TOWARDS A JUST AND CLIMATE-RESILIENT FOOD SYSTEM: AGROECOLOGY FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND CLIMATE JUSTICE

The fact sheet advocates for agroecology as a transformative approach to build a climate-resilient food system in South Africa. It contrasts this with 'false solutions'—such as GMOs and precision planting—which it claims reinforce corporate power and inequality. Agroecology is presented as a bottom-up method that integrates ecological science with traditional knowledge to reduce emissions, improve adaptation, and ensure food sovereignty by returning control of land and seeds to smallholders and indigenous peoples.

• The document identifies several 'false solutions' to climate change in the food system that prioritize corporate profit and technological fixes over systemic change. These include the use of genetically modified (GM) seeds, precision planting, digitalization, big data, and 'climate smart agriculture' (CSA), which the text claims is used to 'greenwash' the introduction of industrial inputs to smallholder farmers.
• Agroecology is defined as a bottom-up approach that applies the science of ecology to food systems, combining traditional knowledge from smallholders and family producers with scientific research. It aims for a 'transformative resilience' that addresses the root causes of vulnerability and power imbalances rather than merely adapting to existing conditions.
• To achieve climate resilience and a just transition, the document outlines three essential tasks: reducing emissions across the food system (mitigation), increasing the resilience of food production and distribution (adaptation), and meeting social and nutritional needs.
• The document promotes 'food sovereignty' as the right of people to define their own food and agriculture systems and access healthy, culturally appropriate food produced through sustainable methods. This requires returning control of seeds, land, water, and biodiversity to indigenous peoples and smallholder producers.
• The document aligns the 13 principles of agroecology from the High Level Panel of Experts on Food and Nutrition (HLPE) with three core elements identified by South African practitioners: environmental sustainability, social justice and redress, and economic fairness and participation.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (n.d.). TOWARDS A JUST AND CLIMATE-RESILIENT FOOD SYSTEM: AGROECOLOGY FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND CLIMATE JUSTICE. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FactS-06-ENG-Towards-just-climate-resilient-food-system_Web.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. TOWARDS A JUST AND CLIMATE-RESILIENT FOOD SYSTEM: AGROECOLOGY FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND CLIMATE JUSTICE. n.d. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FactS-06-ENG-Towards-just-climate-resilient-food-system_Web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=TOWARDS A JUST AND CLIMATE-RESILIENT FOOD SYSTEM: AGROECOLOGY FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND CLIMATE JUSTICE |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FactS-06-ENG-Towards-just-climate-resilient-food-system_Web.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjusticendtowards, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{TOWARDS A JUST AND CLIMATE-RESILIENT FOOD SYSTEM: AGROECOLOGY FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND CLIMATE JUSTICE}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/FactS-06-ENG-Towards-just-climate-resilient-food-system_Web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }