Title of document: Proceedings of the National Thematic Workshop on "What performance Indicators for Assessing Agroecology Impacts ?"

Authors: Pierre Ferrand and Dr. Saythong Vilayvong

Ministry/Government Agency/Organisation: ALiSEA

Date: 29th November 2016

Location: LANITH, Vientiane, Laos

Geographic focus: Laos

Summary: Agro-ecological approaches are seen as convincing and evidence-based alternatives towards sustainable agriculture. They clearly aim at strengthening innovation capacity of family farms, as well as the recognition of their contribution to food sovereignty in the region. They cover technical, economic, societal and policy dimensions of agricultural production respectful of environment. They also contribute to poverty alleviation, food security, climate change mitigation and adaptation However, relying on conventional metrics to measure the performance of farming systems, it is hard to make the case for agroecology. To understand the impact of agroecology requires assessing the performance through a different lens.

This report presents the main findings of the discussions held during the 1 day workshop addressing performance indicators for agroecology impacts in Vientiane, Laos, on the 9th of November 2016.