المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

Over a decade of work in the field of sustainable agriculture and food security, I have found agroecology not only the most promising approach, but perhaps the only one adequate to the complexity and scope of the challenge: meeting the sustainable development goal of ending world hunger without undermining the planet’s life support systems, in the context of climate change.

I want to echo the comments of others who have urged the HLPE to evaluate agroecology as an integrated approach, rather than attempting to break it down into discrete practices, technologies, or innovations. Meeting the objectives of the 2030 Agenda will require transformational change at scale, and it is my view that this scaling can only be achieved through the emergent properties of agroecology — the ecological and social outcomes achieved through the combination of and relationships among its constituent parts as a science, movement, and practice. In particular, I encourage the HLPE to consider the excellent work done by IPES-Food in their 2016 report, as I think this could provide a very helpful foundation for the HLPE process.

Finally, I want to echo another recommendation made by colleagues who have authored comments: the success of the HLPE process will hinge on whether it is perceived to be transparent and credible. It is critical that anyone participating in the process disclose all ties to private interests who stand to benefit from particular “innovations or “technologies.” Otherwise, scientific rigor will be comprised, and the very actors necessary to carry out the HLPE's recommendations will lose confidence in them.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment and for your efforts. I wish you all the best in this important work!