The High-Level Virtual Event “Scaling up Agroecology Initiative” held on Tuesday 19 April 2022 aimed at sharing the main achievements in the implementation of Agroecology since the launch of the initiative. The event brought together over 650 participants who learned about success stories and the enabling environment that takes agroecology forward on the ground. 

To watch the recording of the webinar, please click here.

The event was jointly organized by the UN Advisory Mechanism of the Initiative, composed by FAO, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Programme (WFP), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), and World Health Organization (WHO).

Since its launch in 2018, the Scaling up Agroecology Initiative facilitated dialogues, cooperation, and investments within and beyond the United Nations (UN) system, to bring agroecology to scale and achieve multiple sustainable development goals. The event showed how governments, partners, and UN Agencies are progressively supporting agroecology across their respective mandates.

Ms. Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of FAO, opened the event stressing the importance of agroecology to transform agri-food systems and pointed out that FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-2031 seeks to support the overall 2030 Agenda through the transformation to a more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems.

The event featured keynote addresses by representatives of the governments of México, Andhra Pradesh (India), and Senegal to illustrate the importance of public policies to scale-up agroecology and the outstanding results of their initiatives.

Mr. Víctor Suárez Carrera, Undersecretary of Food Self-sufficiency from the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Government of Mexico explained how agroecological transitions are being scaled up through two main programs “Seeding Life” and “Production for Wellbeing” which cover around 8 million has engaged over 2.5 million producers. 

Mr. Vijay Kumar Thallam, Executive Vice-chairman, Farmer Empowerment Organisation, Adviser to the Government of Andhra Pradesh for Agriculture and Cooperation gave an overview of the Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming Programme (APCNF), currently engaging 630,000 farmers, representing 27% of the farming villages in the State.

Mr. Saliou Ngom, Director of Plant Protection, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Equipment of the Government of Senegal explained how Senegal is promoting an agroecological transition that brings together the national priorities with the needs of the different regional and local actors through the Plan for an Emerging Senegal (Plan Sénégal Emergent) and policy recommendations at regional levels through a multi-stakeholder network called DyTAES (Dynamique pour une Transition AgroEcologique au Sénégal).

In the Interactive session, Ms. Chukki Nanjundaswamy, Member of the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC) stressed that “it’s important to work with existing producers organizations which constitute a social and organizational fabric for agroecology to spread widely, along with horizontal extension programs that actively engage champion farmers”.

Mr. Etienne Hainzelin, Adviser to the President, the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), representing research organizations, addressed key principles to develop research for agroecology, stressing that “we need to change the way we measure the performance of agricultural systems. He advocated for embracing complexity, conflict of interests, and uncertainty in the theories of change for agroecological transitions, building knowledge in collaboration with stakeholders under inclusive and more balanced partnerships”.

Ms. Jane Maland Cady, Director of the International Programme at the McKnight Foundation, talking on behalf of donors organizations, stressed that “collaboration is key to sparking donor investments, which in turn can spark a coherent policy environment. It does however demand longer-term and more flexible funding approaches, but those approaches ensure greater transformations”. She also recalled the need to have consistent tools, frameworks, and alignment in agendas at the local, national, regional, and global levels.

Closing remarks were provided by Mr. Jingyuan Xia, Director of FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division. He recognized the support and commitment from UN Agencies that are key members of the Scaling up Agroecology Initiative and Member Countries that are bringing sustainable agroecological transitions on the ground.