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Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) for agroecology transitions
Adequate performance metrics and agreed monitoring frameworks are essential for monitoring progress of agroecology transitions, evaluate the cost-effectiveness of policy instruments chosen, ensure learning from experiences, and eventually make adjustments to policies. In addition, there is a need to identify appropriate institutional responsibility, authority and resources for leading M&E on agroecology transitions at the national level. Ideally, M&E systems and frameworks provide direct input to policy processes and agenda setting, long-term research agendas, and transparent and inclusive follow-up and review, as relevant and appropriate for each country’s context.
Monitoring transition at different levels
Current frameworks for measuring agricultural development tend to focus on yields, volumes and incomes, and do not value the multi-functionality of agriculture (Caron et al., 2008). Monitoring agroecology transition requires an assessment of a wide range of criteria at three different levels as shown in the table below.
System level | Example indicators |
|---|---|
Fields and farms | Productivity, soil fertility, pesticide exposure, water use efficiency, GHG emissions |
Landscapes and territories | Biodiversity, land tenure, circularity of resource use, regulatory compliance, dietary diversity |
Macro social and economic | Food safety and security, agroecology investments, trade and employment, research and extension capacity |
Engaging stakeholders
Co-creation and participatory approaches support all stages of M&E. Family farmers, agrifood companies, government agencies, NGOs and donors, are among the stakeholders who can be engaged in identifying indicators, collection of data and analysis and can also benefit from the knowledge generated through the M&E system. Each group is more likely to use M&E results to improve their performance against the agroecology indicators if they have been involved throughout the M&E process. Changing patterns of land use, trends in production practices, levels of emissions and residues, regulatory compliance and market behavior are among indicators that can be tracked via digital technologies including hand-held sensors, smartphone applications, remote sensing, drones, robotics and blockchain technology, among others.
The following tools have already been tested in several countries, involving a wide range of stakeholders. Each is designed to assess different aspects of the agroecology transition.
M&E tool | Primary users | Online resources | Online resource 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation | Producers (farmers, agriculture departments, technical advisers), policy makers and development stakeholders | https://www.fao.org/agroecology/tools-tape/en/ | https://openknowledge.fao.org/bitstreams/8ad4bb1b-c06d-4260-835e-564698493149/download |
Working Group on Agroecological Transitions Method | Development stakeholders | https://www.avsf.org/app/uploads/2023/12/memento-gret-uk-web-pages.pdf | |
Business Agroecology Criteria Tool | Private sector: investors, entrepreneurs and companies | https://www.agroecology-pool.org/b-act/ | https://www.agroecology-pool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/B-ACT_User_Guide__final.pdf |
Agroecology Financing Analysis Toolkit | Public sector: government planning ministries and development agencies | https://agroecology-coalition.org/agroecology-finance-assessment-tool/ | https://psa.copsam.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/agroecology_financial_toolkit.pdf |