Erratum sur volume 38 numéro 4: WOS: 000438242300003 DOI:10.1007/s13593-018-0515-5 ; International audience Due to an unfortunate turn of events, the names of the authors appeared incorrectly in the original publication as given names and family names have been reversed. The correct representation of the authors' names is listed above and below and should be treated as definitive.
National audience ; Agroecology aims to promote sustainable food systems, respectful of people and the environment. These systems involve agricultural production methods and sectors which value the ecological, economic and social potential of a territory. Their development relies on transdisciplinary approaches which bring together professionals from the agricultural world, scientists, actors of agroecology and public policy social movements. ; L'agroécologie vise à promouvoir des systèmes alimentaires viables respectueux des hommes et de leur environnement. Ces systèmes engagent des modes de productions agricoles et des filières valorisant les potentialités écologiques, économiques et sociales d'un territoire. Leur développement s'appuie sur des approches transdisciplinaires réunissant professionnels du monde agricole, scientifiques, acteurs des mouvements sociaux de l'agroécologie et des politiques publiques.
National audience ; Agroecology aims to promote sustainable food systems, respectful of people and the environment. These systems involve agricultural production methods and sectors which value the ecological, economic and social potential of a territory. Their development relies on transdisciplinary approaches which bring together professionals from the agricultural world, scientists, actors of agroecology and public policy social movements. ; L'agroécologie vise à promouvoir des systèmes alimentaires viables respectueux des hommes et de leur environnement. Ces systèmes engagent des modes de productions agricoles et des filières valorisant les potentialités écologiques, économiques et sociales d'un territoire. Leur développement s'appuie sur des approches transdisciplinaires réunissant professionnels du monde agricole, scientifiques, acteurs des mouvements sociaux de l'agroécologie et des politiques publiques.
Les politiques agricoles sont à la croisée des chemins du « Produire autrement » de la politique nationale et de la redéfinition des politiques européennes : révision de la Politique agricole commune (PAC), mise en place des Partenariats européens d'innovation (PEI) et gestion renforcée des fonds européens par les Régions (FEADER). Le concept d'agroécologie est aujourd'hui au cœur d'un vaste ensemble de mesures visant à moderniser les agricultures pour une triple performance : renforcer la compétitivité, mieux maîtriser leurs impacts environnementaux et réaffirmer le lien entre activités et territoires de production. Ce Focus se propose de clarifier le concept d'agroécologie, en examinant ce qu'il sous-tend en matière d'évolution des pratiques, mais aussi d'accompagnement des producteurs fortement incités à innover pour développer une agriculture durable.
Les politiques agricoles sont à la croisée des chemins du « Produire autrement » de la politique nationale et de la redéfinition des politiques européennes : révision de la Politique agricole commune (PAC), mise en place des Partenariats européens d'innovation (PEI) et gestion renforcée des fonds européens par les Régions (FEADER). Le concept d'agroécologie est aujourd'hui au cœur d'un vaste ensemble de mesures visant à moderniser les agricultures pour une triple performance : renforcer la compétitivité, mieux maîtriser leurs impacts environnementaux et réaffirmer le lien entre activités et territoires de production. Ce Focus se propose de clarifier le concept d'agroécologie, en examinant ce qu'il sous-tend en matière d'évolution des pratiques, mais aussi d'accompagnement des producteurs fortement incités à innover pour développer une agriculture durable.
European cropping systems are often characterized by short rotations or even monocropping, leading to environmental issues such as soil degradation, water eutrophication, and air pollution including greenhouse gas emissions, that contribute to climate change and biodiversity loss. The use of diversification practices (i.e., intercropping, multiple cropping including cover cropping and rotation extension), may help enhance agrobiodiversity and deliver ecosystem services while developing new value chains. Despite its benefits, crop diversification is hindered by various technical, organizational, and institutional barriers along value chains (input industries, farms, trading and processing industries, retailers, and consumers) and within sociotechnical systems (policy, research, education, regulation and advisory). Six EU-funded research projects have joined forces to boost crop diversification by creating the European Crop Diversification Cluster (CDC). This Cluster aggregates research, innovation, commercial and citizen-focused partnerships to identify and remove barriers across the agrifood system and thus enables the uptake of diversification measures by all European value-chain stakeholders. The CDC will produce a typology of barriers, develop tools to accompany actors in their transition, harmonize the use of multicriteria assessment indicators, prepare policy recommendations and pave the way for a long-term network on crop diversification.
This report represents the initial effort to structure existing knowledge about agroecology as farming and food system in support of the EC Knowledge Centre on Food and Nutrition Security (https://ec.europa.eu/knowledge4policy/global-food-nutrition-security_en). Scientific literature has been screened on a selection of developing countries in which food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture represent a focal sector for EU intervention (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Zimbabwe). In total, 172 documents have been synthesised, a country brief has been prepared for each investigated country, and some general conclusions have been drawn. Overall, the majority of analysed publications focuses on small scale, extensive farming systems that produce food at subsistence levels and for sale on local markets. This includes smallholder farming producing staple crops (millet, sorghum, yam, etc.) or vegetable gardening for local markets. The agroecological practices that are mostly studied are: agroforestry, intercropping (or mixed cropping), introduction of legumes in rotations, soil and water conservation practices (mulching, return of crop residues, zaï holes etc.), use of animal manure, biocontrol methods to mitigate chemical pesticide use. At least 50% of the analysed papers report a positive contribution of agroecological practices to food security, mostly due to improved yields and/or a better economic situation of producers. The improvement of soil quality is key to improve yields and consequently income and food security; this can be achieved using various practices including the use of residue mulch from tree leaves in agroforestry, as well as crop mixtures or intercropping and longer more diversified crop rotations. Moreover, higher on-farm crop species diversity often results in more diversified diets. Diversified crop systems, including the introduction of agroforestry, improve household nutritional status and have positive links to better health conditions. On the other hand, the lack of access to inputs is an important limitation to the improvement of soil fertility (manure, mineral fertilizer, leaf litter, etc.), which remains a major hindrance for food security. The agroecological cultivation of cash crops, post-harvest practices and crop-livestock integration were overall lacking in the scientific analyses, as well as the assessments of fully agroecological systems compared to individual agroecological practices or groups of practices. The report identifies three factors required for the substantial development of agroecology at the farm level: more financial support from the government, greater scientific knowledge on novel agroecological practices, and a higher market value for agroecological products.
This report represents the initial effort to structure existing knowledge about agroecology as farming and food system in support of the EC Knowledge Centre on Food and Nutrition Security (https://ec.europa.eu/knowledge4policy/global-food-nutrition-security_en). Scientific literature has been screened on a selection of developing countries in which food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture represent a focal sector for EU intervention (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Zimbabwe). In total, 172 documents have been synthesised, a country brief has been prepared for each investigated country, and some general conclusions have been drawn. Overall, the majority of analysed publications focuses on small scale, extensive farming systems that produce food at subsistence levels and for sale on local markets. This includes smallholder farming producing staple crops (millet, sorghum, yam, etc.) or vegetable gardening for local markets. The agroecological practices that are mostly studied are: agroforestry, intercropping (or mixed cropping), introduction of legumes in rotations, soil and water conservation practices (mulching, return of crop residues, zaï holes etc.), use of animal manure, biocontrol methods to mitigate chemical pesticide use. At least 50% of the analysed papers report a positive contribution of agroecological practices to food security, mostly due to improved yields and/or a better economic situation of producers. The improvement of soil quality is key to improve yields and consequently income and food security; this can be achieved using various practices including the use of residue mulch from tree leaves in agroforestry, as well as crop mixtures or intercropping and longer more diversified crop rotations. Moreover, higher on-farm crop species diversity often results in more diversified diets. Diversified crop systems, including the introduction of agroforestry, improve household nutritional status and have positive links to better health conditions. On the other hand, the lack of access to inputs is an important limitation to the improvement of soil fertility (manure, mineral fertilizer, leaf litter, etc.), which remains a major hindrance for food security. The agroecological cultivation of cash crops, post-harvest practices and crop-livestock integration were overall lacking in the scientific analyses, as well as the assessments of fully agroecological systems compared to individual agroecological practices or groups of practices. Increasing financial support from the government, of scientific knowledge on practices alternative to what currently applied, higher market value for agroecological products have been identified as important factors to be improved for the development of agroecology at the farm level.
