Achieving agroecological food system transformation

By Lisa Elena Fuchs, Alex Awiti, Sylvia Nyawira, Christine G. Kiria Chege and Nadia Guettou-Djurfeldt

A redesign of food systems is urgently needed to achieve ecological, economic and social sustainability. Agroecology offers a transformative pathway that integrates sustainable and resilient agricultural practices with increased agency for smallholder farmers and other food system actors, and pays special attention to women, youth and other marginalised groups. Agroecological solutions are well documented at farm level, but applying them to broader food, land and water systems remains a challenge given insufficient evidence, misaligned policies, inadequate capacity, insufficient attention to intersecting inequalities and limited financing mechanisms.

The CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology (see Box) has been aiming to address these barriers by promoting the application of contextually appropriate agroecological principles by food system actors such as farmers, businesses, government entities and policy-makers in so-called agroecological living landscapes (ALLs). The latter are geographically bounded landscapes in which farmers, agroecology practitioners, researchers and other development actors identify, test and promote agroecological innovations across sectors and scales, thus generating evidence on the transformative potential of agroecology and identifying institutional innovations.

The Agroecology Initiative was implemented in eight countries between 2022 and 2024 through a collaborative partnership of eight CGIAR Centers (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, International Water Management Institute [IMWI], International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center [CIMMYT], International Potato Center [CIP], International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas [ICARDA], International Food Policy Research Institute [IFPRI], International Institute of Tropical Agriculture [IITA], and WorldFish), as well as Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), and the French agricultural research and cooperation organisation (CIRAD) as well as the Agroecology Transformative Partnership Platform (TPP). The Initiative worked with 70 partner organisations, interacted with 200 private companies and engaged over 11,000 people, including over 8,000 farmers, about 600 researchers and 100 policy-makers.

In Kenya, the Agroecology Initiative has fostered the emergence of two ALLs. The interaction and engagement with the ALLs has been organised through focal points referred to as “ALLs host centres”: the Community Sustainable Agriculture and Healthy Environmental Program (CSHEP) in Ndeiya, Kiambu County, and the Drylands Natural Resources Centre (DNRC) in Mbumbuni, Makueni County. The ALLs host centres represent and provide a physical space where food system actors can meet, interact and co-create knowledge – and co-design an entry point for the Agroecology Initiative’s transdisciplinary research and co-creation activities. To support cross-scalar integration and scaling, the Initiative also partnered with the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management Association Kenya (PELUM-Kenya) and the Intersectoral Forum on Agrobiodiversity and Agroecology (ISFAA).

Key messages

As we come to the end of a three-year cycle of collaborative implementation and transition to a new CGIAR Science Program on Multifunctional Landscapes, the Agroecology Initiative Kenya research team leads share the following nine key messages:  

1. Focus on the whole food system
Agroecology is a comprehensive approach to food system transformation which combines science, practice and a social movement. It is defined by principles rather than prescriptive practices and emphasises long-term sustainability through an integrated focus on resource efficiency, resilience and social equity. An agroecology that values equitable contributions of diverse stakeholders fosters a more innovative, effective and flexible agroecological transition and transformation. Although agroecology often begins with farming and farmers, and shares similarities with other concepts like organic, regenerative and nature-based solutions, it is both broader – extending beyond farming and including diverse food system actors – and more flexible, emphasising transitions rather than fixed end states, while encompassing various scales and domains.

2. Co-creation and contextualised solutions
Agroecological solutions need to be co-designed with local actors to ensure relevance, ownership and sustainability. Transdisciplinary co-design strives for problem-focused, solution-oriented, reflexive and inclusive research and action that take into consideration the needs and priorities of diverse actors. Structured Vision-to-Action (V2A) processes facilitate the emergence of multi-actor pathways that align external support with local needs, interests and preferences, and foster systemic transitions driven by the assets and interests of diverse stakeholders.

3. Farmer-centred extension and co-learning
Extension and technical training must prioritise farmers' interests through participatory research, knowledge exchange and learning. Demonstration, ideally in existing and accessible farmer training centres, is key to changing attitudes and behaviours. Peer-to-peer learning with diverse role models, including women leaders and youth leaders, analogue and digital farmer-/user-centred tools, and (linguistically, conceptually and practically) accessible training materials can enhance the increase of agroecological practices while empowering producer groups and collectives to lead transformative action.

4. Partnerships and capacity sharing
Collaboration across sectors and levels is essential for scaling agroecology. Partnerships should prioritise inclusive and reflexive practice and principles that focus on equity, respect for unique actor roles, and embed capacity building at all levels – from local organisations to policy-makers. Where possible, partnerships should be formalised in line with equitable partnership and engagement principles. Sustainable models for adoption and scaling need to be rooted in and work with existing actors and structures. Capacity building, sharing and development are a fundamental part of developing fair partnerships across all categories of actors.

A trial participant monitoring the growth of her intercropped beans under farmyard manure
treatment, Makueni ALL. Photo: Hezekiah Korir, IITA.

5. Fair value chains for nutritious food and healthy diets
By embracing resource circularity and solidarity, agroecology promotes local economies, value addition and conservation of ecosystem services. Building equitable agroecological markets requires clear guidelines and standards to support producer and consumer awareness. These standards need to be based on the universally agreed upon agroecological principles and related metrics, and embrace their emphasis on multi-dimensional, context-specific and sometimes gradual transitions. Efforts should focus on enabling access to agroecological inputs and promoting short value chains that improve the food environment with increased availability, accessibility, affordability and consumption of nutritious food. Participatory certification approaches, such as Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS), can build trust and commitment while promoting territorial markets and improving access to affordable healthy food.

6. Incentives for agroecological transitions
Incentives, including public and private, market-based and non-market-based, are critical to driving change. These can include subsidies and technical support, alongside regulatory or cross-compliance incentives, tailored to different actors and their respective contexts, especially marginalised groups such as women and youth. Policies need to be reoriented to align subsidies with agroecological outcomes and encourage private-sector investment.

7. Enabling governance, policies and institutions
Strong governance frameworks that strengthen intersectoral and intergovernmental coordination are essential for holistic and effective agroecological transformation. Multi-stakeholder platforms, including ALLs, and harmonised policies at national and county levels are essential for coordinated action. High-level buy-in, coupled with local adaptability, can support harmonisation and implementation across scales in line with broader policy strategies, such as Kenya’s National Agroecology Strategy.

8. Inclusion and equity
Agroecology emphasises social differentiation, recognising different identities, interests, preferences, agency and needs between and within stakeholder groups. Tailored programmes and incentives must be co-designed through deliberately designed processes that address and aim to eliminate systemic inequality, ensuring that every stakeholder, especially women and underrepresented groups, benefit from them. This will allow for the emergence of different types of knowledge and ways of knowing to address these differences and ensure the inclusion of marginalised individuals and groups in decision-making and benefits associated with agroecology. While change typically produces winners and losers, agroecological solutions should minimise trade-offs, promote win-win solutions and have a specific focus on equity through, for example, gender transformative approaches.

Demonstrating filtering of the plant-based biopesticide before spraying during
practical training held at DNRC, Makueni ALL host centre.
Photo: Beatrice Adoyo, CIFOR-ICRAF

9. Science-based, holistic evidence
Despite growing interest, knowledge gaps remain in the characterisation and performance of agroecology. In addition, much agroecology research still focuses at plot/farm level, and many relevant issues remain under-researched. Agroecology calls for transdisciplinary research – or “doing research differently”: inclusive, reflexive, (real world) problem-focused, and solution-oriented. It prioritises participatory action research and is explicit about creating an interaction between different types of knowledge and ways of knowing how to co-create and co-design solutions. It also calls for holistic assessments that address all aspects of the food system, assess performance and evaluate impacts across multiple dimensions, and recognise multiple functions and benefits.

Dispelling misconceptions

Evidence-based counter-narratives and related targeted communication strategies can address misconceptions about the viability and scalability of agroecology. Based on the work of Agroecology Initiative in Kenya, we propose five such short narratives:

• Adherence to agroecological principles has significant potential to improve smallholder farmers’ performance on key agricultural, environmental, economic, policy and social indicators.
• Agroecological practices ensure stable agricultural production and yields when the practices are suitable for the context and well managed.
• While labour costs are higher for some agroecological on-farm practices, the latter are cost-effective and profitable when the true costs of production are considered holistically.
• Transitioning to agroecological business models requires investment and incentives, but the return on investment is high if business model development is embedded in broader value chain and market development.
• Agroecology highlights the importance of identifying and addressing the root causes of inequalities stemming from discrimination based on gender and other intersecting identities to achieve sustainable and just food systems.
• Agroecology can feed the world, if conventional agricultural subsidies are repurposed, investments for agroecology scaled up, and trade-related barriers addressed.
   

Launch of the Kenyan National Agroecology Strategy for Food System Transformation 2024-2033.
Photo: Lisa Fuchs, Alliance Bioversity-CIAT.

Summing up …

Our work in Kenya shows that advancing agroecological transitions requires a multi-pronged approach rooted in collaboration, evidence and systemic transformation. Fundamentally, agroecology calls for transformations that are multi-actor (e.g. producers, traders, enterprises, consumers, policy-makers), multi-dimensional (e.g. agricultural, environmental, economic, social), and multi-scalar (e.g. farm, landscape, system) to realise sustainable food system transformation.

We call on all stakeholders to collaborate with the CGIAR Science Program on Multifunctional Landscape to build on the initial success of the CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology in the ALLs and scale out related approaches and lessons to other landscapes.

Lisa Elena Fuchs is a Social and Agroecological Systems Scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT in Nairobi, Kenya. Lisa led AE-I work package 1 on multi-stakeholder collaborations and on-farm innovations, and was part of the global WP1 leadership team.

Alex Awiti is a trans-disciplinary scholar and Principal Scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) in Nairobi, Kenya. Alex leads the Agroecology Theme at CIFOR-ICRAF, and led the implementation of the AE-I in Kenya, as well as work package 4 on policy and institutional arrangements.

Sylvia Nyawira is a Scientist specialising in Crop and Soil Modelling at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT in Nairobi, Kenya. Sylvia led work package 2 on holistic assessments.

Christine Chege is an Agri-Nutrition and Food System Scientist working at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT in Nairobi, Kenya. Christine led work package 3 on inclusive business models and financing strategies.

Nadia Guettou-Djurfeldt is a Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT in Nairobi, Kenya. Nadia led work package 5 on agency and behaviour change.

Contact: L.Fuchs@cgiar.org

Further reading:

Kenya specific

• Awiti, A.; Fuchs, L.E.; Nyawira, S.; Chege, C.G.K.; Guettou Djurfeldt, N.; Kuria, A. (2024) CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology, Kenya, 2022-2024. End of initiative key messages. 8 p. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169315
• Also have a look at the full overview of outputs from the AE-I in Kenya

General references

• CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology. (2023) The Agroecology Transition: Different pathways to a single destination – Eight country experiences. 32 p. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138124
• HLPE. (2019) Agroecological and other innovative approaches for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition, A Report by the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security, Rome. https://www.fao.org/3/ca5602en/ca5602en.pdf
• Triomphe, B., Bergamini, N. and Fuchs, L.E. (2022) Engaging with stakeholders for initiating agroecological transition in Living Landscapes: Six guiding principles, 30 pp. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/127414 
• Voss, R.C.; Freed, S.; Fuchs, L.E.; Triomphe, B.; Bergamini, N.; Dickens, C.; Quintero, M. (2024) Agroecological living landscapes toolkit. 29 p. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169255