A highly concentrated global food system delinked from local smallholder farms has proved unable to solve our accelerating food crises. 

Agroecology is central to building the healthy and resilient local food systems we urgently need in the face of increasing global uncertainty.

The COVID-19 pandemic that paralyzed most of the world in 2020 was not the sole cause of food and income insecurities, but it exacerbated existing inequalities and vulnerabilities, especially among small-scale farmers in rural and Indigenous communities. 

For decades, the food security and inequality gaps have been growing due to too much reliance on industrialized food systems. Such unsustainable approaches to agriculture contribute to climate change, biodiversity loss, the depletion of natural resources, and increased poverty and malnourishment. Meanwhile government policies and international funds continue to be biased in favor of industrialized, input-intensive agricultural systems.