Opportunities, Obstacles, and Needs Surrounding Public Support for Agroecology

A survey of 176 experts reveals that while there is strong scientific support for agroecology, researchers face significant barriers, including a lack of public funding and pressure from entrenched financial interests. The report advocates for the USDA to prioritize interdisciplinary research, extend grant durations, and explicitly incorporate social justice and racial equity into its funding requests.

• A significant majority of surveyed scientists identify the lack of public research funding as a major barrier, with 84 percent considering it an important obstacle. Furthermore, 44 percent of respondents stated that acquiring funding for sustainable agriculture research has become more difficult during their careers.
• Financial conflicts of interest are a primary concern for researchers; 89 percent of respondents cited "entrenched financial interests" as an important or very important barrier, and 49 percent specifically noted that conflicts related to private sector funding pose a substantial obstacle.
• There is a critical need for longer-term funding, as 69 percent of respondents believe increasing the duration of research grants is important or very important. Experts argue that the standard three-year program is insufficient for agroecological research, which may require five to ten years to reach conclusive results.
• The integration of social justice and racial equity is viewed as essential for the expansion of agroecological systems, with 67 percent of respondents stating it is important to explicitly reference social justice and 58 percent citing racial equity in USDA RFAs.
• Researchers report a gap in their ability to communicate findings to the public and policymakers; while 76 percent consider policy engagement important, only 28 percent report it as part of their job, often due to a lack of institutional rewards or fear of losing funding.
• Specific USDA programs are identified as underfunded relative to demand: the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program had FY2017 funding of $27 million, while the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) and Organic Transitions (ORG) programs were authorized at $20 million and $4 million, respectively.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2017). Opportunities, Obstacles, and Needs Surrounding Public Support for Agroecology. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/10/agroecology-survey-fact-sheet-ucs-2017.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Opportunities, Obstacles, and Needs Surrounding Public Support for Agroecology. 2017. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/10/agroecology-survey-fact-sheet-ucs-2017.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Opportunities, Obstacles, and Needs Surrounding Public Support for Agroecology |date=October 2017 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/10/agroecology-survey-fact-sheet-ucs-2017.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2017opportunities, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Opportunities, Obstacles, and Needs Surrounding Public Support for Agroecology}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/10/agroecology-survey-fact-sheet-ucs-2017.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }