Agroecology Knowledge Hub

Human and social values: protecting and improving rural livelihoods, equity and social well-being is essential for sustainable food and agricultural systems

Agroecology places a strong emphasis on human and social values, such as dignity, equity, inclusion and justice all contributing to the improved livelihoods dimension of the SDGs. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems. By building autonomy and adaptive capacities to manage their agro-ecosystems, agroecological approaches empower people and communities to overcome poverty, hunger and malnutrition, while promoting human rights, such as the right to food, and stewardship of the environment so that future generations can also live in prosperity.

Agroecology seeks to address gender inequalities by creating opportunities for women. Globally, women make up almost half of the agricultural workforce. They also play a vital role in household food security, dietary diversity and health, as well as in the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. In spite of this, women remain economically marginalised and vulnerable to violations of their rights, while their contributions often remain unrecognized. Agroecology can help rural women in family farming agriculture to develop higher levels of autonomy by building knowledge, through collective action and creating opportunities for commercialization. Agroecology can open spaces for women to become more autonomous and empower them at household, community levels and beyond – for instance, through participation in producer groups. Women’s participation is essential for agroecology and women are frequently the leaders of agroecology projects.

In many places around the world, rural youth face a crisis of employment. Agroecology provides a promising solution as a source of decent jobs. Agroecology is based on a different way of agricultural production that is knowledge intensive, environmentally friendly, socially responsible, innovative, and which depends on skilled labour. Meanwhile, rural youth around the world possess energy, creativity and a desire to positively change their world. What they need is support and opportunities.

As a bottom-up, grassroots paradigm for sustainable rural development, agroecology empowers people to become their own agents of change.

Database

The scope of the training ''Agroecology in the 2021-2027 Multi-annual Financial Framework of the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA)'' that was held on 3 and 4 November 2021 was to raise awareness on the meaning, role of and country experiences in agroecology and to provide concrete clues...
Event
2021
The virtual workshop on ''Agroecology and safe food system transitions for green, inclusive and resilient COVID-19 recovery in the Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN)'', was organized through the project ''Agroecology and Safe Food System Transition'' (ASSET) by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), FAO, the French...
Event
2021
FAO and Civil Society Organizations are presenting the Webinar ''An introduction to the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE): Metrics for Sustainable Food and Agriculture'' on 12 and 15 November 2021. FAO in dialogue with Civil Society Organisations and academia developed a global analytical framework for the multidimensional assessment of the performance...
Event
2021
02/12/2021 | 14:00 –15:30 CET Organic and agroecological fruits and vegetable growers provide excellent examples of how is possible to produce in a sustainable way, protecting the environment, growing biodiversity, preserving the soil and mitigating and adapting to climate change.  Organic and agroecological producers build sustainable and inclusive value chains that contribute...
Event
2021
The Global Alliance for the Future of Food is presenting a webinar event that will mark the launch of ‘’The Politics of Knowledge: Understanding the Evidence for Agroecology, Regenerative Approaches, and Indigenous Foodways’’ on 6 December 2021 at 10:00 – 11:30 AM ET / 16:00 – 17:30 PM CET. The...
Event
2021