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Germinate!

Germinate is an exclusive guest column featuring the perspective, insights and innovations of leading agroecology and food systems experts and practitioners

Germinate! Vol. 3

 

Germinate!
Putting farmers at the center of agroecological transition in Greece
21/10/2026
An agroecological transition in Greece will depend on whether farmers can earn a decent living, shape research and influence the policies that affect their future. This was a central message emerging from the Panhellenic Agroecology Forum, held in Kalamata, Greece on 24–26 September 2026.
Opinion Piece Germinate! 2026 Other
Germinate!
Agroecology as a Key Lever to Promote Multifunctional Agriculture in Tropical Asia
28/09/2026
The countryside of tropical Asia is at a turning point, as its emblematic farming landscapes are rapidly being transformed. Fueled by market forces, dietary change and altering public policies, agriculture has undergone extensive intensification, simplification and specialization.
Opinion Piece Germinate! 2026 Other
Germinate!
Whose Intelligence? Whose Farming?
25/08/2026
Whose Intelligence? Whose Farming? Innovation is not the same thing as digitalization: grassroots innovation, appropriate technology, and the knowledge infrastructure agroecology needs. A Germinate! guest column by Dorn Cox (Farm Hack US), with contributions from Caroline Ledant (Schola Campesina), members of the Grassroots Innovations Assembly for Agroecology (GIAA)
Opinion Piece August 2026 Digitalization
Germinate!
Planet-friendly school meals are a win-win for the three Rio Conventions
20/07/2026
As the global transition to unhealthy diets continues, climate shocks intensify and conflicts disrupt supply chains and food prices, the world continues to reassess how food is produced, distributed, and consumed. Both public food procurement, including school meals, and agroecology are gaining ground as solutions and strategic pathways to more resilient, healthy, and equitable food systems.
Opinion Piece Germinate! 2026 Agroecology and the 3 Rio Conventions (Biodiversity, Climate and Land)
Germinate!
Cultivating Power in Just Transformations: Building Momentum for Agroecology and Food Sovereignty in the United States
29/06/2026
At the University of Vermont Institute for Agroecology, our international colleagues often pose a provocative question: How do we build and support the practical, political, and intellectual work of advancing agroecology in the U.S., AKA the belly of the beast?
Opinion Piece Germinate! 2026 Just Transformation
Germinate!
Bees, Biodiversity, and the Taste of a Living Planet
20/05/2026
World Bee Day and the International Day for Biological Diversity challenge us to move from extraction to reciprocity, from monocultures to mosaics, from anonymous commodities to foods rooted in place and responsibility.
Opinion Piece Germinate! 2026 Bees & Biodiversity
Germinate!
Food systems diplomacy: The East African community legislative journey towards legal framework on agroecological farming
20/04/2026
Diplomacy is a prerequisite for any regional integration to achieve its goals. Food systems diplomacy is shaping the global agenda on food security and nutrition. This is because the current food systems are no longer sustainable, thereby leaving the world to search for alternative and ...
Opinion Piece April 2026 Food systems diplomacy
Germinate!
O papel das políticas públicas na transformação da vida das mulheres rurais
20/03/2026
A partir das reinvindicações das mulheres rurais, organizadas em movimentos sociais e na Marcha das Margaridas, diversas políticas públicas foram retomadas e fortalecidas, incorporando bandeiras históricas. Nesse processo, as mulheres rurais assumem a condição de sujeitos políticos fundamentais na formulação e implementação dessas políticas.
Opinion Piece Germinate! 2026 Women Empowerment
Germinate!
“The quiet power of pulses: why pulses matter more than ever”
20/02/2026
Plant-based diets are expanding, not as ideology but as pragmatism. Food industries are rediscovering pulses for their functionality, affordability, and clean-label appeal.
Opinion Piece February 2026 Pulses
Germinate!
Towards Ambitious Transitions: Catalyzing Finance and Action for Regenerative and Agroecological Food Systems
20/01/2026
In a time of profound uncertainty, regenerative and agroecological transitions offer not a single solution, but a way of working within planetary boundaries and by centering smallholders, fishers and food producers and their livelihoods. 
Opinion Piece Germinate! 2026 Agroecology finance

Read more from leading agroecology and food systems experts and practitioners in the previous issues of Germinate!

Germinate! Vol. 1 (2024)Germinate! Vol. 2 (2025)