared vision of agroecology and safe food system transitions through a comprehensive approach that includes research, networking, policy advocacy, capacity development, awareness raising, and communication. ASSET fosters technical, organizational, and institutional innovations at territorial level in flagship programs, while generating evidence on their performance and impact. Building upon regional reliable initiatives and institutions, it supports a dialogue on linking agricultural and market transformations in policy frameworks at local, national and regional level, and strives to bring successful approaches to scale. It is implemented by GRET as general coordinator, in strong collaboration with CIRAD in charge of the scientific coordination, and in partnership with a Consortium of 20 international, European, and national Institutions and organizations as well as two United Nations agencies. The consortium engages with governments, civil society, private sector and smallholder farmers to generate and transform knowledge into sustainable innovation processes and policies, sensitive to youth and gender equality. Project scope and aim The overall aim of the ASSET Project is to transform…

Agriculture is crucial for many African economies. However, current agriculture and food systems face challenges due to climate change and non-climatic stresses. To address these issues, increasing resilience of food systems and ecosystems is essential, and an agroecological transition towards sustainable agri-food systems is considered a central task for the future. The EU-cofunded action "ProSilience" works specifically on this task. It is embedded in the Global Programme “Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security” (ProSoil), which is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. ProSilience is being implemented in Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Madagascar. It also includes cross-country activities covering all seven partner countries of ProSoil. Transformative change effort in the context of agroecological transition can only be realized if initiated and sustained by committed and visionary partners in the countries. As drivers of change, they influence and shape the future and have a key role to play in building alliances with other stakeholders, advancing efforts of transition, developing and communicating knowledge around agroecological transitioning. Implementing change as an individual, requires much more than being highly skilled. A set of…

The Measuring Agroecology and its Performance (MAP) project aims to generate evidence on the multidimensional performance of agroecology by using the Tool for Agroecological Performance Evaluation (TAPE) and the Agroecology Criteria Tool (ACT). It strives to foster agroecological transitions through developing stakeholders’ capacities on measuring agroecology and its performance as well as through generating evidence on the contribution of agroecology to holistically achieving societal goals. The project leverages activities of the Metrics project which is part of the TRANSITIONS programme. The Measuring Agroecology and its Performance project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union (EU) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Project scope and aim The project will help develop capacity for partners:  on the use of TAPE and its multifunctional nature with ICRAF country offices, implementing partners and enumerators, and other relevant stakeholders at national and local levels, including decision makers, in selected countries/regions that are able to take up the recommendations derived from TAPE; on the use of ACT with staff of development cooperation stakeholders at the country level and key partner organizations at the global level; on the multidimensional performance of agroecology and…

The Fall Armyworm project ran from 2018 to 2023, starting within the Forests Trees and Agroforestry research project of the CGIAR (CRP). This project evaluated the agronomic and socio-economic viability of agroecological options for pest control across multiple tropical developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Working with multiple partners we applied standardized protocols and data collection tools. Aim The project aimed to better understand the effectiveness of agroecological interventions for pest management across a range of environmental and socio-economic contexts, through: A globally coordinated trial of the effects of agroecological interventions on pest populations, crop damage and yield loss, and understanding of smallholder pest management strategies through farm and household surveys. Project Scope The project focused on Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda Smith), a pest from the Americas that has in recent times spread across Africa and Asia, but also collected information on other co-occurring pests and diseases, and explored agroecological pest management's potential integration into smallholder farming systems. Media https://youtu.be/GdwW213X1BA?si=HANZUv7uINXujfmL To learn more about the project's outputs, such as policy documents, animations, conference recordings and more, please see the knowledge products section below. Global Trial on Agroecological Approaches to Pest Management Can we manage agricultural pests in more planet-…

Sustainable food systems that feed the world, support local communities, and protect ecosystems require that more transformative investment practices are mainstreamed across the business community. TLI fosters mainstreaming by working with investors, the national business ecosystem, and global and regional development communities. This involves a multi-pronged approach that aims to drive innovation simultaneously and in coordination across three levels: investment; national business ecosystems; and the global development community. Transformative Land Investment works with investors and other stakeholders to support adoption of inclusive business and agroecology practices. By securing land tenure and livelihoods of 300 000 rural people, the nitiative will contribute to Switzerland’s global effort towards more sustainable food systems. Project scope and aim The project adopts an integrated and holistic approach involving coordinated actions that: prevent negative LBI impacts manage how impacts play out incentivize LBI adoption of better business models and practices support LBIs in improving their business models and implementation Modality This will be achieved by: Out- and up-scaling TLIs that avoid negative societal impacts and contribute towards more inclusive and resilient food system Establishing country-level policies and supportive regulatory frameworks, laws and incentive schemes that enable investor adoption of TLI principles Establishing global and regional agreements,…

Sustainable food systems that feed the world, support local communities, and protect ecosystems require that more transformative investment practices are mainstreamed across the business community. TLI fosters mainstreaming by working with investors, the national business ecosystem, and global and regional development communities. This involves a multi-pronged approach that aims to drive innovation simultaneously and in coordination across three levels: investment; national business ecosystems; and the global development community. Transformative Land Investment works with investors and other stakeholders to support adoption of inclusive business and agroecology practices. By securing land tenure and livelihoods of 300 000 rural people, the nitiative will contribute to Switzerland’s global effort towards more sustainable food systems. Project scope and aim The project adopts an integrated and holistic approach involving coordinated actions that: prevent negative LBI impacts manage how impacts play out incentivize LBI adoption of better business models and practices support LBIs in improving their business models and implementation Modality This will be achieved by: Out- and up-scaling TLIs that avoid negative societal impacts and contribute towards more inclusive and resilient food system Establishing country-level policies and supportive regulatory frameworks, laws and incentive schemes that enable investor adoption of TLI principles Establishing global and regional agreements,…

The overall aim of the ASSET project is to transform food and agricultural systems in Southeast Asia into more sustainable, safe and inclusive, through harnessing the potential of agroecology. ASSET endeavors to develop and promote a shared vision of agroecology and safe food system transitions through a comprehensive approach that includes research, networking, policy advocacy, capacity development, awareness raising, and communication. ASSET fosters technical, organizational, and institutional innovations at territorial level in flagship programs, while generating evidence on their performance and impact. Building upon regional reliable initiatives and institutions, it supports a dialogue on linking agricultural and market transformations in policy frameworks at local, national and regional level, and strives to bring successful approaches to scale. It is implemented by GRET as general coordinator, in strong collaboration with CIRAD in charge of the scientific coordination, and in partnership with a Consortium of 20 international, European, and national Institutions and organizations as well as two United Nations agencies. The consortium engages with governments, civil society, private sector and smallholder farmers to generate and transform knowledge into sustainable innovation processes and policies, sensitive to youth and gender equality. Project scope and aim The overall aim of the ASSET Project is to transform…

The Agroecology and Circular Economy for Ecosystem Services (ACE4ES) project represents a transformative multidisciplinary initiative underpinned by technology and innovation, capacity building, governance strengthening and mass communication. ACE4ES seeks to revolutionize agricultural and food systems by integrating agroecological principles and circular economy practices to enhance the resilience of livelihoods and landscapes, particularly in rice and maize production across Africa. Through research, technology validation, and knowledge-sharing activities, ACE4ES aims to address key knowledge and implementation gaps in agroecology, contributing to evidence-based advocacy and informed policy-making. By fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders and leveraging existing initiatives, ACE4ES accelerates agroecological transitions and promotes sustainable agriculture on a broader scale. The project's integration within the Agroecology TPP aligns with the platform's goals of building inclusive communities of practice, advancing collaborative approaches, and facilitating knowledge co-creation to achieve transformative change in agricultural systems. Project scope and aim The ACE4ES project aims to implement agroecology and circular economy technologies to mitigate Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) in rice and maize production across Africa. Its scope encompasses research, technology validation, and knowledge transfer activities to enhance the resilience of livelihoods and landscapes. By focusing on SLCP reduction, ACE4ES addresses critical environmental and socio-economic challenges while promoting sustainable agricultural…

The Transformative Partnership Platform on Agroecology (TPP) - supported by SDC - launched a bold citizen science campaign during UNFSS in September 2021 to involve smallholder farmers, farm workers, and food consumers in generating knowledge to accelerate and document agroecological transitions. This initiative aims to give a voice to all small-scale farmers who practice agroecology in their own way as well as consumers who are committed to sustainable and equitable systems to participate in defining national food systems transition pathways. Project scope and aim The overall goal of the project is to develop one single or a series of contextually relevant approaches and tools that enable farmers, producer organizations, consumers, or other potential end users to inclusively participate in agroecology movements. Smallholders occupy various positions in value chains, including producers, transporters, transformers, distributors and sellers, and are in a unique position to elicit and contribute information to fill key knowledge gaps on the performance of agroecology. The objective of the initiative is to bring them together and have them lead the way to identify and develop solutions to support agroecological transitions, generate knowledge and data on agroecology, while following the principles on participation, inclusion, and overall social equity in its…

to support Agroecological TRANSITIONS for building resilient and inclusive agricultural and food systemsTo accelerate the transition towards agroecological approaches, several critical questions need to be addressed, including: how to measure agricultural performance in ways that allow equitable comparison; how to ensure shifts towards agroecology are sustainable and equitable; what roles the public and private sectors should play in such a transition; and what kinds of tools and resources will best support widespread and systemic change. Project scope and aim Conventional metrics of agricultural interventions limit performance to a narrow set of productivity measures, such as yield or income. Such approaches fail to capture the externalities of agriculture, including its impact on farmer livelihoods and health, biodiversity and ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions and food system resilience to name a few. In this project, we seek to develop novel, holistic metrics of food system performance through embedding participatory research in on-going agroecological development projects across eight countries in the global south. Through these partnerships, as well as the Agroecology TPP, we will develop, test and disseminate novel metrics that support national goals and put agroecology on a level playing field with other agricultural development approaches. Through the participatory development and testing…

Overview The CGIAR Initiative on 'Transformational Agroecology across Food, Land and Water Systems' works with small-scale farmers across seven nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The initiative builds on the premise that to be successful, agroecology must be flexible with solutions tailored to specific environmental, socio-cultural, economic, and political contexts rather than offering prescriptive approaches. To achieve this, the initiative prioritizes participation, co-creation and sharing of knowledge to catalyze technological and institutional innovations; behavioral change across food system actors; and safeguarding social equity and responsibility among farmers and other food system actors during transitions. The initiative works with farmers and other food system actors to ensure that agriculture harnesses nature’s goods and services whilst minimizing adverse impacts on the environment and improving knowledge co-creation and inclusive relationships among food system actors. It also support the application of agroecological principles in food, land, and water systems, working to co-develop and implement agroecological innovations across the food system. Visit the website Follow the hashtag #AgroecologyInitiative Download the brochure To sign up for the newsletter or receive further information, please contact Simone Staiger Project scope and aim The initiative works through five separate but inter-related work packages: Transdisciplinary co-creation of innovations in…

Peru’s Agroforestry Concessions Scheme: Enabling Multi-level Implementation of an Innovative, Transformative Policy (AgroFor) In 2011, the Government of Peru (GoP) established the Agroforestry Concessions (AC) scheme as part of the new Forest and Wildlife Law. It is a major and innovative legal and policy measure aimed at formalizing the access and use of land and trees resources by smallholders, settled on state forest domain under the assumption that the legal status associated with AC and its benefits would allow them to shift to more sustainable land management practices in order to contribute to restoration and forest conservation. The AC scheme can significantly reduce deforestation, all the while improving livelihoods of vulnerable, small-scale Amazonian farmers. Successful roll-out of the AC scheme could reduce GHG emissions of Peru’s Land use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sector by about 20.3%, while improving the livelihoods of >100,000 vulnerable smallholder families, sustainably managing 1.2 M Ha of land.  The objective of the AgroFor project is to establish the process that can bring AC at scale, by working with the Government of Peru (GoP) to build the legal, institutional, technical, and financial enabling contexts for successful implementation. That requires overcoming two broad challenges: the crucial and…

The Agroecological Transitions Program for Building Resilient and Inclusive Agricultural & Food Systems In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), agricultural investment remains a priority for economic development. Sustainability is a key challenge in LMICs, as many of the current agricultural practices reduce soil fertility and greatly depend on external inputs. Agroecological approaches are increasingly recognized as a means to improve sustainable development of food systems, ensuring the regenerative use of natural resources and ecosystem services, while also addressing the need for more socially equitable decision-making. Climate-informed agroecological transitions require a multi-faceted support to farmers, enabling them to shift to more sustainable agriculture production systems that increase food security while minimizing negative ecological and human impacts. Yet, supporting farmers to make the transition to agroecology globally has been constrained by a lack of: metrics to holistically assess agroecology and guide outcome-based policy and investment incentives and investments to support innovative pathways and traceable private-public sector models for agroecology tools, including digital tools, that provide technical support and performance assessments for practioners. In addition, current guidance to agroecology has not integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation practices. TRANSITIONS aims to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions by farmers at significant scales in LMICs through…

Driving agroecological transitions in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa through transdisciplinary Agroecology Living Labs (CANALLS)Funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No.101083653, CANALLS is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action that commenced in January 2023. This ambitious project will span a duration of 48 months, during which it aims to facilitate knowledge exchange, promote innovation, and enhance the resilience and productivity of agricultural systems in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa. The humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa hold much promise for enhancing food and nutritional security within and beyond Africa. With a rich variety of agroecological zones and diverse farming systems, they are home for a great part of the rural population and a large diversity of living organisms, offering vital ecosystem services and potential for sustainable development. Still, if we are to tap into this potential, we need to address the complex environmental, social and economic challenges they face, which in cases are exacerbated by conflict and high vulnerability. Project scope and aim CANALLS aims to drive agroecological transitions in the humid tropics of Central and Eastern Africa via multi-actor transdisciplinary Agroecology Living Labs (ALLs). Our vision is to create a…

Current global challenges put strong emphasis on the urgent need for a sustainable transformation of agriculture and food systems. As recognized by several landmark reports, integrated biodiverse approaches including agroecology are a key part of the response. Foresight processes that properly incorporate integrated biodiverse approaches – including agroecology - to foster sustainable food system transformations can help decision-makers prepare for an anticipated change and provoke a desired transition that is supported by the majority of stakeholders. Therefore, sustainable food system transformations require appropriate tools designed to make behavior change attractive. In particular, agricultural foresight methodologies need to: consider new drivers look at the whole food systems and not only at some elements build appealing narratives and imagine new quantitative models able to represent complex practices and larger number of crops and food system components incorporate policy makers in the whole process and take into account interactions between geographical scales. This project contributes to GIZ’s Support of Agroecological Transformation Processes in India (SuATI) program and to the Scaling up Agroecology Initiative. Project scope and aim The project intends to improve the contribution of foresight approaches to sustainable food systems transitions through agroecology by: Confronting and learning from recent foresight processes to…

BRCiS is committed to meaningfully address the many and diverse obstacles to local food system resilience in Somalia - OASIS will adopt the logic of the intervention that: IF agro-producers and agro-business service providers in target locations increase their production capacity (SO1) AND communities increase their use of context-specific environmental management practices (i.e., climate-responsive and regenerative) (SO2) AND food insecure Somalis increase their consumption of/demand for locally produced foods (SO3) THEN sustainable food production and local food system resilience in Somalia will be enhanced (Impact). This theory of change challenges the assumptions of traditional agriculture and food production programming through a resilience lens. Improved production capacity alone will have little effect on Somali communities’ resilience to future shocks and stresses if that food is not consumed, nor can improved production and consumption be considered sustainable if they are based on practices that continue to damage or extract communities’ natural resources. One of OASIS’s key assumptions is that target groups will modify their behaviors when presented with information, evidence, and incentives that promote sustainable outcomes even when this requires a longer-term vision (i.e., thinking more than one harvest ahead). To that end, BRCiS has partnered with ICRAF – a global leader in climate-responsive and regenerative agricultural practices in the Horn of…

Building Resilient Communities in Somalia III (BRCiS III) Project (FCDO-funded program) BRCiS is committed to improving communities’ capacity to adapt to climate change while remaining grounded in their lived experiences of the impact of environmental degradation. The BRCiS III project will implement a series of layered and sequenced, mutually reinforcing outputs, designed to strengthen the systems most likely to support rural communities in Somalia to cope with high-impact shocks and stresses in the short term, and adapt to climate change in the medium to longer term. These systems include the local leadership systems, the natural ecosystem, market systems, and humanitarian and development systems. This new approach will shift the focus from community-based interventions in previous program cycles.   Project scope and aim The objective of the BRCiS III project is that marginalized vulnerable communities in disaster-prone, rural Somalia have sufficient social, financial, and environmental assets to better cope with shocks and stresses and adapt to the effects of climate change. This is a key priority to FCDO funding interventions. BRCiS III works with 134 communities across Somalia.  This objective will be achieved through a set of multi-sectoral outputs, aligned around three system-level workstreams:  Workstream 1: Inclusive, Shock Responsive Leadership System (local leadership systems)…

Agriculture is crucial for many African economies. However, current agriculture and food systems face challenges due to climate change and non-climatic stresses. To address these issues, increasing resilience of food systems and ecosystems is essential, and an agroecological transition towards sustainable agri-food systems is considered a central task for the future. The EU-cofunded action "ProSilience" works specifically on this task. It is embedded in the Global Programme “Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security” (ProSoil), which is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. ProSilience is being implemented in Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Madagascar. It also includes cross-country activities covering all seven partner countries of ProSoil. Transformative change effort in the context of agroecological transition can only be realized if initiated and sustained by committed and visionary partners in the countries. As drivers of change, they influence and shape the future and have a key role to play in building alliances with other stakeholders, advancing efforts of transition, developing and communicating knowledge around agroecological transitioning. Implementing change as an individual, requires much more than being highly skilled. A set of…

In the light of multiple, urgent and interconnected food system challenges – including but not limited to the climate and biodiversity crises, the triple burden of malnutrition and growing inequity – holistic and context-specific food system transformations are crucial. Agroecology is increasingly recognized as a promising approach for transforming food systems, rendering them more resilient, equitable and sustainable in all dimensions. However, a key challenge to scaling agroecology is how to measure its performance in ways which allow for fair comparison with alternatives. Common practice when evaluating agri-food systems has been to measure a narrow set of metrics, mainly focused on productivity and economic returns. Yet, such approaches fail to take the multi-functionality of agri-food systems into account, overlooking the environmental and social benefits of agroecology and the negative externalities of conventionally intensified systems. What is needed are ways to measure the performance of different agri-food system approaches holistically and inclusively, so that policymakers, donors, development actors, and farmers can make informed decisions regarding their investment in agroecology or alternative approaches. Drawing on a desk review, in-depth case studies and stakeholder engagements in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tunisia, this study will identify and synthesize common barriers and opportunities for assessing…

Overview The CGIAR Initiative on 'Transformational Agroecology across Food, Land and Water Systems' works with small-scale farmers across seven nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The initiative builds on the premise that to be successful, agroecology must be flexible with solutions tailored to specific environmental, socio-cultural, economic, and political contexts rather than offering prescriptive approaches. To achieve this, the initiative prioritizes participation, co-creation and sharing of knowledge to catalyze technological and institutional innovations; behavioral change across food system actors; and safeguarding social equity and responsibility among farmers and other food system actors during transitions. The initiative works with farmers and other food system actors to ensure that agriculture harnesses nature’s goods and services whilst minimizing adverse impacts on the environment and improving knowledge co-creation and inclusive relationships among food system actors. It also support the application of agroecological principles in food, land, and water systems, working to co-develop and implement agroecological innovations across the food system. Visit the website Follow the hashtag #AgroecologyInitiative Download the brochure To sign up for the newsletter or receive further information, please contact Simone Staiger Project scope and aim The initiative works through five separate but inter-related work packages: Transdisciplinary co-creation of innovations in…

Introduction Procurement governance and related policy tools for Home-Grown School Feeding Programmes (HGSFP) are crucial for supporting local food systems. However, there is limited research on how school food procurement contributes to strengthening communities, promoting environmental sustainability, and enhancing food and nutrition security, particularly within urban African contexts such as Arusha (Tanzania), Mbale (Uganda), and Kitwe (Zambia). In these cities, food procurement is typically handled by school food committees, which either purchase directly from markets or maintain informal vendor contracts. These systems often lack oversight regarding nutritional standards and structured monitoring and budgetary support to supplement the parent contribution model, and suffer from minimal coordination at the city level. Without stronger enforcement of national guidelines, reliable public financing, and effective local governance mechanisms, inclusivity, quality, and long-term sustainability of school feeding initiatives remain at risk. In response to the growing challenges of urban hunger, malnutrition, food waste, and the broader ecological crisis—including climate change and land-use degradation—there is an urgent need to rethink how school feeding programs are designed and delivered in African cities. HGSFPs offer a promising pathway to address these issues. However, the effectiveness and sustainability of these programs depend heavily on local governance structures, which remain under-examined…

Introduction Procurement governance and related policy tools for Home-Grown School Feeding Programmes (HGSFP) are crucial for supporting local food systems. However, there is limited research on how school food procurement contributes to strengthening communities, promoting environmental sustainability, and enhancing food and nutrition security, particularly within urban African contexts such as Arusha (Tanzania), Mbale (Uganda), and Kitwe (Zambia). In these cities, food procurement is typically handled by school food committees, which either purchase directly from markets or maintain informal vendor contracts. These systems often lack oversight regarding nutritional standards and structured monitoring and budgetary support to supplement the parent contribution model, and suffer from minimal coordination at the city level. Without stronger enforcement of national guidelines, reliable public financing, and effective local governance mechanisms, inclusivity, quality, and long-term sustainability of school feeding initiatives remain at risk. In response to the growing challenges of urban hunger, malnutrition, food waste, and the broader ecological crisis—including climate change and land-use degradation—there is an urgent need to rethink how school feeding programs are designed and delivered in African cities. HGSFPs offer a promising pathway to address these issues. However, the effectiveness and sustainability of these programs depend heavily on local governance structures, which remain under-examined…

The Agroecology and Circular Economy for Ecosystem Services (ACE4ES) project represents a transformative multidisciplinary initiative underpinned by technology and innovation, capacity building, governance strengthening and mass communication. ACE4ES seeks to revolutionize agricultural and food systems by integrating agroecological principles and circular economy practices to enhance the resilience of livelihoods and landscapes, particularly in rice and maize production across Africa. Through research, technology validation, and knowledge-sharing activities, ACE4ES aims to address key knowledge and implementation gaps in agroecology, contributing to evidence-based advocacy and informed policy-making. By fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders and leveraging existing initiatives, ACE4ES accelerates agroecological transitions and promotes sustainable agriculture on a broader scale. The project's integration within the Agroecology TPP aligns with the platform's goals of building inclusive communities of practice, advancing collaborative approaches, and facilitating knowledge co-creation to achieve transformative change in agricultural systems. Project scope and aim The ACE4ES project aims to implement agroecology and circular economy technologies to mitigate Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) in rice and maize production across Africa. Its scope encompasses research, technology validation, and knowledge transfer activities to enhance the resilience of livelihoods and landscapes. By focusing on SLCP reduction, ACE4ES addresses critical environmental and socio-economic challenges while promoting sustainable agricultural…

Increasing diffusion and impact of the vegetable-integrated push-pull technology (VIPPT) in eastern Africa from a ‘One Health’ perspective The overall goal of the project is to contribute to improved well-being, resilience, human nutrition and incomes of smallholder farmers in East Africa through scaling of VIPPT in diverse agro-ecosystems under a One Health approach. The project responds to pervasive challenges of food and nutritional insecurity, and low incomes among rural smallholder farmers. Agriculture remains their key source of livelihoods. Their agricultural productivity is low because of crop pests and diseases, environmental and soil degradation, high input costs and lack of knowledge about improved farming practices. Further degradation of soil is caused by poor farming practices and variable climatic conditions. Moreover, indiscriminate pesticide use on crops poses serious health risks. The push-pull technology (PPT) is an environmentally benign farming method that addresses these constraints by exploiting on-farm biodiversity for key ecosystem services that foster human, animal, environmental and plant health. The first phase of VIPPT successfully integrated vegetables and legumes within PPT systems to help improve farmers’ calorific and nutritional needs and improve their incomes. The vegetable-integrated push-pull technology (VIPPT) was demonstrated to effectively suppress cereal and vegetable pests. Moreover, higher parasitoid…

to support Agroecological TRANSITIONS for building resilient and inclusive agricultural and food systemsTo accelerate the transition towards agroecological approaches, several critical questions need to be addressed, including: how to measure agricultural performance in ways that allow equitable comparison; how to ensure shifts towards agroecology are sustainable and equitable; what roles the public and private sectors should play in such a transition; and what kinds of tools and resources will best support widespread and systemic change. Project scope and aim Conventional metrics of agricultural interventions limit performance to a narrow set of productivity measures, such as yield or income. Such approaches fail to capture the externalities of agriculture, including its impact on farmer livelihoods and health, biodiversity and ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions and food system resilience to name a few. In this project, we seek to develop novel, holistic metrics of food system performance through embedding participatory research in on-going agroecological development projects across eight countries in the global south. Through these partnerships, as well as the Agroecology TPP, we will develop, test and disseminate novel metrics that support national goals and put agroecology on a level playing field with other agricultural development approaches. Through the participatory development and testing…

Agroecology for Resilient Landscapes for the Poor in Northern Uplands of Viet NamIn the Northern mountainous region of Viet Nam, unsustainable agricultural practices have been posing serious threats to the livelihoods of poor ethnic minorities and ecosystems. Among the major concerns are the predominance of monocultures, inappropriate management of sloping land, and overuse of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. At the same time, local communities lack coping strategies related to extreme climate events and have little access to markets. Project scope and aim Agroecology for Resilient Landscapes for the Poor in Northern Uplands of Viet Nam aims to contribute to addressing the unsustainability of livelihoods of poor ethnic minorities in the region through an agroecological approach that actively involves male and female members of ethnic minorities in establishing and maintaining resilient landscapes. The target groups of the project are Hmong ethnic people in Tram Tau district of Yen Bai Province and Dao and Muong ethnic people in Kim Boi district of Hoa Binh Province. Modality The project uses agroecology as the core approach throughout the whole course of implementation. It will: Enhance local ecosystems through establishing landscapes of multi-strata agroforestry systems (agrosilvopastoral systems, which are a combination of trees, crops,…

The overall aim of the ASSET project is to transform food and agricultural systems in Southeast Asia into more sustainable, safe and inclusive, through harnessing the potential of agroecology. ASSET endeavors to develop and promote a shared vision of agroecology and safe food system transitions through a comprehensive approach that includes research, networking, policy advocacy, capacity development, awareness raising, and communication. ASSET fosters technical, organizational, and institutional innovations at territorial level in flagship programs, while generating evidence on their performance and impact. Building upon regional reliable initiatives and institutions, it supports a dialogue on linking agricultural and market transformations in policy frameworks at local, national and regional level, and strives to bring successful approaches to scale. It is implemented by GRET as general coordinator, in strong collaboration with CIRAD in charge of the scientific coordination, and in partnership with a Consortium of 20 international, European, and national Institutions and organizations as well as two United Nations agencies. The consortium engages with governments, civil society, private sector and smallholder farmers to generate and transform knowledge into sustainable innovation processes and policies, sensitive to youth and gender equality. Project scope and aim The overall aim of the ASSET Project is to transform…

The Agroecological Transitions Program for Building Resilient and Inclusive Agricultural & Food Systems In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), agricultural investment remains a priority for economic development. Sustainability is a key challenge in LMICs, as many of the current agricultural practices reduce soil fertility and greatly depend on external inputs. Agroecological approaches are increasingly recognized as a means to improve sustainable development of food systems, ensuring the regenerative use of natural resources and ecosystem services, while also addressing the need for more socially equitable decision-making. Climate-informed agroecological transitions require a multi-faceted support to farmers, enabling them to shift to more sustainable agriculture production systems that increase food security while minimizing negative ecological and human impacts. Yet, supporting farmers to make the transition to agroecology globally has been constrained by a lack of: metrics to holistically assess agroecology and guide outcome-based policy and investment incentives and investments to support innovative pathways and traceable private-public sector models for agroecology tools, including digital tools, that provide technical support and performance assessments for practioners. In addition, current guidance to agroecology has not integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation practices. TRANSITIONS aims to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions by farmers at significant scales in LMICs through…

Introduction Procurement governance and related policy tools for Home-Grown School Feeding Programmes (HGSFP) are crucial for supporting local food systems. However, there is limited research on how school food procurement contributes to strengthening communities, promoting environmental sustainability, and enhancing food and nutrition security, particularly within urban African contexts such as Arusha (Tanzania), Mbale (Uganda), and Kitwe (Zambia). In these cities, food procurement is typically handled by school food committees, which either purchase directly from markets or maintain informal vendor contracts. These systems often lack oversight regarding nutritional standards and structured monitoring and budgetary support to supplement the parent contribution model, and suffer from minimal coordination at the city level. Without stronger enforcement of national guidelines, reliable public financing, and effective local governance mechanisms, inclusivity, quality, and long-term sustainability of school feeding initiatives remain at risk. In response to the growing challenges of urban hunger, malnutrition, food waste, and the broader ecological crisis—including climate change and land-use degradation—there is an urgent need to rethink how school feeding programs are designed and delivered in African cities. HGSFPs offer a promising pathway to address these issues. However, the effectiveness and sustainability of these programs depend heavily on local governance structures, which remain under-examined…

The Fall Armyworm project ran from 2018 to 2023, starting within the Forests Trees and Agroforestry research project of the CGIAR (CRP). This project evaluated the agronomic and socio-economic viability of agroecological options for pest control across multiple tropical developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Working with multiple partners we applied standardized protocols and data collection tools. Aim The project aimed to better understand the effectiveness of agroecological interventions for pest management across a range of environmental and socio-economic contexts, through: A globally coordinated trial of the effects of agroecological interventions on pest populations, crop damage and yield loss, and understanding of smallholder pest management strategies through farm and household surveys. Project Scope The project focused on Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda Smith), a pest from the Americas that has in recent times spread across Africa and Asia, but also collected information on other co-occurring pests and diseases, and explored agroecological pest management's potential integration into smallholder farming systems. Media https://youtu.be/GdwW213X1BA?si=HANZUv7uINXujfmL To learn more about the project's outputs, such as policy documents, animations, conference recordings and more, please see the knowledge products section below. Global Trial on Agroecological Approaches to Pest Management Can we manage agricultural pests in more planet-…

Overview The CGIAR Initiative on 'Transformational Agroecology across Food, Land and Water Systems' works with small-scale farmers across seven nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The initiative builds on the premise that to be successful, agroecology must be flexible with solutions tailored to specific environmental, socio-cultural, economic, and political contexts rather than offering prescriptive approaches. To achieve this, the initiative prioritizes participation, co-creation and sharing of knowledge to catalyze technological and institutional innovations; behavioral change across food system actors; and safeguarding social equity and responsibility among farmers and other food system actors during transitions. The initiative works with farmers and other food system actors to ensure that agriculture harnesses nature’s goods and services whilst minimizing adverse impacts on the environment and improving knowledge co-creation and inclusive relationships among food system actors. It also support the application of agroecological principles in food, land, and water systems, working to co-develop and implement agroecological innovations across the food system. Visit the website Follow the hashtag #AgroecologyInitiative Download the brochure To sign up for the newsletter or receive further information, please contact Simone Staiger Project scope and aim The initiative works through five separate but inter-related work packages: Transdisciplinary co-creation of innovations in…