Globally, agriculture is highly dependent on prevailing climate and weather conditions as well as natural resources such as soils. Soil is a non-renewable resource, and its unsustainable use leads to erosion, nutrient depletion and degradation. In some cases, the consequences are irreversible destruction of soil ecosystems and, in the case of agricultural ecosystems, a decline in yields as soils lose their productivity. In addition, soil degradation increases vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and contributes to further greenhouse gas emissions, e.g. through the loss of sequestered carbon and biodiversity. These interactions can have major impacts on farmers’ income, people’s food security and all rural livelihoods. In order to protect agricultural soils and ensure sustainable food production, as well as to contribute to climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation, the socio-ecological transformation of agricultural and food systems is an urgent need.

As “an integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of food and agricultural systems…” (FAO, 2018) agroecology is considered to have great potential for the socio-ecological transformation of agri-food systems. Agroecology can be understood as a scientific discipline, a set of farming practices and a social movement and as such extends far beyond farming practices.