The French Centre for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), as part of its research mission, and the French Development Agency (AFD), as part of its mandate of providing development aid to countries in the Global South, are exploring the possibilities of developing systems based on the scientific principles of agroecology. Several dozen research and development projects on the agroecological transition have been conducted by these two organizations in partnership with researchers and local entitites of the Global South in recent
years, mainly in Africa, Madagascar and the Indian Ocean, in Southeast Asia, Latin America, as also in the French Overseas territories. 

The book is divided into two main parts.

The first part describes nine cases studies of the implementation of agroecological systems or practices by producers, the research community and various actors of development in different production contexts in the countries of the Global South. The results of these case studies make it possible to discuss the determinants of the agroecological transition, the technical and organizational solutions that have been identified, and the performances achieved by the new systems.

The eight thematic chapters of the second part consist of reflections on the implementation of the agroecological transition: the determinisms of the development  of agroecology; natural regulation processes and the use of biodiversity that can be mobilized for agroecological solutions; the evaluation of the performances of these systems; agroecology and climate change; the ecologization of agriculture through the prism of collaborative innovation; market dynamics to promote the
agroecological transition; and territorial mechanisms to enable the agroecological transition.

Finally, the conclusion presents the main lessons learned from the work of CIRAD, AFD and their partners on the implementation of the agroecological transition. The discussions bear, in particular, on the ways in which the very diverse agricultural models in countries of the Global South can all be made to undergo an agroecological transition, the various trajectories that this transition can take, and the genericity ofits biophysical and organizational levers. Finally, this summary reminds us of the new challenges that will have to be met and the conditions that will have to be satisfied before the agroecological transition can take place at a significant scale.