Title of document: Agroecology and the Food System Authors: A. Wezel and C. David Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Department of Agroecosystems, Environment and Production, ISARA Lyon (associated member of the University of Lyon), 23 rue Jean Baldassini, 69364 Lyon cedex 07, France Year of publication: 2012 Geographic focus: World wide Url original document: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226169779_Agroecology_and_the_Food_System Summary: On a global scale agriculture and food will face key challenges of properly feeding a population of nine billion individuals in 2050, while preserving the ecosystems from which other services are also expected, such as bioenergy production, biodiversity use and conservation, carbon storage and climate regulation. To develop future sustainable agricultural production and food systems, agronomic, ecological, economic and social challenges have to simultaneously be taken into account. The framework of agroecology applied on the food system could be a useful concept to support this development. Although the scale and dimension of scientific research in agroecology has been enlarged in the last years towards the food system approach, it is still difficult to outline clear concepts, new models and new methods that specify it.   Read More

Title of document: Are Local food Chains More Sustainable than Global Food Chains? Considerations for Assessment Authors: Gianluca Brunori, Francesca Galli, Dominique Barjolle, Rudolf van Broekhuizen, Luca Colombo, Mario Giampietro, James Kirwan, Tim Lang, Erik Mathijs, Damian Maye, Kees de Roest, Carin Rougoor, Jana Schwarz, Emilia Schmitt, Julie Smith, Zaklina Stojanovic , Talis Tisenkopfs and Jean-Marc Touzard Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: World wide Url original document: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/5/449 Summary: This paper summarizes the main findings of the GLAMUR project which starts with an apparently simple question: is “local” more sustainable than “global”? Sustainability assessment is framed within a post-normal science perspective, advocating the integration of public deliberation and scientific research. The assessment spans 39 local, intermediate and global supply chain case studies across different commodities and countries. Assessment criteria cover environmental, economic, social, health and ethical sustainability dimensions. A closer view of the food system demonstrates a highly dynamic local–global continuum where actors, while adapting to a changing environment, establish multiple relations and animate several chain configurations.   Read More

Title of document: Organic Agriculture as an Opportunity for Sustainable agricultural Development Authors: Verena Seufert Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Institute for the Study of International Development Year of publication: 2012 Geographic focus: World wide Url original document: https://www.mcgill.ca/isid/files/isid/seufert.pb13.pdf Summary:  We need drastic change in the global food system in order to achieve a more sustainable agriculture that feeds people adequately, contribute to rural development and provide livelihood to farmers without destroying the natural resource basis. Organic agriculture has been proposed as an important means for achieving this goals. Organic agriculture currently covers only a small area in developing countries but its extent is continuously growing as demand for organic products is increasing.   Read More

Title of document: Innovative Markets for Sustainable Agriculture. How innovations in market institutions encourage sustainable agriculture in developing countries Authors: Loconto, A.; Poisot, A.S.; Santacoloma, P. Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: FAO Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Developing countries Url original document: http://www.fao.org/publications/card/en/c/53d39282-ddd7-460c-a27f-3d5015eea7ca/ Summary: Between 2013 and 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) undertook a survey of innovative approaches that enable markets to act as incentives in the transition towards sustainable agriculture in developing countries. Through a competitive selection process, 15 cases from around the world provide insights into how small-scale initiatives that use sustainable production practices are supported by market demand, and create innovations in the institutions that govern sustainable practices and market exchanges. The results are: (i) system innovations that allow new rules for marketing and assuring the sustainable qualities of products; (ii) new forms of organization that permit actors to play multiple roles in the food system (e.g. farmer and auditor, farmer and researcher, consumer and auditor, consumer and intermediary); (iii) new forms of market exchange, such as box schemes, university kiosks, public procurement or systems of seed exchanges; and (iv) new technologies for sustainable agriculture (e.g. effective micro-organisms, biopesticides and soil analysis techniques). The public sector plays a key role in providing legitimate political and physical spaces for multiple actors to jointly create and share sustainable agricultural knowledge, practices and products.   Read More

Title of document: Making Rice Production More Environmentally-Friendly Authors: Norman Uphoff and Frank B. Dazzo Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: SRI International Network and Resources Center, International Programs, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: World wide Url original document: www.mdpi.com/journal/environment Summary: Irrigated rice production is one of the most essential agricultural activities for sustaining our global population, and at the same time, one of the agricultural sectors considered most eco-unfriendly. This is because it consumes a large share of available freshwater resources, competing with varied ecosystems as well as other economic sectors; its paddy fields are responsible for significant emission of greenhouse gases; and the reliance on chemical fertilizers and various agrochemicals contributes to pollution of soils and water systems.   Read More

Title of document: Permaculture/Agroecology System in Timor-Leste National School Curriculum for Basic Education   Authors: Eugenio Lemos   Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Feed the Future Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Timor-Leste Url original document: http://www.fao.org/3/a-bl923e.pdf Summary: Timor-Leste is a half Irland country with a total population of 1.2 million people; it is geographically situated between Asia and Pacific region. It is a tropical country and 80% of its population live in rural areas. Agriculture, fishery and forestry are the main economical mainstays.   Read More

Title of document: Lending credence: motivation, trust, and organic certification   Authors: Steve Holland   Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Holland Agricultural and Economics Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Global Url original document: https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaea15/205192.html Summary: Various forms of regulation are often used to improve the performance of markets when relevant information is lacking. A good example is markets for credence goods or goods with characteristics that are difficult or impossible for consumers to observe even after purchase and use.   Read More

Title of document: Toward thick legitimacy: creating a web of legitimacy for agroecology Authors: Maywa Montenegro de wit and Alastair Iles Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: University of Berkeley, California, US Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Global Url original document: http://food.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Iles-Montenegro-towards-legitimacy-for-agroecology.pdf Summary: Legitimacy is at the heart of knowledge politics surrounding agriculture and food. When people accept industrial food practices as credible and authoritative, they are consenting to their use and existence. With their thick legitimacy, industrial food systems paralyze the growth of alternative agricultures, including agroecology. Questions of how alternative agricultures can attain their own thick legitimacy in order to compete with, and displace, that of industrial food have not yet attracted much scrutiny. We show that both agroecological and scientific legitimacy grow out of a web of legitimation processes in the scientific, policy, political, legal, practice, and civic arenas. Crucially, legitimation often comes through meeting what we call ‘credibility tests’. Agroecologists can learn to navigate these co-constituted, multiple bases of legitimacy by paying attention to how credibility tests are currently being set in each arena, and beginning to recalibrate these tests to open more room for agroecology. Using a schematic of three non-exclusive pathways, we explore some possible practical interventions that agroecologists and other advocates of alternative agricultures could take. These pathways include: leveraging, while also reshaping, the existing standards and practices of science; extending influence into policy, legal, practical, and civic arenas; and centering attention on the ethical legitimacy of food systems. We conclude that agroecologists can benefit from considering how to build legitimacy for their work.   Read More

Title of document: Sustainable commercialization of new crop for the agricultural bieconomy   Authors: N.R. Jordan; K. Dorn; B. Runch; P. Ewing; A. Williams;  K.A. Anderson; L. Felice; K. Haralson; J. Goplen; K. Alterdorf; A. Fernandez; W. Phippen; J. Sedbrook; M. Marks; K. Wolf; D. Wyse; G. Johnson   Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Science of the Anthropocene Year of publication: 2016 Geographic focus: Global Url original document: elementascience.org Summary: Society is now calling on agriculture to provide goods and services that begin with enhanced production of food and other materials, but range far beyond. For example, agriculture is under increasing pressure to achieve complex sustainability goals such as food security, stewardship of biodiversity, compatibility with energy and water systems, and resilience to climate change and other potential shocks.   Read More

Title of document: Habitat eradication and cropland intensification may reduce parasitoid diversity and natural pest control services in annual crop fields   Authors: Deborah K. Letourneau; Sara G. Bothwell Allen; Robert R. Kula; Michael J. Sharkey; John O. Stireman   Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: Science of the Anthropocene Year of publication: 2015 Geographic focus: USA Url original document: elementascience.org Summary: Ecosystem services, through vital for the future of U.S. agricultural production and profitability are several threatened by agricultural intensification. Pollinator declines, persistent crop losses from pests, increase crop and water contamination and variable climate effects on project food production have prompted major research and policy initiatives in the U.S. and Europe targeting sustainable crop production and biodiversity conservation.   Read More