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6. Developing a research agenda
for agroecology transitions
Agroecology integrates modern science with traditional knowledge. Research plays a vital role in strengthening the credibility of practices developed by local communities and Indigenous Peoples. Research also helps actors develop a systemic and forward-looking vision at farm, landscape, and food system levels, and builds innovative pathways for transitions.
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In turn, to transform research findings into widespread innovations and changes, renewed collaboration models between research systems and stakeholders – especially farmers and extension services – are essential. The private sector also plays a key, and often overlooked, role in research.
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​Five guidelines are outlined to support the development of a research agenda for agroecology transitions:
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Guideline 6.1
Reshape research orientations to support agroecology transitions
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Strengthen public research systems at farm, landscape and food system levels.
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Prioritize research programmes that allow to assess and compare the economic performance of different farming and food systems and evaluate their broader environmental and social effects (including trade-offs). This entails better integrating systems research and sustainability sciences.
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Foster research on marginal lands and other agricultural systems identified as a priority for agroecology transitions.
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Support research programmes on innovation design and processes of adoption and scaling.
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Encourage research that recognizes and learns from farmers’ and Indigenous knowledge systems and explores their hybridization with science-based approaches.
To achieve this, AMS may consider:
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Prioritizing research programmes on farm, livelihoods and land use diversification to foster economic, social and ecological resilience and long-term productivity at the landscape level.
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Supporting trajectories to maintain and enhance the integrity of agroecosystems, including the move from annual to perennial crops in areas with steep slopes, crop livestock integration, reduction in the use of and dependence on external inputs (see guideline 6.3).
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Investing in multidisciplinary research teams, building as needed on local and international experiences, to provide comprehensive assessment frameworks of farming and food systems (i.e. against yields, income generation, livelihoods betterment, food security, including nutrition and health dietary improvements, resource use efficiency and ecological soundness, equity, women empowerment, cultural appropriateness and resilience).
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Learning and adapting methodologies and tools to analyse agroecology performance.
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Support, and better integrate in policy planning, research programmes that actually assess the performances and impacts of varied farming systems, land use/ landscape systems, and rural/ urban food systems against comprehensive assessment frameworks.
Case studies:
To go further:
Guideline 6.2
Foster innovative approaches of doing research and co-producing knowledge with a variety of actors
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Strengthen the continuum between research, knowledge sharing and capacity building (see also guideline 4).
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Coordinate efforts at national and ASEAN levels to identify and invest in Centers of excellence combining long-term experimental and practical training facilities and services.
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Prioritize participatory action research approaches and tools in national agricultural research systems to: 1) ensure farmers’ and other stakeholders’ participation in research design and implementation, and hence, enhance the capacity to develop locally relevant paths and solutions at farm, community, and food system levels; and 2) support and integrate knowledge production from farmer organizations, NGOs, and others.
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Strengthen science policy partnerships on agroecology and sustainable food systems at the local, national and ASEAN levels, in line with the food system transformations agenda.
To achieve this, AMS may consider:
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Fostering collaboration between national agricultural research systems and global and regional research-based partnerships and networks focused on agroecology and sustainable food systems.
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Investing in developing research capacity that combines technical expertise and scientific evidence with facilitation tools and brokering skills (including Futures studies and participatory Theory of Change). This will strengthen inclusive policy planning and monitoring through multistakeholder processes at national and landscape levels (linking with guideline 1, guideline 5).
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Supporting and better integrating research programmes into policy planning that assess the performance and impact of diverse farming systems, land use/ landscape systems, and rural/ urban food systems using comprehensive assessment frameworks.
Case studies:
Guideline 6.3
Address farm scale agroecology research agenda
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Prioritize participatory action research with family farmers, rural communities, Indigenous Peoples, farmers’ organizations, women’s groups, youth or students, and local authorities and services.
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Co-design sociotechnical solutions at farm level with local stakeholders, building on agroecological principles.
To achieve this, AMS may consider:
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Co-designing long term on-farm trials with farmers in varied contexts, notably including diversification paths to provide grounded evidence on the relative technical and socioeconomic merits of different agroecological systems and practices, and helping co-design diversified cropping and livestock systems.
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Developing breeding programmes by scientists and variety selection programmes with farmers looking for crop characteristics (e.g. deep root systems, drought tolerance) that ensure their performances (yield, quality, resilience to climate) under specific growing conditions and agroecological practices (e.g. farm diversification, reduced chemical inputs).
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Supporting participatory action research on crop livestock integration, combining animal and crop science and building on re-use and circular economy principles.
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Pursuing participatory and systemic research on agroecological crop protection, targeting beneficial organisms to control pests, thereby prioritizing preventative measures instead of curative approaches.
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Supporting research on multi-functional service crops capable of regenerating degraded agroecosystems, reducing external inputs and contributing to productivity.
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Supporting research on low cost and low-tech mechanization to decrease drudgery (see also guideline 3).
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Co-designing, with farmer communities, agricultural machines, equipment, spatial tools and digital technologies (robotics, automatic sensors, farm Apps) for monitoring and adapting agroecological systems at farm and landscape levels (see also guideline 2.4).
Case studies:
Guideline 6.4
Address landscape-scale agroecology research agenda
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Prioritize research that addresses spatial and temporal dimensions at the landscape level: 1) to comprehend the relationships and implications of diversification patterns and crop and livestock management practices; and 2) to characterize ecosystem functioning and services and rural and urban livelihoods and communities’ organizations.
To achieve this, AMS may consider:
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Prioritizing participatory action research in support of landscape approaches such as inclusive participatory land-use planning (see guideline 1.3) through:
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Spatial tools such as medias to inform multistakeholder governance of landscape management (zoning) and integrate different perspectives, including landscape agroecology.
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Participatory planning and monitoring tools to foster inclusiveness and local ownership, and integrate social and political perspectives.
Guideline 6.5
Address food system-scale agroecology research agenda at various levels
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Foster cross-sectoral food systems research in national research systems,
including agricultural, health, environmental and social sciences, to fuel the science policy interface on food system transformations. -
Support collaborative research programmes that integrate agroecology into food system approaches to support food system policy planning and innovations design.
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Foster partnerships with research agencies and networks to support effective design and implementation of national action plans on food system transformations at national and subnational levels, and strengthen their coherence with the global agenda at ASEAN.
To achieve this, AMS may consider:
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Prioritizing collaborative programmes on adapting food system assessment methods to national and subnational policy needs (see guideline 1, guideline 5).
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Fostering research collaborations and local capacity development on data management systems and tools. This entails ensuring the collection, interoperability and use of coherent sets of data that enable comprehensive food system level assessment of the transitions.
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Supporting research that can accompany innovative local sustainable food system developments and strengthened short food value chains, such as territorial branding (through which local regions with specific resources and practices brand a set of products and services - including tourism activities - building on and sustaining a reputed place-name) and tailored quality standards and certification.
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Fostering research-based platforms on agroecology and food systems, and supporting the engagement of national research agencies in broader multistakeholder agroecology- and food systems-related networks.