Strengthening Multi-Stakeholder Cooperation

Lead Organization:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Partner Organizations:

TAPE technical working group, whose members represent INTA/University of Gronigen, Cornell University, IRD, Friends of the Earth International, World Agroforestry, INRAE, CIMMYT, AVSF, La Vía Campesina, MAELA, and CIRAD; also Agroscope (Switzerland/Kenya), ARAA/ECOWAS (West Africa), ARFA (Burkina Faso), COLEAD (Benin), DCA (Cambodia, Nepal, Uganda), Diaconia (Brazil), DTEAP (Laos), Eclosio (Benin, Cambodia, Peru), ECOWAS (West Africa), Enabel (Benin), ENDA Pronat (Senegal), Haramaya University (Ethiopia), Iles de Paix (Tanzania), In Situ (Argentina), INTA (Argentina), IRPAD (Mali), Louvain Coopération (Cambodia, Madagascar), reNature (Kenya, Indonesia), RSDA (Lesotho), SPC (Pacific), Trócaire (Rwanda), ULB (Congo), UNAM (Mexico), Universidad Veracruzana (Mexico), VAAS (Vietnam); research methods support Stats4SD

OMSST, whose collaborators represent FAOSTAT, Koronivia joint work on agriculture, and Cornell University/Soil Factory

Agroecology Knowledge Hub (AKH) composed of IRPAD, Chulalongkorn University, Asian Institute of Technology, ASEAN Academic Network, SEARCA, FiBL, Coventry University, Agroecology Europe, SOCLA, Red PP-AL, CLACSO, Rede Sial (Brazil), IPES-Food, CIRAD, INRA, CGIAR, and TPP

Civil society organizations 3AO, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, Asian Peasant Coalition, Asiadhrra, CSA, China Digital Green, ELVC, Agency of Development Initiatives, MAELA, RIAM, RUPAP, IPC, CSM, IFOAM, PAN, and URGENCI

Private sector ROPPA, PROPAC, ESAFF, PELUM, COPROFAM, and Access Agriculture

Knowledge platforms Biovision Africa Trust, African Union, EOA Knowledge Hub Project, ALiSEA, LaoFAB, UNISECO, CELIA, WOCAT, and SIANI

NGOs or private foundations and donors Terre & Humanisme, Swissaid, Biovision, Groundswell International, PAN AP, SEI, Schola Campesina, Agroecology Europe, SDC, RADDO, Agroecology Fund, Global Alliance for the Future of Food, McKnight Foundation, OXFAM, GRET, ActionAid, World Rural Forum, SPC, and Agroecology Coalition

FAO working group through CoP on family farming and agroecology

Community of Practice:

Andes, East & Southern Africa, West Africa

Duration:

8/2023—8/2025

Overview:

Since 2015, FAO and McKnight have partnered to strengthen multi-stakeholder cooperation on agroecology, an important approach in transitioning toward more sustainable food systems and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This two-year project provides continuity.

FAO is eager to build on the first three projects and on the relationship between the McKnight team, FAO’s Ecosystem Approach to Sustainable Crop Production Intensification team (NSPED), and the Scaling up Agroecology Initiative, which seeks to embed agroecology, strengthen its theoretical consistency, and make it operational in selected countries and in regional and global processes linked to the SDGs, CBD, UNFCCC, and UNCCD. Members accompany and support AE transformation processes at different levels, through policy and technical capacity that builds synergies among countries and partners, fostering joint action on the ground.

The aim is to unleash agroecology’s potential to enable transformative change and facilitate sustainable agricultural and food systems through the scaling up, scaling out, and scaling deep of the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE) and the building of capacities in soil health restoration through decision-support tools that optimize organic matter recycling and climate change adaptation/mitigation. The AKH will play a central role as an established tool for information exchange and discussion. It is being upgraded and further consolidated as a resource on agroecology for all stakeholders, including governments, academia, social movements, NGOs, and donors.

As a specialized agency of the United Nations, FAO has a mandate to raise levels of nutrition and living standards for all people in member countries; secure improvements in the efficiency of production and distribution of food and agricultural products; contribute to expanding world economy and ensure humanity’s freedom from hunger; and best place the organization to execute the project and deliver quality and timely results. FAO supported the UN Food Systems Summit and supports food systems transformation through the Coalition on Agroecology and UN Food Systems Coordination Hub. FAO’s mandate and its 2022-2031 strategic framework seek to support the 2030 Agenda through more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems directly aligned with work on agroecology.

Outputs and Outcomes:

Outputs:

TAPE

  • Continuously tested and improved in various contexts to ensure scientific robustness and relevance
    • Nature of data, data collection, and analysis methodology improved; partner-reviewed during and after validation workshop
    • Creation of professional e-learning package in English with FAO e-learning academy
    • Automated data analysis options for partners
    • Access to data for implementing partners facilitated and public-facing interface created
  • Partner support for data management and participatory interpretation; TAPE stepwise approach applied or completed with data analyst
    • Partners supported in data collection strategy, implementation, and analysis
    • Partner input and guidance in participatory interpretation of results; policy dialogue with governments using data-supported evidence
    • Databases from different contexts; partners cleaned and analyzed
    • Continuously refined and supported database architecture and data collection tools
  • Collected data shared and discussed at national, subregional, regional, and global levels to inform evidence-based policymaking
    • Global database analyzed with cross-country analyses; results shared via reports, FAO and peer-reviewed publications, workshops, and events
    • Integrated policymaking at national, subregional, or regional level taking advantage of existing policy processes or events (e.g. Ecowas program on agroecology and FAO regional consultations)
    • Official reporting to governments and intergovernmental bodies, including COAG and FAO Council

OMSTT

  • Adapted to optimize organic matter use and management decision-making at district/community scale for enhanced soil health and climate change adaptation/mitigation
    • Multi-stakeholder workshops to co-develop inclusive and practical organic matter data collection process for each country/region
    • Capacity-building workshops to introduce and adapt OMSTT to context using spatial and temporal organic matter data collected at district/community scale per region
    • Field-testing adapted to context, linking hotspots of organic matter supply with hotspots of demand
    • Co-development of recycling optimization innovations supported by OMSTT
  • Evidence disseminated of OMSTT contribution to optimizing organic matter use and management for soil health and climate change adaptation/mitigation
    • Co-publication and webinar to share key results and lessons learned

AKH

  • Strengthening co-creation of knowledge through Agroecology Knowledge Hub and CoPs on family farming and agroecology
    • Enrich and update Hub content, strengthening interaction with CoP above
    • Bring together and facilitate interactions on topic of agroecology to strengthen participation in stakeholder network for inclusive dialogue

Outcomes:

TAPE

  • Policies and development interventions based on multidimensional and context specific data

OMSTT

  • National capacities built to optimize organic matter use and management for enhanced soil health and climate change adaptation/mitigation

AKH

  • Agroecological knowledge and information accessible to wider audience