Agroecology

Publications: A selection of publications from the CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology

Cross-country progress reports on Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALLs)

During 2023, ALLs were consolidated through a vision-to-action process (V2A) and the co-design and testing of innovations. The V2A process, which differed for each country, guided the participatory design of the agroecological transition for each ALL. Stakeholders formulated a vision of how they want to shift their current situation to a desirable future and what behavior changes are required to achieve this.

Production innovations were co-designed through an interactive, iterative, and context-specific process. Participants tested, assessed, or demonstrated options on-farm, using protocols that ranged from side-by-side comparisons to more complex experimental set-ups. The co-design process will conclude in 2024 with a collective assessment of results and lessons learned. Farmers will decide which innovations they want to adapt, adopt, or scale.

• Udo Rudiger. (23/5/2024). Report on Farmer-to-Farmer exchange visit in the Agroecological Living Landscape (ALL).
• Voss, R.C.; Freed, S.; Rietveld, A.; Falk, T.; Triomphe, B.; Bergamini, N.; Fuchs, L.E.; Baudron, F.; Dickens, C.; Quintero, M. (2024) Supporting locally driven agroecological transformation through Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALLs): A Practical toolkit for implementation. 1 p. Poster
• Protocols for innovative agroecological soil, water and integrated pest management practices: Management techniques, trials establishment and monitoring
• Reading note 2: Internal governance of living landscapes.
• Outcome case: Fuchs, L.E.; Bolo, P.; Staiger Rivas, S.; Korir, H.; Adoyo, B.; Kuria, A.; Orero, L.; Gumo, P.; Mbelwa, M.; Sakha, M. (2024) Agroecological transformation in Kenya: partner organizations lead change. Rome (Italy): Bioversity International; Cali (Colombia): CIAT 4 p.
• Vision to Action for agroecological transitions in ALLs
• Co-designing technical innovations in ALLs

Context assessments for agroecological transitions in diverse food systems

For each agroecological living landscape (ALL) the reports aim at: (a) determining the environmental, economic, and social context of the agricultural and food systems, (b) compiling data and information available as evidence of the context, and (c) determining to which extent the 13 agroecological principles are currently applied. The information compiled serves as a baseline for the Initiative and informs the development of targeted interventions. Click on each country to download the reports.

• Burkina Faso
• India
• Kenya
• Lao PDR
• Peru
• Senegal
• Tunisia
• Zimbabwe Mbire, Murewa

Developing agroecological business models by linking food system actors along the value chain

The initiative country teams started analyzing value chains to identify system’s level binding constraints and leverage points for the adoption of agroecological innovations by businesses in each agri-food sector of the agroecological living landscapes (ALL).

• Global
  – Agroecological transitions in value chains: Main findings, challenges, and opportunities for the agroecological transition of the value chains in the Agroecological Living Landscapes
  – Charry, A.; Vargas, A.; Narjes, M.; Gonzalez, C. (2024) Agroecological transitions in value chains – A multiple case analysis. 1 p. Poster

• Burkina Faso – Dairy value chain in Bobo-Dioulasso
• India – Ground nut in Andhra Pradesh
• Kenya – Green leafy vegetables in Kiambu, Mango in Makueni  – Ndiwa, A.M.; Onyango, K..; Bolo, P.; Wanyama, R.; Chege, C.G.K. (2024) Cost benefit analysis of agroecological transition: A case of mango value chain in Kenya. 1 p.
• Tunisia
  – Olive oil, sheep meat and honey in Siliana and Kef
  – A rapid value chain analysis including agroecological assessment: Olive Oil Value Chain Analysis in El Kef Governorate, North-West Tunisia
• Zimbabwe – Crop and livestock in Mbire and Murewa

Supporting policy and institutional decision-making towards agroecological transformations

Several reports document the policy and institutional context in agroecological living landscapes (ALL) and map local and national stakeholders according to how they are currently involved in policy and institutional decisions, including their interest and influence in relation to agroecology.

• Global
  – Jones, S.; Declerck, F.; Elias, M.; Estrada Carmona, N.; Geck, M.; Kettle, C.; Masso, C. (2024) Accelerating progress towards biodiversity targets through agroecology. 16 p.
  – Inphonephong, Souphalack; Mam, K.; Phounvisouk, L.; Dubois, Mark. 2024.
  Introducing integrated rice-fish farming in Lao PDR: policy engagements. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies. 21p.
  – Policy framework and tracking tool
• Burkina Faso
  – Mapping of stakeholders involved in agroecology 
  – Inventory of institutional initiatives promoting agroecological transition in Bobo‐Dioulasso’s dairy value chain

• India: Baseline review of policies in India: Understanding the policy context for facilitating agroecological transition
• Peru – Synthesis of policies and institutions toward an agroecological transition 
• Tunisia – Mapping Policy Actors for Enhanced Engagement Towards Agroecology Transition
• Zimbabwe – Review Current Policies

Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change in agroecological transformation processes

The initiative works to better understand who would need to do what differently to support an agroecological transition, what drives actors’ current behavior, and what can trigger desirable behavioral change. This understanding could help to develop more powerful theories of change of initiatives intending to support agroecological transformation.

• Global:
  – Voss, R.C.; Freed, S.; Rietveld, A.; Falk, T. (2024) A conceptual framework for agency and behavior change in agri-food systems transformation. 1 p. Poster
  – Agency and behavior change in agri-food systems transformation: Lessons from the CGIAR Agroecology Initiative
  – Integrating gender and social inclusion into behavior change frameworks in agri-food systems: The case of agroecological transformation 

• Kenya brief
• Peru brief
• Tunisia brief
• Zimbabwe brief

Journal articles

• Kilwinger, F.B.M.; Caron, C.M.; Rietveld, A.M.; van Dam, Y.K. (2024) Not just a simple survey: A case study of pitfalls in interdisciplinary, multiorganizational, multinational research for development. NJAS Impact in Agricultural and Life Sciences 96(1): ISSN: 2768-5241
• Kuria, A.W.; Bolo, P.; Adoyo, B.; Korir, H.; Sakha, M.; Gumo, P.; Mbelwa, M.; Orero, L.; Ntinyari, W.; Syano, N.; Kagai, E.; Fuchs, L.E. (2024) Understanding farmer options, context and preferences leads to the co-design of locally relevant agroecological practices for soil, water and integrated pest management: A case from Kiambu and Makueni agroecology living landscapes, Kenya. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 8: 1456620. ISSN: 2571-581X
• Jones, Sarah K. and Sánchez Bogado, Andrea Cecilia and Lamanna, Christine and Dickens, Chris and Geck, Matthias S. and Wickramaratne, Chaturangi and Alary, Veronique and Bolo, Peter and Choruma, Dennis Junior and Douangsavanh, Somphasith and Fall, Modou Gueye and Falconnier, Gatien and Gupta, Shweta and Kettle, Chris and Krishnan, Smitha and Nyawira, Sylvia Sarah and Orjuela-Ramirez, Guillermo and Orounladji, Boko Michel and Pareja, Piedad and Sibanda, Telma and Administrator, Sneak Peek, Holistic Localized Performance Assessment (HOLPA) Tool for Collecting Locally Relevant and Globally Comparable Evidence of Agroecology’s Effects on Nature and People.
• Jonathan Steinke, Yovita Ivanova, Sarah K. Jones, Thai Minh, Andrea Sánchez, José Sánchez-Choy, Jonathan Mockshell, Digital sustainability tracing in smallholder context: Ex-ante insights from the Peruvian cocoa supply chain, World Development Sustainability, Volume 5, 2024,100185, ISSN 2772-655X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wds.2024.100185.

• Aymen Frija, A system readiness approach to support the packaging and scaling of innovation bundles for farming systems transformation, Agricultural Systems,Volume 221, 2024, 104148, ISSN 0308-521X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104148.

• Souissi A, Dhehibi B, Oumer AM, Mejri R, Frija A, Zlaoui M and Dhraief MZ (2024) Linking farmers’ perceptions and management decision toward sustainable agroecological transition: evidence from rural Tunisia. Front. Nutr. 11:1389007. doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1389007 

• Jennifer Blesh, Zia Mehrabi, Hannah Wittman, Rachel Bezner Kerr, Dana James, Sidney Madsen, Olivia M. Smith, Sieglinde Snapp, Anne Elise Stratton, Mohamed Bakarr, Abram J. Bicksler, Ryan Galt, Lucas A. Garibaldi, Barbara Gemmill-Herren, Ingo Grass, Marney E. Isaac, Innocensia John, Sarah K. Jones, Christina M. Kennedy, Susanna Klassen, Christian Levers, Laura Vang Rasmussen, Claire Kremen. Against the odds: Network and institutional pathways enabling agricultural diversification, One Earth, Volume 6, Issue 5, 2023, Pages 479-491, ISSN 2590-3322. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259033222300101X)

• Janssen, Marco A.; Falk, Thomas; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela; and Vollan, Björn. 2023. Using games for social learning to promote self-governance. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 62(June 2023): 101289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101289
• Dhehibi B, Fouzai A, Frija A, Adhim MA, M’hamed HC, Ouerghemmi H and Rekik M (2023) Assessing complementary synergies for integrated crop–livestock systems under conservation agriculture in Tunisian dryland farming systems. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 6: 1022213. doi: 10. 3389/fsufs. 2022. 1022213.
• Crop‑livestock synergies and by‑products recycling: Major factors for agroecology in West African agro‑sylvo‑pastoral systems. Vall Eric, Orounladji Boko Michel, Berre David, Assouma Mohamed Habibou, Dabire Der, Sanogo Souleymane, Sib Ollo. 2023. Crop‑livestock synergies and by‑products recycling: Major factors for agroecology in West African agro‑sylvo‑pastoral systems. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 4:70, 16 p.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-023-00908-6

Institutional publications

• CGIAR Research Initiative on Agroecology: Annual Technical Report 2023
• CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology. (2023) The Agroecology Transition: Different pathways to a single destination – Eight country experiences. 32 p.
• CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology. 2023. CGIAR Initiative on Transformational Agroecology across Food, Land, and Water Systems: 2022 Technical Report. Montpellier, France: CGIAR System Organization
• CGIAR System Organization. 2022. CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology: Inception Brief. Montpellier, France: CGIAR System Organization.

Others

• Zaremba, H.; Elias, M.; Rietveld, A.; Bergamini, N. (2022) Toward a feminist agroecology: achieving a socially just and sustainable food systems transformation. Rome (Italy): Bioversity International. 6 p.
• Mukherji, A., Arndt, C., Arango, J., Flintan, F., Derera, J., Francesconi, W., Jones, S, Loboguerrero, A.M., Merrey, D., Mockshell, J., Quintero, M., Mulat, D.G., Ringler, C., Ronchi, L., Sanchez, M, Sapkota, T. and Thilsted, S. 2023. Achieving agricultural breakthrough: A deep dive into seven technological areas. Montpelier, France: CGIAR System Organization
• Mockshell, Jonathan, Quintero, Marcela, Narjes, Sanchez, Manuel Ernesto, Jones, Sarah and Francesconi, Wendy. 2023. Agricultural Breakthrough Technology 6: Agroecological Approaches.Montpellier: CGIAR System Organizatio