Agroecology: innovating for sustainable agriculture & food systems

The report advocates for a paradigm shift from industrial agri-business models to agroecology to address global hunger, environmental degradation, and climate change. It proposes a 13-point evaluation framework to assess sustainable innovations and warns against 'false solutions' like climate-smart agriculture. The document concludes with detailed policy recommendations for governments to secure land rights, ensure gender justice, and shift subsidies toward agroecological practices to achieve food sovereignty.

• The current dominant agri-business and high-input industrial model of agriculture is causing environmental degradation, climate change, and threats to the human right to adequate food and nutrition.
• To evaluate sustainable innovations, the document proposes 13 interconnected core criteria across three dimensions: Social, economic and institutional; Environment; and Implementation process.
• Agroecology is presented as a science, social movement, and set of practices that integrates ancestral knowledge with ecological dimensions to transform the entire food system.
• The report identifies 'climate-smart agriculture' and 'sustainable intensification' as false solutions that risk maintaining the industrial status quo and jeopardizing the capacity of small-scale food providers.
• Agroecology is described as a fundamental pillar of food sovereignty, which is the right of peoples and states to define their own food, livestock, and fisheries systems.
• Policy recommendations to mainstream agroecology include implementing integral land reforms, opposing land-grabbing, and ensuring women's access to and control over land, water, and seeds.
• The document calls for a shift in subsidies and policies away from industrial farming and carbon offset schemes toward real smallholder agroecological practices to mitigate climate change.

APA

Ortega-Espès, D. (2018). Agroecology: innovating for sustainable agriculture & food systems. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Agroecology-innovation-summary-EN.pdf

Chicago

Ortega-Espès, Delphine. Agroecology: innovating for sustainable agriculture & food systems. Friends of the Earth International, 2018. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Agroecology-innovation-summary-EN.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ortega-Espès |first1=Delphine |title=Agroecology: innovating for sustainable agriculture & food systems |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=November 2018 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Agroecology-innovation-summary-EN.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ortegaesps2018agroecology, author = {Ortega-Espès, Delphine}, title = {{Agroecology: innovating for sustainable agriculture \& food systems}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2018}, month = nov, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Agroecology-innovation-summary-EN.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }