Agroecology for a Sustainable Agriculture and Food System: From Local Solutions to Large-Scale Adoption

Abstract

Agroecology is often considered as the ultimate and most comprehensive solution to the many challenges of the agricultural and food system, also referred to as the agri-food system. This review investigates to what extent agroecology can become the mainstream model for transforming agriculture toward more sustainable and resilient agri-food systems within the given economic and political context. We find that enhancing agroecology will require a fully integrated multiscale systems approach from farm to region to globe. The approach must consider relevant processes and relationships, actors and stakeholders as well as drivers, sustainability indicators, and the respective assessment methods across all scales. Giving specific attention to drivers related to economy, technology, and policy we point out that agroecology needs to be economically viable for farmers and other food system actors. In particular, new and emerging technologies related to digitalization and breeding should be given more consideration in agroecological transformation. We stress the need for an analytical and operational framework and adequate multiscale policy design and suggest six areas of needed attention to support the large-scale adoption of agroecology.