Agroecology

Work Package 1: Transdisciplinary co-creation of innovations in Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALLs)

Contacts: Nadia Bergamini (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), Bernard Triomphe (CIRAD) 

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After engaging stakeholders in the ALLs last year, the WP1 team pursued two goals in 2023: (1) consolidating the ALLs through a vision-to-action process (V2A) and (2) co-designing and testing innovations. The V2A process guided participatory design of the agroecological transition for each ALL. Stakeholders formulated a vision of how they want to shift their current situation to a desirable future and what behavior changes are required to achieve this. 

The V2A process differed for each country, depending on the ALL’s context and country team’s expertise. Some common elements in the vision statements across countries are appropriate use of inputs, soil health, and economic diversification. Clear linkages between the visions and the 13 agroecological principles were identified. The vision exercise was the starting point to co-develop transition pathways with ALL stakeholders, identify behavior changes and define an action plan. The team focused on co-designing production innovations through an interactive, iterative, and context-specific process (cross-country analysis). Farmers, researchers, and others discussed needs and identified innovations that address key challenges. Participants tested, assessed, or demonstrated these options on-farm (see table 1), using protocols that ranged from side-by-side comparisons to more complex experimental set-ups. The co-design process will conclude in 2024 with a collective assessment of results and lessons learned. Farmers will decide which innovations they want to adapt, adopt, or scale.

The team launched the International Network of ALLs (INALL) through an exchange visit organized around the natural farming approach in Andra Pradesh, India. The initiative is evaluating the effectiveness of living landscapes as a concept to operationalize action research in agroecology, investigating through a global review how similar approaches (living labs, multi-stakeholder platforms, innovation platforms) have been used in other projects to trigger systemic change.