Thanks for the invitation to give feedback on the proposed draft scope of the HLPE report. After reading through the proposal we have a few suggestions for improvement:
1) We think the term 'agroecology' needs to be defined more clearly.
2) 'Other innovative approaches' also needs more specification, as this could now mean anything.
3) We would like to emphasise that 'agroecology' is a tool, not an objective.
4) We suggest that as a first step, you assess the available innovative approaches, practices and technologies (as mentioned in bullet point 3) and that as a second step, you consider the appropriate regulations, standards, instruments, processes and governance mechanisms to support the implementation of promising options.
5) The previous point (4) needs differentiation for different regions as it probably depends on occurring soils, climate, current use or access to inputs and existing institutions.
6) As a first (broad) differentiation, a first distinction can be made into a) regions with higher yields (smaller yield gaps) and associated larger risks on environmental pollution and b) regions with lower yields (larger yield gaps) with a higher need to intensify production and/or a risk of soil nutrient mining.
7) We suggest to include both more organically oriented solutions as well as more technically and/or chemically oriented solutions in your analysis as both might have their merits.
Best of luck with the report.
Kind regards, Lotte Woittiez and Renske Hijbeek (Wageningen University, Plant Production Systems)
Renske & Lotte Hijbeek & Woittiez