Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewed

Agroecology for a Sustainable Agriculture and Food System: From Local Solutions to Large-Scale Adoption

Frank Ewert, Roland Baatz, Robert Finger

Annual Review of Resource Economics · 2023

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Summary

This narrative review examines the potential of agroecology to transform agri-food systems toward greater sustainability and resilience at scale. The authors argue that whilst agroecology is often positioned as a comprehensive solution, its mainstream adoption requires an integrated multiscale systems approach spanning farm to global levels, with explicit attention to economic viability for farmers, emerging technologies including digitalisation and modern breeding, and coherent multiscale policy design. The review identifies six priority areas for supporting large-scale agroecological transformation.

UK applicability

The frameworks and policy recommendations are applicable to UK context, particularly regarding integration of digital technologies and breeding innovation within agroecological systems, and the need for coherent policy design at farm, regional, and national scales to support farmer adoption.

Key measures

Multiscale sustainability indicators; drivers related to economy, technology, and policy; assessment methods across farm, regional, and global scales

Outcomes reported

The review assessed the conditions required for agroecology to transition from local solutions to mainstream agricultural practice, examining economic viability, technological integration, and policy frameworks necessary for large-scale adoption.

Theme
Policy, governance & rights
Subject
Regenerative & agroecological farming
Study type
Narrative Review
Study design
Narrative review
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
Global
System type
Mixed farming
DOI
10.1146/annurev-resource-102422-090105
Catalogue ID
SNmoqqrs7c-puhu2b

Topic tags

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