Agroecology Knowledge Hub

Circular and solidarity economy: it reconnects producers and consumers and provides innovative solutions for living within our planetary boundaries while ensuring the social foundation for inclusive and sustainable development

Agroecology seeks to reconnect producers and consumers through a circular and solidarity economy that prioritizes local markets and supports local economic development by creating virtuous cycles. Agroecological approaches promote fair solutions based on local needs, resources and capacities, creating more equitable and sustainable markets. Strengthening short food circuits can increase the incomes of food producers while maintaining a fair price for consumers. These include new innovative markets, alongside more traditional territorial markets, where most smallholders market their products.

Social and institutional innovations play a key role in encouraging agroecological production and consumption. Examples of innovations that help link producers and consumers include participatory guarantee schemes, local producer’s markets, denomination of origin labelling, community supported agriculture and e-commerce schemes. These innovative markets respond to a growing demand from consumers for healthier diets.

Re-designing food systems based on the principles of circular economy can help address the global food waste challenge by making food value chains shorter and more resource-efficient. Currently, one third of all food produced is lost or wasted, failing to contribute to food security and nutrition, while exacerbating pressure on natural resources. The energy used to produce food that is lost or wasted is approximately 10 percent of the world’s total energy consumption, while the food waste footprint is equivalent to 3.5 Gt CO2 of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

Database

The Map of Agroecology Knowledge and Practice is a technological platform that allows the mapping and exchange of Agroecological experiences in order to bring people (in every nook and cranny, from the countryside to the city), to strengthen, and create new networks of collaboration that enhance the sharing of real...
Website
2019
Networked Agroecology is a system of information on initiatives in Agroecology. It consists of three interconnected databases: the Experiences, the Research Bank and the Contact Bank (personal and institutional). Database queries and entries can be made freely by system visitors. The following organizations are responsible for managing the databases: • National Articulation...
Website
2019
Union of Land Workers (UTT) (Argentina) is organizing small-scale farmers and peasants to produce fruits and vegetables without pesticides and within a fair-trade framework. The union formed 10 years ago now includes 10 000 families producing food on their own to sell at fair prices at more than 200 locations...
Argentina
Article
2021
Case studies compiled recently by Global Forest Coalition (GFC) members and allies in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Paraguay underline the role of agribusiness in peasant farmers´ and Indigenous Peoples´ lives. These examples help to deconstruct the myth that large-scale, industrial agriculture is "feeding the world", and that it is compatible...
Brazil - Chile - Mexico - Paraguay
Case study
2019
The initiative is located in the valley of Asni, at the foot of the High Atlas Mountains. In 2010, the family farms of the Tifawine cooperative decided to change their practices to improve the value of their orchards. Since this transition to agroecology, yields have increased by 27% and so...
Morocco
Innovation
2021