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We evaluate botanical insecticides as a technological device for synthetic input substitution in peri-urban horticultural system transitions. For that purpose, a Participatory Action Research (PAR) framework was proposed, and garlic extracts (GE) performance was evaluated for pest and natural enemy regulation in lettuce crops in conventional and agroecological contexts. Through three PAR cycles under actual production conditions, we observed GE effectiveness on aphids, thrips, and natural enemies. Additionally, context-specific adaptations were noticed: for conventional systems; the extract is useful near harvest and serves as a trust-building tool while reducing synthetic insecticide dependence. Instead, for agroecological systems, garlic extract highlighted biodiversity's relevance for system redesign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is great diversity in the methods, terms, and empirical focuses employed by social and natural scientists working on agroecological transitions. The upshot is that whilst various researchers may nominally be putting their shoulder to the same agroecological wheel, the impact of their combined efforts is not what it might be. The aim of this article is to assist in the co-ordination and collaboration of disparate research activities and actors. It does so by offering the readers of this journal a user-friendly guide to someof the terms being used by social scientists (particularly human geographers and anthropologists) in their work on pests, diseases, crop protections and agroecological transitions. Such a document is of particular use as the terms and concepts employed by social scientists are equipped to generate analysis with explicit political insight in a way that those used by natural scientists may not be. The concepts and theories of social scientists foreground the commonalities that cut across case studies which might otherwise seem separated by a reservoir of context specificity. Tooled with these terms of analysis, the promise of agroecology rightly becomes something with far reaching political and justice consequences. These terms are presented across five areas: the ontological, the epistemological, the methodological, the historical, and the aesthetic. Given the range of social, ecological, cultural, and economic barriers involved in effecting an agroecological transition, it is vital that different researchers are conversant in each other's language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroecology is a term that has an epistemic or emancipatory power, insofar as it is capable of creating new knowledge and alternative views to the vision imposed by the capital of the world and nature. The four experiences that will be analyzed in this article, are located in some way in what is called the agroecological transition processes. Although, in principle, this term is strongly associated with the development of agricultural practices and focuses on productive, ecological and technological elements that may be useful to advance in the agroecological transition processes, it is necessary to expand the dimensions to other levels related to the daily life of the actors who carry out these practices. Precisely the present work seeks to contribute elements to understand the forms that agroecological transitions can assume, based on four ongoing experiences that are located in the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. As a final contribution, the main dimensions that are transversal to them and are of great importance for accompanying transition processes and the subsequent design of social, economic, ecological and/or technical alternatives are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitions to sustainable consumption and production patterns now appear as a widely acknowledged necessity for contemporary food systems. Sustainable transition processes raise major issues of social justice as they often exclude some actors and social groups, as the literature on alternative food networks has amply shown. Based on three case studies anchored in different national contexts (France, Brazil and Belgium), which all emerged at the interface of civil society and public policy, the aim of this article is to show how their promoters try to tackle together sustainable transitions, food justice and food democracy, and thus make food system transitions not only sustainable but also socially just. They adopt on the one hand, an analytical stance on transitions to more sustainable food practices, on inequalities of access and on participation, and on the other hand, an experimental stance leading them to put to test specific mechanisms to support these transitions, to alleviate food injustice and to favour participation and thus also food democracy. We show that it is by combining these analytical and experimental stances that these social experiments succeed to different degrees in articulating sustainable transitions, food justice and food democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroecology is a sustainable farming method that has the potential to revolutionize the global agricultural sector by promoting cleaner and more environmentally friendly practices. However, the question of how to effectively transition to a sustainable agroecology system remains a topic of debate, particularly in developing economies. In many developing countries, subsistence farming plays a crucial role in supporting the livelihoods of countless households. Therefore, it is essential to explore the connection between food self-provisioning and the shift towards agroecology. Using primary data from rural Nigeria and by applying an ordered logistic regression, the study demonstrates that when farmers are primarily dependent on their own produce for sustenance, there is a natural inclination towards methods ensuring long-term soil health and ecological balance. We observed that self-provisioning leads to a 10.9 % increase in agroecology transition, and this result was statistically significant (P-value 0.001). This paradigm not only promotes sustainable agricultural practices but also underscores a holistic approach where agriculture coexists harmoniously with nature. As the global challenges of climate change and increasing food demand loom large, understanding and supporting these farmer-driven solutions become paramount. The results beckon policymakers and stakeholders to frame strategies grounded in farmers' intrinsic motivations, ensuring a sustainable agricultural future that is ecologically viable, culturally resonant, and economically beneficial.

There is great diversity in the methods, terms, and empirical focuses employed by social and natural scientists working on agroecological transitions. The upshot is that whilst various researchers may nominally be putting their shoulder to the same agroecological wheel, the impact of their combined efforts is not what it might be. The aim of this article is to assist in the co-ordination and collaboration of disparate research activities and actors. It does so by offering the readers of this journal a user-friendly guide to some of the terms being used by social scientists (particularly human geographers and anthropologists) in their work on pests, diseases, crop protections and agroecological transitions. Such a document is of particular use as the terms and concepts employed by social scientists are equipped to generate analysis with explicit political insight in a way that those used by natural scientists may not be. The concepts and theories of social scientists foreground the commonalities that cut across case studies which might otherwise seem separated by a reservoir of context specificity. Tooled with these terms of analysis, the promise of agroecology rightly becomes something with far reaching political and justice consequences. These terms are presented across five areas: the ontological, the epistemological, the methodological, the historical, and the aesthetic. Given the range of social, ecological, cultural, and economic barriers involved in effecting an agroecological transition, it is vital that different researchers are conversant in each other’s language.

In the Mekong Region, agroecological approaches provide a niche alternative to the dominant traditional or intensive farming systems. We conducted a synthesis of current evidence on agroecological interventions by means of a systematic literature review and mapping of case studies in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. The majority of the 271 identified cases focussed on practical and technical support. Interventions using holistic approaches, and such that focused on improving food systems through innovative territorial governance, value chain arrangements, and policy frameworks were scarce. Most cases targeted the agroecological optimization and the modernization of traditional farming systems. A mere 18 of our cases addressed gender in relation to agroecology. To scale agroecological transitions, sectoral barriers have to be overcome. There is an urgent need to put a pronounced focus on the diversification of ecosystem services in commercial agriculture and degraded areas and on women's contributions to sustainable farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the negative environmental, social and health impacts of the current food system have been acknowledged and evidenced for several decades, the recent and current transformations in food systems at diverse scales are not yet addressing the many inter-related stakes at play. Due to the much wider set of interactions in this consumptionproduction system, new conceptual tools are required for understanding and assessing sustainability transitions and what prevents them. The article will draw on the cases of France and the UK to examine these countries' national food systems' historical trajectories and suggest a periodization of these in order to reveal common characteristics and differences. This will show that despite common major trends and common transition or inertia mechanisms, pathways differ, especially from the 1990s, due to different configurations of power relationships between the state, economic actors and civil society in a context of an increasing competition between sustainability narratives that leads to an increasing fragmentation in food systems. It will lead us to join the recent progress in the sustainability transitions' community towards a shift in the analysis from a focus on niches' trajectories and effects to a deeper focus on power configurations and competing narratives, as well as to suggest a larger inclusion of socioecological and spatial dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is aimed at analyzing the potential that CAP 2014–2020-related instruments have on supporting agroecological transitions in Europe by focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of key instruments. Through a stepwise participatory research methodology, 105 key stakeholders (farmers, advisors, academics, environment experts, administration representatives, and professionals from food chains) in 15 countries in Europe were engaged in the discussion of the potential of current CAP instruments to solve the barriers that constrain agroecological farming systems in their particular regions. The results of this comparative study show which CAP instruments are valued with a high potential to support transitions to agroecology. The analysis of the stakeholders' perceptions contributes to an enhanced understanding of why CAP instruments have failed or succeeded to promote agroecological transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the novel character of disturbances caused by the pandemic in food systems, initial studies have been conducted to stress the reinforced urgent need for food systems' transformation toward sustainability. First assessments, conducted in the early months of the pandemic, found that local food actors responded to changing production and marketing conditions by implementing alternative practices under the umbrella of agroecology. However, given the unprecedented and dynamic character of the pandemic in regional situations, and related context-specific changes caused in food system actors' operations, case studies are needed to assess in more detail under which changing conditions food actors implemented alternative practices. Moreover, the maintenance of practices as conditions normalize, and food actors' transformative potential in relation to the principles of agroecology, need further assessment. In response to these emerging issues, we provide insights into our case study research conducted during 2021 in a local food system in Argentina. The aim of this research was to study how changing conditions triggered local food actors to (re-)frame their objectives and activities regarding marketing, and to assess the relevance of agroecological principles as a means of responding to changing conditions and to unfold longer-term transitions. We identified local producer shops (n = 5) and markets (n = 4) that were established or consolidated by self-organized producer groups (SOPGs) during the first months of the pandemic. Using semi-structured interviews with SOPG members (n = 12) and qualitative content analysis, we found that alternative practices were adopted in response to different changing conditions, and new needs and opportunities for producers and consumers brought about by the pandemic. Objectives pursued, and activities undertaken by the groups revealed reactive short-term mitigation strategies, and proactive longer-term transformative objectives. The relational analysis between practices and agroecological principles showed that the principles became important means of responding to changing conditions and to unfold longer-term transitions. The cases illustrate how local food actors operationalized agroecological principles, and in turn how principles can be used to investigate the nature and potentials of food actors' alternative practices, highlighting the relevance of agroecology to co-design sustainability transitions in local food systems and to mitigate possible future crisis.

Natural wine is made from grapes produced under organic or biodynamic management without using additives in the cellar. Natural wine represents a movement of winegrowers that see agriculture as an ethical act against wine industrialization and as a way to make food systems more sustainable. The movement has gained fast-growing global fame and connects rural producers with urban consumers. The recent French recognition of a natural wine certification has spurred discontent among other European countries and wine business associations. A debate about the policy implications of natural wine certification is necessary in order to shed light on the matter. This article calls for transparency in the labeling of wine ingredients, in line with recent consumer demands, which would make the creation of new certifications redundant.

Senegal is among the few African countries that counts with an important agroecological movement. This movement is strongly backed up by a network of transnational partnerships and has recently matured into an advocacy coalition that promotes an agroecological transition at national scale. In this article, we investigate the role of transnational links on the empowerment potential of agroecology. Combining the multi-level perspective of socio-technical transitions and Bourdieu's theory of practices, we conceptualize the agroecological network as a niche shaped by the circulation of different types of capital. Using social network analysis, we investigate the existing flows of resources and knowledge, as well as membership and advocacy links to critically address within-niche empowerment processes. We show that transnational ties play a key role in building the niche protective space, showing a financial dependency of the agroecological niche on NGOs and international cooperation programmes based in Europe and North America. This configuration tends to favor the empowerment of NGOs instead of farmer unions, which only play a peripheral role in the network. However, the multiple innovations focus of agroecology may open up prospects for more gradual but potentially radical change. Based on our findings, we suggest to include more explicitly core-periphery dynamics in transition studies involving North–South relations, including circulation of capital, ideas and norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a widely agreed necessity for agroecological transition, there are various substantial constraints that hinder the adoption of alternative, more sustainable, practices. We employ the niche management concept to examine the initial phases of transition in the local wine-growing niche in Israel, or specifically, the replacement of herbicides with the use of cover-crops combined with the practice of mowing of herbaceous growth using specialized trimming machines. Our goal is to uncover the triggers, drivers and agents of change in farming practices within the agroecological system in which it happened, despite entrenched, widely recognized risk perceptions among farmers. The problem-oriented research design revolved around a transdiciplinary team that included ecologists and social scientists. We identified three groups of frontrunners who initiated, developed and sustained the adoption of the more sustainable agricultural practices. The two-year study focused on interviewing vineyard farmers who were transitioning to cover crops, and this qualitative research was paralleled with continuous ecological monitoring. The farmers believed that the risks inherent in the new practice, if any, were preventable and manageable. The transdisciplinary research design, which integrated farmers into the social and ecological research process, further assisted in facilitating a transition by creating a forum for stimulating communication between diverse stakeholders during the transition, increasing trust between actors from the various sectors and identifying key issues of concern (e.g., risk and associated costs) to better align the motives of farmers, wine-makers, and ecologists. The research design may have also contributed to the adoption of a more holistic view of the agroecological system by various stakeholders and the belief that one cultivation method clearly benefits the system, particularly in the long-term. We therefore conclude with key-insights on the role of the research itself in agroecological transition processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wider and more profitable legume crop cultivation is an indispensable step for the agroecological transition of global agri-food systems but represents a challenge especially in Europe. Plant breeding is pivotal in this context. Research areas of key interest are represented by innovative phenotypic and genome-based selection procedures for crop yield, tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses enhanced by the changing climate, intercropping, and emerging crop quality traits. We see outmost priority in the exploration of genomic selection (GS) opportunities and limitations, to ease genetic gains and to limit the costs of multi-trait selection. Reducing the profitability gap of legumes relative to major cereals will not be possible in Europe without public funding devoted to crop improvement research, pre-breeding, and, in various circumstances, public breeding. While most of these activities may profit of significant public-private partnerships, all of them can provide substantial benefits to seed companies. A favorable institutional context may comprise some changes to variety registration tests and procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wider and more profitable legume crop cultivation is an indispensable step for the agroecological transition of global agri-food systems but represents a challenge especially in Europe. Plant breeding is pivotal in this context. Research areas of key interest are represented by innovative phenotypic and genome-based selection procedures for crop yield, tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses enhanced by the changing climate, intercropping, and emerging crop quality traits. We see outmost priority in the exploration of genomic selection (GS) opportunities and limitations, to ease genetic gains and to limit the costs of multi-trait selection. Reducing the profitability gap of legumes relative to major cereals will not be possible in Europe without public funding devoted to crop improvement research, pre-breeding, and, in various circumstances, public breeding. While most of these activities may profit of significant public-private partnerships, all of them can provide substantial benefits to seed companies. A favorable institutional context may comprise some changes to variety registration tests and procedures.

Agroecology is a sustainable farming method that has the potential to revolutionize the global agricultural sector by promoting cleaner and more environmentally friendly practices. However, the question of how to effectively transition to a sustainable agroecology system remains a topic of debate, particularly in developing economies. In many developing countries, subsistence farming plays a crucial role in supporting the livelihoods of countless households. Therefore, it is essential to explore the connection between food self-provisioning and the shift towards agroecology. Using primary data from rural Nigeria and by applying an ordered logistic regression, the study demonstrates that when farmers are primarily dependent on their own produce for sustenance, there is a natural inclination towards methods ensuring long-term soil health and ecological balance. We observed that self-provisioning leads to a 10.9 % increase in agroecology transition, and this result was statistically significant (P-value 0.001). This paradigm not only promotes sustainable agricultural practices but also underscores a holistic approach where agriculture coexists harmoniously with nature. As the global challenges of climate change and increasing food demand loom large, understanding and supporting these farmer-driven solutions become paramount. The results beckon policymakers and stakeholders to frame strategies grounded in farmers' intrinsic motivations, ensuring a sustainable agricultural future that is ecologically viable, culturally resonant, and economically beneficial., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests. Chukwuma Ume reports financial support was provided by Foundation fiat panis. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

The magnitude and urgency of the challenges facing agriculture and food systems demand profound modifications in different aspects of human activity to achieve real transformative change and sustainability. Recognizing that the inherent complexity of achieving sustainability is commonly seen as a deterrent to decision-making, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has approved the 10 Elements of Agroecology as an analytical framework to support the design of differentiated paths for agriculture and food systems transformation, hence facilitating improved decision-making by policymakers, practitioners and other stakeholders in differing contexts at a range of levels on a number of scales. Biodiversity, consumers, education and governance are identified as promising entry points to build a structured process using visual narratives that rely on the 10 Elements of Agroecology to graphically dissect prospective social-ecological transition trajectories. We illustrate such applications with examples from agroforestry worldwide, public food procurement in Brazil and the United States of America, and agroecology education vis-à-vis secure access to land in Senegal. Nexus approaches are used to highlight and examine salient interactions among different sectors and entry points, and to develop visual narratives describing plausible theories of transformative change towards sustainable agriculture and food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, urban contexts and urban-rural linkages have become central for scholars and activists engaged in agrarian questions, agroecological transitions and food system transformation. Grassroots experimentations in urban agroecology and farmers' engagement with urban policies have marked the rise of a new agenda aiming to bridge urban and agrarian movements. Departing from the work of Eric Holt-Gimenez and Annie Shattuck, this paper argues that the way urban-rural links have been conceptualized is occasionally progressive, and that an agroecology-informed food system transformation needs radical approaches. Acknowledging that processes of urbanization are dynamic, driven by specific lifestyles, consumption patterns, and value orientations – producing ongoing suburbanization, land enclosures, farmers displacement and food-knowledge loss – the paper argues that thinking transitions through new rural-urban links is unfit to tackle the evolving nature of these geographies, and reproduces the distinction between consumers and producers, living on either side of what Mindi Schneider and Philip McMichael have described as an epistemic and ecological rift. Building on insights from four case-studies across global north and south, the paper reframes agroecological transitions as a paradigmatic change in biopolitical spatial relations, economic values and planning agency – what we call an 'agroecological urbanism'. The paper articulates a transformation agenda addressing urban nutrients, peri-urban landuse, community food pedagogies and farmers' infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Analyses of agricultural transitions to sustainability face two key challenges: • 1. The challenge of identifying variations in farming systems and their interactions. • 2. The challenge of identifying competing visions of sustainability. • We combine three theoretical frameworks to tackle these challenges. • Coexistence between different farming models, including agroecology, is possible. The contribution of the multi-level perspective (MLP) to study transition dynamics is widely recognized. MLP involves examining interactions between three socio-technical levels: niche, regime and landscape. Empirical analysis of niche-regime interactions when applying this framework to agricultural transitions to sustainability remains challenging, however. The diversity of historical farming systems within a region can make niches and regimes highly heterogeneous. In addition, agricultural transitions to sustainability may be driven as much by technological changes as by institutional features, including normative rules and cultural cognitive rules that are less adequately addressed by MLP. To tackle these two challenges, we combined MLP with two additional frameworks to describe transition processes: the comparative agriculture framework, drawn from agro-economic, geographic and historical analyses of agricultural crises, and the justification of practices framework, drawn from pragmatic sociology. In this paper, we apply these three frameworks to the fresh vegetable production sector in Wallonia (Belgium) and discuss visions of transition through the lens of the agroecological paradigm. This leads us to predict a situation of coexistence between two socio-technical configurations of production: an old, organic and conventional configuration reoriented toward more commercial autonomy for the producers, and a new configuration oriented toward agroecology. The study contributes to a major debate discussing the extent to which the agroecological paradigm is being co-opted by the regime or remains faithful to its original principles and opens up perspectives for public policy development in the context of increasing governmental attention to the agroecological paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring Aboveground Net Primary Production (ANPP) is critical to assess not only the current ecosystem status but also its long-term dynamics. In rangelands, the seasonal dynamics of ANPP determines forage availability, stock density, and livestock productivity. To develop a hybrid model to be used as a prediction engine for ANPP in the native grasslands of Uruguay. The model combines a parametric component based on the seasonal dynamics of ANPP, and an artificial neural network (ANN) component used to model the remaining non-linearities, which are mainly related to precipitation and temperature variability. The output of hybrid model is proposed as the "virtual entity" of a digital twin support decision system where the "physical entity" is characterized by a collection of bi-weekly (fortnight) ANPP estimates. Fortnight ANPP data were calculated from MODIS EVI for the 2001–2020 period. A sigmoidal functional response, having three parameters with an explicit biological interpretation, was fitted to the accumulated ANPP as a function of time. Forecasts were generated by extrapolating the sigmoidal functional response fit up to four fortnights ahead. From these fits, we obtained the fortnight ANPP values by differentiating the accumulated fortnight ANPP. Predictions (up to four fortnights) were generated for each fortnight and year. The residuals from these fits were modeled using a multilayer perceptron trained by backpropagation using climate variables as independent variables. The sigmoidal functional response model fit was highly significant for the accumulated ANPP profile. This model also had a high explanatory power for the accumulated ANPP curve. The median of the percentage absolute residuals for forecasts made 1 to 4 fortnights ahead ranged from 17% to 18%. The ANN significantly reduced this unexplained variability in ANPP, showing a median reduction in residuals of 35%, 31%, 30%, and 30% for 1 to 4 fortnights ahead forecasts, respectively, when compared to predictions from the sigmoidal functional response fit. By integrating both parametric and machine learning techniques, the hybrid model developed can make accurate predictions in a way that is both efficient and dependable. The hybrid model not only represents an advantage in terms of predictive power, but it also allows for a deeper understanding of the basic ecological processes involved in forage production. [Display omitted] • We developed a hybrid model (HM) and prediction engine for Aboveground Net Primary Production (ANPP). • Integrating parametric and machine learning techniques, this HM makes predictions that outperform traditional models. • The hybrid approach also helps in the understanding of basic ecological processes involved in forage production. • Applicability includes planning and optimizing grazing management of native grasslands in commercial farms. • We propose the use of the output of the HM as the "virtual entity" of a digital twin decision system to support grassland management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global environmental and social-economic crises of industrialized agriculture have led to the emergence of agroecology as an alternative approach aiming to increase the ecological, social and economic sustainability of agri–food systems. The 'multi-level perspective' is now a widely used framework to understand and promote the upscaling of local innovation niches, such as agroecology, to broader scales (e.g., regional, national, international), thus reconfiguring the dominant socio-technical regimes. Additionally, emergent 'hybrid forums' can provide a space between niche and regime where niche innovators can become important actors in scaling up and out emergent innovations. In this paper, we examine a university training program (Postgraduate Diploma in Local Agroecological Dynamization at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), to better understand its role as a 'hybrid forum'. Our analysis focuses especially on how the program, as an example of a hybrid forum, worked to reconfigure practices, concepts, and tools of local development practitioners. We also assess to what extent the program contributed to transitioning local development institutions toward agroecology. An online survey (n = 46) and in-depth interviews (n = 16) were carried out to determine how the training program has impacted the student's opinions and their respective institutions. The results show that most of the students consider that they have acquired new theoretical frameworks and useful methods to re-framing their local development projects, that new alliances with multi-actor networks have been perceived, and that some internal changes of the local development practices have taken place. We conclude that the training program, as a hybrid forum, is capable of outscaling niche innovations through linkages with different kind of actors both from the niche and the regime. Political changes in the socio-technical landscape level offer an opportunity to amplify the impact of the innovations which are being generated by those multi-actor networks, but with a limited multi-level impact as far as institutional regime-actors not aligned with agroecological transition keep the most of the competencies on agri–food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that policy makers and governments are promoting the development of diverse agro-bio food systems to push and promote sustainability, they are challenging to implement because of a series of obstacles that hinder a successful transition from a conventional to an agro-ecological model of agriculture. Produce is extremely heterogeneous and agricultural technology is often not standard, rather alternative, and knowledge is contextual, tacit and place-specific. However, information about the characteristics of these systems is still sparse and difficult to analyse because of the complexity and multidimensionality. As a result, the aim of this paper is to review the existing literature in order to identify a coding system that allows for the creation of a meta-database of case studies on agroecological transitions. This coding system will be piloted in six case studies dealing with agrobiodiversity along cereal food systems producing grains, bread and pasta in France, Italy and the UK. In this analysis, we found that both the transition towards sustainable agriculture and the reduction of transaction costs require social innovation, which benefits from strong social capital. In the conclusions, we discuss the efficacy of the proposed coding scheme and its ability to capture in-depth information contained in similar case studies.

Re-localization is part of the solution but does not fully address the diversity of interdependencies within food systems. Based on the discussion in a workshop that was part of the 2015 conference on The Agroecological Imagination, we argue that an agroecological approach to food systems might provide an appropriate framework for understanding food systems transitions. We address three central questions. (1) Can agroecological practices add value to food, and what process of certification and labeling would help consumers understand the added value that certain practices provide? (2) How can agroecology introduce ecological concepts into decisions on food systems, especially at the scale of food systems rather than the scale of specific products? (3) What approaches to research and action-research are most appropriate - or remain to be developed - in order to favor such processes of reconnection between agriculture, environment and food? We conclude by arguing that an agroecological approach to food systems should favor processes which allow relational reflexivity - the capacity to take into account one’s own interdependencies to others but also interdependencies between other actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shift to industrial agriculture in Europe brought along a range of environmental and social externalities. This led policy makers, researchers and civil servants to consider and explore the potential of diversified farming systems (DFS) to address current problems in agriculture. However, because of multiple obstacles adoption of these DFS by farmers is not obvious. In this study we investigate the case of agroforestry (AF) systems in Flanders, where a government incentive scheme initiated in 2011, did not lead to the expected uptake of AF systems by farmers. To understand this implementation gap and the role of the different relevant actors herein, we used the Agricultural Innovation System concept ensuring an integrative and holistic analysis. Through 25 interviews, 2 focus groups and document analysis, a set of qualitative data was gathered and analyzed. This revealed five sets of challenges, which are of a technical, financial, legal, organizational and social nature. For each of these challenges development pathways were formulated to further upscale AF adoption. Although they should be substantiated and fine-tuned through further research, they put forward the importance of (1) investing in research to improve the compatibility and labor productivity of AF systems, (2) engaging private and societal actors in niche markets for agroecological products, (3) developing a full-fledged legal landscape and an effective incentive program, (4) using different communication and education channels to familiarize actors with agroecological practices, and (5) strengthening the dialogue between influential groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the transition to sustainability at a food systems' scale has drawn major attention both from the scientific and political arenas. Agroecology has become central to such discussions, while impressive efforts have been made to conceptualize the agroecology scaling process. It has thus become necessary to apply the concept of agroecology transitions to the scale of food systems and in different "real-world" contexts. Scaling local agroecology experiences of production, distribution, and consumption, which are often disconnected and/or disorganized, also reveals emergent research gaps. A critical review was performed in order to establish a transdisciplinary dialogue between both political agroecology and the literature on sustainable food systems. The objective was to build insights into how to advance towards Agroecology-based Local Agri-food Systems (ALAS). Our review unveils emergent questions such as: how to overcome the metabolic rift related to segregated activities along the food chain, how to feed cities sustainably, and how they should relate to the surrounding territories, which social subjects should drive such transitions, and which governance arrangements would be needed. The paper argues in favor of the re-construction of food metabolisms, territorial flows, plural subjects and (bottom-up) governance assemblages, placing life at the center of the food system and going beyond the rural–urban divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that policy makers and governments are promoting the development of diverse agro-bio food systems to push and promote sustainability, they are challenging to implement because of a series of obstacles that hinder a successful transition from a conventional to an agro-ecological model of agriculture. Produce is extremely heterogeneous and agricultural technology is often not standard, rather alternative, and knowledge is contextual, tacit and place-specific. However, information about the characteristics of these systems is still sparse and difficult to analyse because of the complexity and multidimensionality. As a result, the aim of this paper is to review the existing literature in order to identify a coding system that allows for the creation of a meta-database of case studies on agroecological transitions. This coding system will be piloted in six case studies dealing with agrobiodiversity along cereal food systems producing grains, bread and pasta in France, Italy and the UK. In this analysis, we found that both the transition towards sustainable agriculture and the reduction of transaction costs require social innovation, which benefits from strong social capital. In the conclusions, we discuss the efficacy of the proposed coding scheme and its ability to capture in-depth information contained in similar case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to reconnect agriculture, environment, food, and health when addressing agrifood system transitions is widely acknowledged. However, most analytical frameworks, especially in the expanding literature about "system approaches", rely on impact-based approaches and, thus, tend to overlook ecological processes as well as social ones. This article aims at demonstrating that a territorial approach to agrifood system transitions is more appropriate to tackle the reconnection between agriculture, food, environment, and health than the larger scales (global or national food systems) or the smaller ones (such as those of alternative food systems) usually addressed in the literature. Co-elaborated by a sociologist, an ecologist, and a nutritionist, this article is based on a focused analysis of the literature that has addressed agrifood system transitions in the food and health sciences and in the social sciences and on the reflexive analysis of two past projects dealing with such transitions. It shows that a territorial approach allows including in the analysis the diverse agrifood systems' components as well the ecological and social processes that may create functionalities for improving agrifood systems' sustainability. This territorial approach is based on systemic and processual thinking and on a transdisciplinary perspective combining an objectification stance and a pragmatist constructivist one. It should allow actors and researchers to build a shared understanding of the transition processes within their shared territorial agrifood system, despite possibly different and diverging views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The much-needed transformations of agrifood systems call for novel approaches that are able to bring together a diversity of actors’ and institutions’ knowledge and visions. While within the literature about participatory research and transdisciplinarity, many articles have discussed the issue of actor involvement, few have addressed it regarding agrifood system transitions, which are the focus of this paper. Inspired by recent work suggesting a pragmatist approach to stakeholder involvement and collective processes of problem framing and solving, this study (based on a reflexive analysis of six different projects involving different approaches to stakeholder involvement) developed an actor-oriented approach focused on what the motivations to enroll actors and for them to be enrolled are, and on the analysis of the diverse visions and controversies at play. The main outcome of this analysis is that a key issue regarding stakeholder involvement appears to be whether the diverse stakeholders and researchers involved share the sense of being part of a “community of fate” that makes them feel individually “affected” but also collectively “attached” to a shared problem and possibly to a shared future. This is not fixed and stable but can be reinforced through the research–action process itself, which should produce this collective attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]