In agricultural research there is the the risk of getting to specific, examining only a limited set of variables. Unless linked to a wider socio-technical context, this cannot be considered agroecology.
Social justice, including but not limited to gender equality is an important feature of the holistic character of agroecology
Agroecology as a science, should examine ALL agricultural systems for their functionality, respect of natural cycles, and productivity including ecosystem services. An agricultural system that fails to deliver in all these fronts should be abolished, regardless of the labels. It may very well be a way to evaluate agricultural systems but not in the same ways as quality standards (organic, globalGap) function.
There is, and can never be anything ecological about pushing the productivity limits of an ecosystem, hence intensification cannot be ecological, and cannot be sustainable.
Adopting agroecological methods should not mean disregarding technology. In the near past, ancient techniques that had stood the test of time have been disregarded due to the need to produce as many calories per unit area as possible. It is time that modern technology explores way to render agroecological methods more productive (in terms of quantity and quality of the produce as well as providing ecosystem services).
I believe the report needs to highlight how innovations related to agroecology integrate with agroecology principles, rather than create further divide between smallholders and large scale farmers. Precision agriculture holds a lot of promise for conventional farming, but has little value for a system where nature does most of the work (balancing trophic relationships, buffering, regulating nutrient and energy flow) Technology can help us understand how these mechanisms work, and the best way to support and protect them.
In that sense, Agroecology does not belong to a specific party, it is the right of everyone to understand the processes that bring food to their table, and how food affects their health. Peasant movements have been amply using agroecology in their own narrative, and since the term became a buzzword, it is easy to be coopted by other parties to confer some legitimacy over their practices.
SImilarly, agroecology does not belong to academia alone, that being said, the term agroeco-logy excludes a priori those who do not have a scientific background.
An agroecology policy hence, is not the answer to support the mainstreaming of agroecology. Let us be guided by the principles of agroecology rather than by the term alone and push for policies that favour the emergence of social movements that support agroecology, and co-create a social infrastructure that favours self organization, knowledge flow and cooperation. This also means our educational systems need to support the emancipation of people, and prompting them to think critically and make choices that favour them, and not the big corporates alone.
It is also important to reach consensus about the agroecology that we all want, if it is peasant agroecology (via campesina), science agroecology (universities and research), hipster agroecology (permaculture) political agroecology (e.g. French and Brazilian governments), or corporate agroecology (claims that precision agriculture, sustainable intensification, and climate smart agriculture are agroecology!).
In order to practice agroecology and harness its multiple benefits that research has been showing over the last few decades, we need organizational structures that favour dialogue, and bringing our humanness into the work we do, all of it, and acnowledges the value that each one of us brings to the collective. In less poetic terms we need small agri-food business ecosystems that thrive on agroecological methods and practices, where different actors can listen and respond to each other. We also need knowledge systems that are open, resilient and diverse, favoured by the afore mentioned organizational structures. Last but not least we need farmers with vision and understanding who work and interact with the agricultural landscape as a living being, because in reality, it is!
Tarek Soliman