Agroecology Criteria and Coding Procedure

The 5 levels of food system framework should be used to locate activities rather than as a pathway for change from 1 to 5. Nonetheless, for initiatives focused on the farm-level to be identified as agroecological, they must engage with level 3 change. Engage ment solely with level 1 and/or 2 indicates initiative engaged with incremental change rather than agroecological transformation. Likewise, initiatives engaged with level 4 and/or 5 may be identified as ‘social enablers’, and as ‘systemic’ if engagement with level 3 is also apparent.

Level 0

Industrial agriculture

Relevant projects that do not fit any of the criteria of transition were considered at Level 0, i.e. projects corresponding to a business-as-usual industrial agriculture paradigm. This includes projects that improve agricultural productivity through adoption of new technologies without any reference to other components of Levels 1-3, or approaches focussed solely on increasing profit and productivity with no other sustainability consideration, or environmental or social benefits. Projects that addressed environmental and social externalities of the current agricultural system (but without an accompanying focus on transition to different practices) were classified separately as ‘‘symptoms’’.

Level 1 and/or 2 present

Efficiency and substitution

While projects corresponding to Levels 1 and 2 may be delivering sustainability improvements, and may in the future evolve into more ambitious projects, there is no guarantee that they are steps towards agroecosystem redesign and food system transformation. These projects are singled out in the data, but for the purposes of this analysis are not considered as funding flows to agroecology/ agroecological research.

Projects meeting at least one criterion at Level 3 were considered ‘agroecological’. Such projects were regarded as having transformational potential, as they are based on the redesign of the agroecosystem to operate according to a new set of ecological processes. In practice, this entails research that seeks to integrate various elements of farming systems by fostering multiple levels of interaction, identifying key ecological functions, and placing particular emphasis on enhancing the diversity and resilience of the system as a whole. A central component of agroecological redesign is recognising the complexity of interactions within agroecosystems and optimising the resulting synergies.

Level 3 present

Agroecological

The transformational potential is even greater where a research project or programme combines agroecosystem redesign (Level 3) with a focus on broader political and socio-economic changes (Levels 4 and 5). Research spanning Level 3 alongside Levels 4 and 5 is therefore particularly significant and is sometimes referred to in the subsequent case studies as ‘systemic’.

Level 3 + 4 / 5

Systemic

Level 4 and/or 5 only

Social enablers

Projects meeting at least one criterion at Level 3 were considered ‘agroecological’. Such projects were regarded as having transformational potential, as they are based on the redesign of the agroecosystem to operate according to a new set of ecological processes. In practice, this entails research that seeks to integrate various elements of farming systems by fostering multiple levels of interaction, identifying key ecological functions, and placing particular emphasis on enhancing the diversity and resilience of the system as a whole. A central component of agroecological redesign is recognising the complexity of interactions within agroecosystems and optimising the resulting synergies.