Learning & Exchange
At its roots, agroecology is about iterative, applied learning. The lessons from this learning are best shared – for practical application – by the very organizations and networks that are engaged in on-the-ground science, practice and advocacy.
This commitment to collective “action-reflection-action” is what makes a movement strong.
In addition to our grant program, The Agroecology Fund is honored to provide support for participatory action and learning to leading organizations and networks in their territories.
While shifting funding toward agroecology is our primary mission, creating space for learning, facilitating research and collaborating across geographies is also central to our work.
Building A Case For Agroecology
Through Grassroots Evidence for Agroecology (GEA) program, we provide additional support to grantees for evidence-building based on documentation and analysis of their achievements. With the hands-on support of Statistics for Sustainable Development, we’ve developed and now offer a multi-lingual e-course to support grantees in building a clear process for building an evidence-based case for agroecology.
Global Connection and Learning
Every three years, we hold a global learning exchange among grantees, advisors and donors. The first one was in Uganda in 2016, the second in India in 2020 and the third will be in Mexico in 2025. Because the number of Agroecology Fund grantees has expanded enormously, we will hold three regional learning exchanges in 2024 and 2025, one each in Asia and Africa with the third in the Americas. The gatherings serve to share knowledge and experience and to find common grounds for collaboration. Additionally, the learning exchanges serve as a “Global Assembly” for the Agroecology Fund to share its strategy and seek course corrections from the grantee community. It is an opportunity for the Agroecology Fund to be transparent and accountable.
Each year, we host numerous Conversation Circles for grantees, donors, advisors, and allies, as well as webinars for the general public. These offerings are designed as a way for the Agroecology Fund community to both engage in intimate conversation to listen and learn from each other’s work as well as to share learnings with a broad, global audience.
Participatory Action Research
We currently support two multi-country participatory action research (PAR) processes . Why PAR? Because deep and relevant research is carried out, applied and disseminated by the people closest to the problems they seek to solve. It is farmers, consumers and policy makers who most pose their burning questions, for example, how can we strengthen local agroecological markets or how can we best advocate for agroecology to be featured and funded in national climate action plans?
We support seven Latin American and Caribbean agroecology collaboratives to investigate their questions about scaling agroecology – from field practices to marketing. The Agroecology Massification program of the Mexican University, ECOSUR, is providing scientific facilitation to the research cohort. Simultaneously, we are implementing a 12 country initiative bringing farmers, consumers, academics and policy makers together to explore effective advocacy strategies for public policies that advance agroecology as a climate solution.
