Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Katharina J. F. Schiller, Laurens Klerkx, Dennis Jose Salazar Centeno, P. Marijn Poortvliet
Summary: This paper examines the ongoing transition to agroecology in Nicaragua and the role of knowledge flows and intermediary actors in shaping this transition. The study reveals that the focus of knowledge processes and the functions of intermediaries have shifted over time. Dedicated intermediaries and actors moving between niche and regime have played key roles in promoting agroecology. The study also identifies areas where the transition dynamics lag and suggests entry points for broader systems change.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Diego Rubiales, Paolo Annicchiarico, Maria Carlota Vaz Patto, Bernadette Julier
Summary: Expanding legume crop cultivation is crucial for the agroecological transition of global agri-food systems, but faces challenges in Europe. Plant breeding, innovative selection procedures, and research in crop quality traits are key in enhancing crop yield and resilience to changing climates.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Jose Francisco Orozco-Melendez, Jaime Paneque-Galvez
Summary: Recent research suggests an urgent need to shift to agroecology to address problems caused by corporate food systems. In the Global South, peasant communities, indigenous peoples, and grassroots organizations have already initiated various agroecological initiatives. This study explores the potential of grassroots groups in the Global South to create innovative solutions for transitioning to a more just and sustainable food system based on agroecology.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Diana Sietz, Sebastian Klimek, Jens Dauber
Summary: Agriculture can improve farmland biodiversity and food system sustainability by adopting agroecological principles. Advances in agricultural chemistry and intensified food production in the 19th century led to a crisis in farmland biodiversity. Current economic incentives exacerbate this crisis. To restore farmland biodiversity, a future pathway concept and agricultural methods based on the characteristics of agricultural land are required.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Hugo de Vries
Summary: Food science and technology plays a crucial role in achieving more sustainable outcomes in food systems, as it deals with all elements of complex systems and the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. Its scientific and practical approaches enable it to provide ingredients for policy making and innovation.
TRENDS IN FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Aniek Hebinck, Laurens Klerkx, Boelie Elzen, Kristiaan P. W. Kok, Bettina Koenig, Katharina Schiller, Julia Tschersich, Barbara van Mierlo, Timo von Wirth
Summary: The dominant agricultural and food systems are causing continuous resource depletion and negative environmental and social impacts. There is a call for new research in sustainability transitions to address the global challenges faced by agri-food systems, focusing on dynamics between coupled systems, social justice and equity, transitions in low- and middle-income countries, and cross-sectoral governance and integration. This research aims to move beyond single-scale and sector perspectives towards more inclusive and comprehensive analyses of food system dynamics.
ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION AND SOCIETAL TRANSITIONS
(2021)
Review
Ecology
Maria Jose LaRota-Aguilera, Olga Lucia Delgadillo-Vargas, Enric Tello
Summary: This article provides a review of studies on social metabolism (SM) and sociometabolic transitions (SMTs) in Latin America, discussing the conceptual and methodological approaches used, the geographical scales of analysis, and the periods studied. The article highlights the need for more comprehensive research that integrates national data with local case studies to understand how inequality has shaped agricultural development in the region.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Tong Zou, Ayotunde Dawodu, Eugenio Mangi, Ali Cheshmehzangi
Summary: The current global food system is facing significant threats due to various factors, and there is a lack of comprehensive tools for assessing urban food system sustainability. This study aims to investigate the impacts of food system studies on sustainable communities or cities and develop a framework for urban food systems.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Hugo de Vries, Mechthild Donner, Monique Axelos
Summary: This study views food systems as open thermodynamic systems and argues that sustainable food systems are complex adaptive systems evolving in a melting zone between frozen states and chaos. Players and pieces are influenced by four fundamental forces in physics.
TRENDS IN FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Frederik De Roeck, Katrien Van Poeck
Summary: This article makes a conceptual and analytical contribution to the study of agency in transitions by introducing transactional pragmatism and emphasizing the importance of habits as a central mechanism. It highlights the need to understand how structures enable or constrain action and how actors build structures through constant functional coordination with their environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION AND SOCIETAL TRANSITIONS
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Veronique Bellon-Maurel, Evelyne Lutton, Pierre Bisquert, Ludovic Brossard, Stephanie Chambaron-Ginhac, Pierre Labarthe, Philippe Lagacherie, Francois Martignac, Jerome Molenat, Nicolas Pairsy, Sebastien Picault, Isabelle Piot-Lepetit, Isabelle Veissier
Summary: Digital agriculture, based on new data sources, processing methods, and inter-connection capacities, opens up prospects for accelerating the deployment of other forms of agriculture. It is important to redirect researchers specialized in digital technologies towards these new issues and build a specific research agenda.
AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Annet C. Hoek, Shirin Malekpour, Rob Raven, Eli Court, Emily Byrne
Summary: This paper analyzes the factors influencing decision making for sustainable food practices, highlighting the interaction between individuals and more sustainable practices/products, as well as the importance of environmental contexts in decision-making.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Aparna Katre, Teresa Bertossi, Abigail Clarke-Sather, Mary Parsatoon
Summary: Nutritional diseases, food insecurity, ecological devastation, and limited farmer livelihoods are unintended consequences when addressing these challenges separately. Agroecology provides a holistic understanding of a community's food system dynamics and offers pathways to transition to a sustainable food system. Using the Duluth-Northland region in Minnesota, USA as a case study, this research combines participatory action research, agroecology, and sustainability transitions literature to analyze the regional food flows, identify factors that enable or inhibit the food system, and explore opportunities to transition to a sustainable food system using agroecological principles.
Review
Agronomy
Julie Duval, Sylvie Cournut, Nathalie Hostiou
Summary: The livestock farming sector is facing challenges with declining interest in becoming livestock farmers. Agroecology is seen as a sustainable solution to this issue. Limited research has been conducted on farmers' working conditions in agroecological farming systems, with a lack of comprehensive multidimensional approaches to study the topic.
AGRONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Studies
Javier Sanz-Canada, Jose Luis Sanchez-Hernandez, Daniel Lopez-Garcia
Summary: This paper introduces a new concept called Local Agroecological Food Systems (LAEFS), which focuses on both local food identity and agroecological principles. By exploring five axes of analysis, the paper aims to distinguish LAEFS from Local Agro-food Systems (LAFS) and propose strategies for the sustainable development of LAEFS. The strategies include finding a compromise between sectoral specialization and diversified economic structure, shortening food channels, establishing new institutional formulas, developing participatory governance, and reorganizing rural-urban linkages.