In a recent FAO Agroecology newsletter, the question was asked about how to enable agricultural extension and advisory services (EAS) to better ensure that they promote agroecology (see https://www.fao.org/agroecology/database/detail/en/c/1470230). Practices based on agroecology have emerged over the last several decades that enhance food production, strengthen rural wellbeing, and improve resilience and equity in food systems. Despite the tremendous potential of these practices, they have not been adopted widely by modern-day farmers. Why does it seem that the industrial model of agriculture has farmers “locked-in” to farming in ways that focus primarily on maximizing yields and profits, while ignoring the negative ecological and social impacts of those practices? Are EAS unable to break out of the “top down” version of information transfer? What is needed to create a paradigm shift that creates an alternative, shared, or participatory knowledge generation process?
These questions, and more, are very effectively addressed in this news brief, and are the ongoing focus of discussions in many parts of the world. There are clear deficiencies in how agroecological practices are being promoted by people and organizations charged with bringing this information not just to farmers but also to many other parts of food systems, including small business owners, consumers, families, and students. A new model for effective engagement in agroecology is needed. A model is needed that focuses on listening to and responding to the increasing environmental awareness and food quality consciousness among the two most important parts of the food system – the people who grow food and the people who eat it. EAS must respond to the growing support for the values of conservation, food sovereignty, fairness, and equity, especially the voices of smallholder agriculture that have been ignored for too long.
The FAO brief on bringing agroecology to EAS cites three main areas of engagement that promote the goals of these changes. First and foremost is the need to change the paradigm that drives most current EAS activity. A food system philosophy that is holistic is needed, including sustainable livelihoods, market access, environmental protection, social equity, and inclusion. A paradigm grounded in agroecology is a clear alternative to the current “productivist” focus on consolidation, simplification, commodification, and industrialization. Steps to achieving this shift are outlined, from the co-creation and sharing of local, traditional, and indigenous knowledge, to a system where all members of the food system, from the field to the table, participate in the design of EAS that include all producers, especially women, youth, migrants, indigenous people, and other vulnerable groups; in other words, an agroecological paradigm that is built on a people-centered and relationship-based food system where environmental soundness and social fairness merge in the transition to sustainability.
The second focus is on the creation of an enabling environment for agroecology. A primary focus is the need to develop policies that support governance at the local and territorial scales, while factoring in external costs and benefits of ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation and restoration. This includes moving agroecology up the research agenda and supporting agroecology curricula in education and training programs. Monitoring programs that provide information on the situation in farming communities and the needs and challenges of farmers and their families, such as the FAO TAPE system, must be developed, prioritized, and applied. Obviously, financial investment must be made in such programs, with funding shifted from industrial approaches to community-based platforms, training programs, and knowledge generation processes.
The third focus is on adapting roles and services in EAS so that food system transformation grounded in agroecology is scaled-out and promoted. Supporting farmer-based documentation and sharing of agroecological practices must be prioritized, while honoring local sovereignty and ownership of the knowledge that generates these practices. Research must be action- or change-oriented to develop solutions to problems on farm, community, and food system levels. Empowerment, access, and equity, especially for women and youth, lie at the core of the paradigm shift to agroecology. Alternative food networks and more direct markets that promote local food production provide benefits for both producers and consumers. Putting seed systems back in the hands of farmers, from breeding local varieties to maintaining local seed exchange and seed saving, are a foundation of agrobiodiversity and resilience. Much of this third aspect of the new paradigm is grounded in the work of local networks, exchange systems, and local organizations. Agroecology is rooted in localness.
Extension and Advisory Systems (EAS) must embrace agroecology. This FAO brief provides another important call for food system transformation, with the elements of agroecology forming the expanding foundation for change. We really are talking about farmer-led and community-led extension and advisory support programs that bring diversification back to our food systems so they can once again achieve food sovereignty, social and economic equity, food justice, and environmental sustainability. Our journal’s goal is to support this paradigm shift.