Finding a way to transform the food production system is one of the main challenges that needs an effort from the whole society. It requires system thinking to act on the different levels (scientific, economic, social, political) and to overcome the complexity of problems we are encountering, including the accelerating climate change. In order to ensure an overall sustainable (ecologically, economically and socially) agri-food system, innovation ecosystems based on organic and agroecology principals need to be initiated and empowered.
Miguel de Porras, director of FiBL Europe, presented the manifesto "A unifying framework for food systems transformation", initiated by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-FOOD), Agroecology Europe, FiBL and ACTalliance and supported by 800 signatories. The document is the outcome of three workshops organised in October 2020 in the frame of the UN Food System Summit. Approximately 30 participants attended each workshop, representing a diversity of professional backgrounds and geographical origins. The Manifesto was developed to give an impulse for cooperation, drawing the attention of stakeholders to focus on commonalities instead of differences, as well as to guide them along the food system transformation.
Paola Migliorini, assistant professor in agronomy and plant production systems at the University of Gastronomic Science in Italy and the president of Agroecology Europe, presented the Agroecology for Europe (AE4EU) project, which is one of the two projects funded under the same Horizon 2020 call, Strengthening the European agro-ecological research and innovation ecosystem. One of the main goals of the project is the mapping of agroecology, identifying standards and rules, without focusing on a strict definition. Furthermore, the consortium aims to develop
- a framework for agroecology in Europe and at an international level;
- a concept of Agroecology Living Labs (LLs) and Research Infrastructures (RIs);
- a funding scheme for LLs and RIs as well as
- a policy roadmap.
Stéphane Bellon, researcher at the Department of Sciences for Action, Transitions and Territories (ACT) at the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE), talked about the other H2020 project ALL-Ready. One major aim of ALL-Ready is to design and build the framework, in a highly participatory and inclusive way, for a Europe-wide network of knowledge-based and co-creative innovation environments, based on LLs and RIs, capable of supporting, accelerating and up-scaling the uptake of agroecological farming systems in Europe. For this, a small-scale pilot network will be launched to test the different assumptions in real-life situations. This will be supported by a capacity building program for the network to enhance its further development and the exchange between existing and new LLs and RIs in the area of agroecology across Europe.
Mr Bellon also explained that organic agriculture and agroecology have different roots and only very little connection developed between them over time. Interestingly, connections appeared in the 1980s during the 6th International Scientific IFOAM Conference "Global Perspectives on Agroecology and Sustainable Agricultural Systems"(Santa Cruz). To get a deeper insight on the different attributes of organic and agroecology, see the referenced proceedings in the link below.
The last speaker of the workshop was Adrian Müller, researcher at the Department of Socioeconomic Sciences of FiBL Switzerland. In his presentation "Organics and Agroecology synergies and boundaries from scientific evidence", he highlighted how agroecology could inspire organic agriculture to overcome some of its main challenges, like yield stability, crop rotation, heterogeneity, locally adapted products, social aspects, etc. Organic agriculture has the strengths of being a certified, labelled, transparent, well-defined and regulated system, which in some cases might turn out to hinder a quicker adaptation to the fast-changing circumstances and upcoming challenges. Agroecology, being more wide-spread among small-scale farmers, based on participatory guarantee systems, is less framed and standardised, which might pay off in terms of innovation. Additionally, agroecology could inspire organic to not rely entirely on the performance indicators of industrialised agriculture, because when focusing on efficiency measures, sufficiency and consistency levels are neglected and sustainability goals cannot be achieved.
During the debate, it was pointed out that an integrated, interdisciplinary, co-creation approach is necessary, with the involvement of all actors, to change the way our production systems are evaluated in order to establish sustainable agri-food systems. With their activities, the projects AE4EU and ALL-Ready also support the development of the future European R&I partnership in order to accelerate the transition towards sustainable, climate and ecosystem-friendly farming practices.
Further information
Contact
- Judith Féher
- Miguel Angel de Porras Acuña
References
Bellon et al., (2011) "The relationships between organic farming and agroecology" In: Organic is life. Knowledge for tomorrow. Proceedings (p. 235-238).
Links
- owcevent.com: Link to the workshop recording
- ipes-food.org: Text of the manifesto
- google.com: The signatories
- ae4eu.eu: Agroecology for Europe project
- all-ready-project.eu: ALL-Ready
- europa.eu: European R&I partnership on agroecology living labs and research infrastructures
Upcoming events
- ethz.ch: Online lectures "Agroecology and the Transition to Sustainable Food Systems"
- agroecology-europe.org: Month of Agroecology (October 2021)
- agroecology-europe.org: Agroecology Europe Forum 2021, 17-19 November, Barcelona