How it works
TAPE can be used to assess all types of production systems and agricultural sub-sectors: crop and livestock production, pastoralism, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry. The tool is adaptable to local contexts, languages, and social and cultural groups (e.g.: indigenous people). Itis flexible enough to be complemented with any other methodology or indicators to inform additional dimensions of sustainability not covered by the core criteria or provide deeper analyses on a specific topic. Designed to remain simple, it follows a stepwise approach:
Step 0: The “preliminary step” is a collection of all relevant context information, and the conditions that enable or disable the transition towards agroecology in a given territory. It describes the main social, economic and environmental aspects of the system being studied, along with factors that support or hinder agroecology, such as relevant policies.
Step 1: The 10 Elements of Agroecology are used to characterize production systems by assessing their level of transition to agroecology. This diagnostic can be used to identify strengths and weaknesses of the systems assessed, but also to monitor and evaluate projects or to establish entry points for activities.
Step 2: Measures and quantifies the impact of agroecology using five key sustainability dimensions—Governance, Economy, Health & Nutrition, Society & Culture, and Environment & Climate Change—to inform policy processes and assessment results effectively. It is defined by 10 core criteria from existing methodologies: land tenure, productivity, income, added value, exposure to pesticides, dietary diversity, women’s empowerment, youth employment, biodiversity, and soil health.
Step 3: The final step of TAPE involves bringing back the results to the community for joint analysis and participatory interpretation with farmers, local authorities, policymakers, and other relevant actors to validate their accuracy. The results of the multidimensional performances (STEP 2) are reviewed in the light of the level of transition to agroecology (STEP 1); and the context and enabling environment (STEP 0). This presents an opportunity to identify ways forward for enhancing performance of farming systems, including developing suitable policy frameworks.
The TAPE data collection typically starts in Step 0 with a desk review that is often complemented with focus group discussion or key informant interviews focusing on data from higher levels (community/territory, region or country). The data of steps 1-2 is collected through survey typically focused on the farm/household. A data collection tool utilizing a free and open-source software both on-line and off-line is available and is already translated into different languages. Depending on the needs, Step 3 can include participatory research methods as focus group discussions, priority grid, SWOT analysis, case studies, etc.
FAO is consolidating a global database from which an analysis of the diversity of contexts and performances of agroecology will be carried out.
Funding Partners
FAO is currently implementing TAPE in all geographic regions with the support of its regional and national offices. In collaboration with several partners from governments, academia, civil society, and producers’ organizations, FAO continues deploying the tool in a variety of countries and agroecosystems.
TAPE is supported by the McKnight Foundation, European Commission, Global Environment Facility (GEF), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and France.