Food systems transformation in the Asia-Pacific depends on disseminating and mainstreaming new approaches that foster sustainable agriculture. One such approach is agroecology. In the Asia-Pacific region, several agroecological practices – mainly aimed at enhancing soil fertility, increasing resilience to climate change and other external shocks, promoting biodiversity, biocontroling pests and diseases, etc., – have long been promoted.

Currently, there is an increasing appetite for such practices among farmers and their organizations with an aim to replace conventional chemical-intensive farming, especially given the rising cost of imported synthetic agro-inputs. However, mainstreaming agroecological approaches within the Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) necessitates some fundamental changes in the way all actors in the AIS approach agricultural development.

This regional brief depicts the contribution of agricultural research, extension services, and education in mainstreaming agroecology in the Asia-Pacific region.