To expand agroecology depends on raising and stabilising incomes for small-scale producers through alternative markets that avoid profit-driven middlemen. Producers thereby retain more of the value that they add, build closer relationships with consumers, and offer nutritious food at relatively low prices. An agroecology agenda should ''Ensure proximity and confidence between producers and systems into local economies'', especially though a solidarity economy, according to the FAO’s High-Level Panel of Experts.

In Latin America ‘EcoSol-agroecology’ denotes a convergence of social movements for agroecology and for a solidarity economy (economia solidaria). They build producer-consumer proximity through short food-supply chains, known as circuitos cortos. These were the focus of a recent research project, ''The Agroecology-Based Solidarity Economy in Bolivia and Brazil'' or AgroEcos for short.

The AgroEcos project analysed and facilitated EcoSol-agroecology networks through Participatory Action Research with them. The project investigated these central questions: How did the networks build collective capacities for circuitos cortos?  How did they extend such capacities to overcome many obstacles during the Covid-19 pandemic?  

As a general answer: Circuitos cortos depend on societal proximities of various kinds (organizational, cultural, institutional, geographical). Common solidaristic purposes help to activate and link the various proximities. Together these capacities help to resist the hegemonic agri-food system, to strengthen an alternative development and to demand supportive public policies.

The AgroEcos project has elaborated this framework for its three case studies. The final report explains its general relevance to EcoSol-agroecology networks. Similar efforts elsewhere can learn from these case studies.