Exploring Agroecological Principles in Practice: Preliminary Survey Results from the FO-RI Program

Exploring Agroecological Principles in Practice: Preliminary Survey Results from the FO-RI Program - Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) & AgriCord - Presentation by
by Aziliz LE ROUZO of SEI

10 March 2025. Brussels. In person meeting of the Collective Action Agroecology. This is a pre-event before the DeSIRA-Lift conference: Boosting agrifood research and innovation cooperation for impact at scale (11-13 March 2025 in Brussels).

1. Collective Action on Agroecology March 2025 EXPLORING AGROECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES IN PRACTICE: PRELIMINARY SURVEY RESULTS FROM THE FO-RI PROGRAM

2. Who we are The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) is a global leader in interdisciplinary research, focusing on environmental sustainability, climate resilience, and socio-economic development. SEI bridges scientific research with real-world solutions to inform policy and decision-making. March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) is a world-class international university with research, education and environmental assessment within the sciences for sustainable life. AgriCord is a global alliance of 13 agri -agencies mandated by farmers' organizations (FO) and their cooperative businesses from countries in Africa, Asia, Canada, the EU, and Latin America. The agri -agencies support FOs to better develop their business.

3. Competence SEI/SIANI March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY SLU 20 130 FOLLOWERS + 65 000 PAGE VIEWS 5 234 MEMBERS + 4 000 VIEWS 713 180 F ARMER BENEFICIARIES 3.6 MILLION MEMBERS OF SUPPORTED FOs AgriCord 573 FOs WITH INCREASED CAPACITY 243 727 TONS OF MARKETED GOODS 247 PEER-TO-PEER EVENTS 60 MILLION € IN MARKETED GOODS 1,600 SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS ANNUALLY World’s 3rd BEST UNIVERSITY WITHIN AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY 8 centers WORLDWIDE 300+ projects in 120+ countries 100+ journal articles & 100+ SEI publication annually

4. Networks SIANI March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY SLU AgriCord Africa PAFO (ROPPA, EAFF, SACAU, PROPAC) Latin America COPROFAM Pacific PIFON Asia AFA and ASIADRHRRA FO_RI Afdi 13 AGRI-AGENCIES Asprodeb CSA UPA DI Fert FFD WeEffect Cresol AHA AsiaDHRRA Agriterra Trias Acodea Agroecology Coalition MEMBERS Agroecology Europe SECRETARY GENERAL IFAD SOCLA WFP WeEffect FAO RUFORUM CIFOR/ICRAF (FTAP) 6 UN Food Systems Summit Coalitions AMR Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform AGRINATURA FAO CGIAR Centers

5. SEI/SIANI: Key expertise Supporting evidence-based transitions Assessing policy readiness for agroecology Enhancing policy coherence Projects: Governing Bioeconomy Pathways; Policy coherence between the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 Innovative tools for agroecology Decision tree for agroecological suitability Agroecology synergies tool Projects: Biosphere Integrity Fund; SDG Synergies Tool, Resource recovery toolbox March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY Policy analysis Tool development Frameworks Framework development for context-specific solutions Agroecology assessment tool integration and refinement Innovative frameworks to guide implementation processes Projects: ASAPP, Behaviour and Choice Initiative, Clean and Green Capacity building Bridging knowledge and practice Stakeholder engagement and co-creative approaches Facilitation of workshops, webinars, focus group discussions, etc. Communication Projects: AgriFoSe2030; SIANI Expert Groups, ASAPP

6. SLU – Key expertise xxx University has a high reputation in Agricultural Sciences (top 4 Global); 4k Students – Bachelor and MSc 600 PhD students Research for impact 13th for SDG 2 – zero hunger; 29th for SDG 13 – climate action; 39th for SDG14 – life below water. Assessment of cropping systems performance 3k staff (research) March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY Capacity building Research Cropping systems International expertise Research combining performance and sustainability Efficiency Co-design and mutual learning Natural resources Natural resources management integrated into production systems Design of agricultural systems to provide multiple ecosystems services, from managed and semi-natural landscapes

7. AgriCord : Key expertise 13 Agri-agencies mandated by farmer organizations Diversity and complementarity of AA Long-term partnerships Empowering farmers through a holistic approach Peer-to-peer approach Farmer-led research Tools adapted to partner FO’s needs Empowering FO’s in economic, political, social, and ecological aspects March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY Global Alliance Farmer Engagement Capacity building Strengthening farmer organizations globally Develop FOs’ skills across value chains Local advisory services Mobilize relevant expertise, including researchers Support FO development of concrete and efficient services Create training modules Knowledge Management Sharing actionable knowledge and best practices Thematic workshops on agroecology, seeds, advocacy, etc. Synthesis reports and factsheets Program-level documentation Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL)

8. Ongoing initiatives Amplifying Stories of Agroecology Principles and Practices (ASAPP) Farmers’ organization led research and innovation on agroecology (FO-RI) March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY SIANI AgriCord

9. ASAPP March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY Project: Visual-centric leaflets structured around the HLPE 13 Principles of Agroecology. Survey instrument based on the Agroecology Assessment Framework. Case Studies: Pilot case-study in Southern Sweden – inclusive and co-creative approach with students. 2 nd case study in Brazil, 3 rd in Australia. Upcoming case studies in Nepal, Philippines and Palestine.

10. The Agroecology Assessment Framework March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY HLPE definition: Diversify on-farm incomes by ensuring that small-scale farmers have greater financial independence and value addition opportunities while enabling them to respond to demand from consumers. Economic diversification Indicators: Diversification of production On-farm or cooperative-based agroprocessing Farm-based or local input production Small enterprise development Support short/regional/diversified value chains Support youth and women entrepreneurship Farm-based non-agricultural activities Strong alignment: Actively strives for greater economic diversity of local and regional production and consumption systems, including to diversify livelihoods and enable financial independence and autonomy

11. FO-RI March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY Africa PAFO (ROPPA, EAFF, SACAU, PROPAC) Asia AFA and ASIADRHRRA Latin America COPROFAM Pacific PIFON PARTICIPATING FARMERS’ ORGANIZATIONS 13 ACTION RESEARCH PROJECTS 17 COUNTRIES 14 LOBBYING & ADVOCACY PROJECTS AGROECOLOGY CASE STUDIES: BIOINPUT, BIOCONTROL, FARMERS SEEDS, PROCESSING AND COMMERCIALIZATION, ETC. FARMER-LED RESEARCH

12. Collaborative development of a new s urvey i nstrument March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY What: Collaborated with consortium partners to refine and adapt the ASAPP survey instrument Streamlined the survey for reduced time requirements Incorporated an additional step from the ScalA tool to assess scale-up potential (linked to Step 7 of ScalA ) Goal: Test and refine the adapted survey instrument for broader use in the FO-RI program Identify potential learnings from a larger-scale application of the survey

13. Overview of participating f arms Farming activities Agroforestry (Crops and Trees) Crop-Livestock Integration (Integrated Farming System) Crop farming (Vegetables, Grains, etc.) Top 5 products Maize Beans Vegetable Meat Livestock (Goat or Cattle) Farming activities Agroforestry (Crops and Trees) Horticulture (Greenhouse) Top 5 products Kava Taro Dragon Fruit Breadfruit flour Dragon fruit March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY Farm 1 Farm 2 Farm 3 Farming activities Agroforestry (Crops and Trees) Crop farming (Vegetables, Grains, etc.) Top 5 products Taro Yaqona Lime Pawpaw Banana Tanzania, 11 ha, 5 ppl Fiji, 2 ha, 10 ppl Fiji, 3 ha, 1 person

14. Survey results March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY Colour code: <25% 25-50% 51-75% >75%

15. Survey results March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY Ranking of critical factors to agroecology adoption Goal: Identify key factors that have influenced farmers’ decision to adopt agroecological practices Factors compiled from literature review

16. Survey results March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY Survey Refinement: Incorporated Step 7 of the ScalA tool to assess the scale-up potential of agroecological practices. Evaluation Method: Included a question to gauge the importance of key factors for sustaining and scaling up practices, with responses rated as Not Relevant (0), Low (1), Medium (2), or Significant (3). Ranking of critical scale-up factors

17. Reflections and next s teps March 2025 COLLECTIVE ACTION ON AGROECOLOGY Initial Adaptation & Future Refinements: This is a first attempt to adapt the ASAPP survey instrument to a new context. Future adjustments will be made based on context-specific needs, including balancing survey length and detail: For ASAPP, a longer survey provided more detailed insights. For this survey, we shortened it to facilitate wider dissemination, resulting in less in-depth findings. Current Limitations: The results are not yet representative due to the small sample size. Initial Insights: Offers a preliminary understanding of agroecological practices, resource needs, and key motivations for farmer engagement.

18. Thank you March 2025