Defining agroecology
International consensus by governments and scientists
A commonly agreed definition of agroecology defines it as “an integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of food and agricultural systems. It seeks to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans, and the environment while taking into consideration the social aspects that need to be addressed for a sustainable and fair food system.“ (FAO – 2024. Agroecology Knowledge Hub.)
Agroecology is based on the 13 Principles of Agroecology defined by the High-Level
Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) of the Committee on
World Food Security (CFS), published in 2019 and aligned with the 10 Elements of Agroecology approved by the 197 Member States of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in December of the same year. The elements resulted from a multi-stakeholder process organized by FAO. The HLPE is a science-policy interface of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) aiming to facilitate policy debates and to provide independent, comprehensive, and evidence-based analysis.
How did we get there? In 2017, the CFS requested the HLPE to produce a report on “Agroecological approaches and other innovations for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition.” In this report, the HLPE consolidated a list of 13 principles building on Nicholls et al. (2016), CIDSE (2018), and FAO (2018). These principles are now widely used by CSOs, NGOs, and researchers around the globe. Furthermore, the HLPE linked each principle to one of the three operational principles on sustainable food systems which they introduced in a report in 2016.
The 13 principles of agroecology
In their report, the HLPE defines an agroecological approach to sustainable food systems to achieve food security and nutrition:
Building on different sets of agroecological principles (Nicholls et al. 2016, CIDSE 2018, and FAO 2018), the HLPE aimed to find the smallest, non-repetitive but comprehensive set of principles and came up with the 13 principles of agroecology. While every agroecological principle is linked to one specific operational principle, oftentimes agroecological principles contribute to several operational principles.
Find more historical background and details under Definition and Principles.
Explore Agroecology
Agroecology is more than just a simple definition. Explore the concept and underlying principles by clicking on the pies in the chart!
Recycling
Preferentially use local renewable resources and close as far as possible resource cycles of nutrients and biomass.
Input reduction
Reduce or eliminate dependency on purchased inputs and increase self-sufficiency.
Soil health
Secure and enhance soil health and functioning for improved plant growth, particularly by managing organic matter and enhancing soil biological activity.
Animal health
Ensure animal health and welfare.
Biodiversity
Maintain and enhance diversity of species, functional diversity and genetic resources and thereby maintain overall agroecosystem biodiversity in time and space at field, farm and landscape scales.
Synergy
Enhance positive ecological interaction, synergy, integration and complementarity among the elements of agroecosystems (animals, crops, trees, soil and water).
Economic diversification
Diversify on-farm incomes by ensuring that small-scale farmers have greater financial independence and value addition opportunities while enabling them to respond to demand from consumers.
Co-creation of knowledge
Enhance co-creation and horizontal sharing of knowledge including local and scientific innovation, especially through farmer-to-farmer exchange.
Social values and diets
Build food systems based on the culture, identity, tradition, social and gender equity of local communities that provide healthy, diversified, seasonally and culturally appropriate diets.
Fairness
Support dignified and robust livelihoods for all actors engaged in food systems, especially small-scale food producers, based on fair trade, fair employment and fair treatment of intellectual property rights.
Connectivity
Ensure proximity and confidence between producers and consumers through promotion of fair and short distribution networks and by re-embedding food systems into local economies.
Land and natural resource governance
Strengthen institutional arrangements to improve, including the recognition and support of family farmers, smallholders and peasant food producers as sustainable managers of natural and genetic resources.
Participation
Encourage social organization and greater participation in decision-making by food producers and consumers to support decentralized governance and local adaptive management of agricultural and food systems.
The 13 Principles of agroecology (detailed)
Cluster: Improve Resource Efficiency
Recycling
Preferentially use local renewable resources and close as far as possible resource cycles of nutrients and biomass.
Input reduction
Reduce or eliminate dependency on purchased inputs and increase self-sufficiency.
Cluster: Improve Resource Efficiency
Soil health
Secure and enhance soil health and functioning for improved plant growth, particularly by managing organic matter and enhancing soil biological activity.
Animal health
Ensure animal health and welfare.
Biodiversity
Maintain and enhance diversity of species, functional diversity and genetic resources and thereby maintain overall agroecosystem biodiversity in time and space at field, farm and landscape scales.
Synergy
Enhance positive ecological interaction, synergy, integration and complementarity among the elements of agroecosystems (animals, crops, trees, soil and water).
Economic diversification
Diversify on-farm incomes by ensuring that small-scale farmers have greater financial independence and value addition opportunities while enabling them to respond to demand from consumers.
Cluster: Secure Social Equity
Co-creation of knowledge
Enhance co-creation and horizontal sharing of knowledge including local and scientific innovation, especially through farmer-to-farmer exchange.
Social values and diets
Build food systems based on the culture, identity, tradition, social and gender equity of local communities that provide healthy, diversified, seasonally and culturally appropriate diets.
Fairness
Support dignified and robust livelihoods for all actors engaged in food systems, especially small-scale food producers, based on fair trade, fair employment and fair treatment of intellectual property rights.
Connectivity
Ensure proximity and confidence between producers and consumers through promotion of fair and short distribution networks and by re-embedding food systems into local economies.
Land and natural resource governance
Strengthen institutional arrangements to improve, including the recognition and support of family farmers, smallholders and peasant food producers as sustainable managers of natural and genetic resources.
Participation
Encourage social organization and greater participation in decision-making by food producers and consumers to support decentralized governance and local adaptive management of agricultural and food systems.
Food system transformation and agroecology
Historical perspective
1930s: Early studies
Agroecology first appeared within the scientific literature in the 1930s as a combination of two traditional disciplines, agronomy and ecology, to study biological interactions between crops and other natural elements of the agro-ecosystem.
1960s: Lessons from indigenous agriclture
From the 60s-70s, this field of research has increasingly broaden its vision, by expending its scale of analysis (from plot to farm to landscape level), and integrating other disciplines (interdisciplinary approach including socioeconomic and political considerations). Those researchers were influenced by the study of indigenous agricultures that routinely incorporated mechanisms to accommodate crops to the variability of the natural environment and to protect them from predation and competition without the use of external inputs. The idea of valorising indigenous agricultural knowledge arise among practitioners. In parallel, the emergence of the ecologist movement, fuelled by the realization of the negative impacts of the green revolution, supported the early adoption of agroecological practices among some farmer communities.
1980s: Questioning the industrialized food system and social movement
In the 80s, it has provided a conceptual framework for the increasing promotion of agroecological practices both in developed and developing countries. Social advocates and grassroots movements are increasingly standing against industrial food system and in favour of small-scale farmers.
2000s: Towards a unified framework for agroecology
Since the 2000s, the agroecological framework has embraced the whole food system, defined as a global network of food production, distribution and consumption. Agroecology is recently increasingly promoted and discussed in various forum and appropriated by new actors. Recent years have seen the emergence of a convergence around agroecology, as shown by continental networks of researchers, students, practitioners and advocates, momentum around symposiums and forums. For instance, a few inter-governmental organizations, authoritative scientific or multi-stakeholder bodies coined internationally agreed definitions (e.g. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Health Organization (WHO), Committee on World Food Security (CFS), High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE)).
The evolution of agroecology as a scientific discipline, a set of practices and a movement.
