Report on Key Barriers of Agro-ecological Farming Systems in Europe and Co-constructed Strategies
Creators: name: Schwarz, Gerald
name: Prazan, Jaroslav
name: Landert, Jan
name: Miller, David
name: Vanni, Francesco
name: Carolus, Johannes
name: Weisshaidinger, Rainer
name: Bartel-Kratochvil, Ruth
name: Mayer, Andreas
name: Frick, Rebekka
name: Hrabalová, Andrea
name: Linares Quero, Alba
name: Iragui, Uxue
name: Astrain Massa, Carlos
name: Helin, Janne
name: Huismann, David
name: Guisepelli, Emmanuel
name: Fleury, Philippe
name: Vincent, Audrey
name: Smyrniotopoulou, Alexandra
name: Vlahos, George
name: Balázs, Katalin
name: Szilágyi, Alfred
name: Podmaniczky, Laszlo
name: Gava, Oriana
name: Povellato, Andrea
name: Galioto, Francesco
name: Zīlāns, Andis
name: Veidemane, Kristina
name: Gulbinas, Justas
name: Jegelevičius, Gražvydas
name: Myškyté, Elvyra
name: Frățilă, Mihaela
name: Cazacu, Mara
name: Resare Sahlin, Kajsa
name: Röös, Elin
name: Pia, Chiara
name: Kyle, Carol
name: Irvine, Kate
name: Albanito, Fabrizio
name: Smith, Pete
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Agroecology
Agro-ecological transition
Farming system
Multi-Actor Platform

description: The overall objective of this report is to summarise the analysis of barriers and drivers hindering or facilitating the implementation of agro-ecological practices, and the strategies identified that address the barriers and drivers of agro-ecological transitions in the context of the 15 UNISECO case studies. The co-construction of the transition strategies with the local actors aims to propose changes in the governance of the farming system to address the key barriers and drivers of implementing the practices, and to identify market and policy incentives that are expected to support an agro-ecological transition. Particular attention is paid on how cooperation between actors can help to address the key drivers and barriers. Key aspects for successful agro-ecological transitions are improved knowledge on the benefits of agro-ecological practices and economic opportunities, the importance of education, training and life-long learning, and mature social capital and strengthened collaborative action and collective institutions in agro-ecological value chains. This would enable higher prices to be charged for agro-ecological products and utilise the potential of agro-ecological farming to be economically viable. Such processes need to be supported by policy and the public sector, to address issues of economic exploitation and power relations as well as problems of over-consumption and food waste in food chains, with implications for public health, social justice and food security. The outcome of the co-construction of the strategies has informed: i) the assessment of trade-offs at farm level (Albanito <em>et al.</em>, 2021, Deliverable D3.5) by providing information on the farm management changes and agro-ecological practices that are seen as effective and acceptable; ii) the multi-criteria assessment of policy instruments and incentives (Galioto <em>et al.</em>, 2021, Deliverable D5.4) by identifying innovative market and policy incentives that are suitable to promote agro-ecological transition; and iii) the lessons learnt for agro-ecological transitions reflecting the different local and place-based context of the story maps from each case study (Landert <em>et al.</em>, 2021, Deliverable D3.6). This document is Deliverable D3.4 in Work package “Assessment at farm level” of the EU Horizon 2020 project UNISECO. UNISECO is a European research project aiming to develop innovative approaches to enhance the understanding of socio-economic and policy drivers and barriers for further development and implementation of agro-ecological practices in EU farming systems. Learn more about the project on: https://uniseco-project.eu/ This project has received funding from the European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 773901. This publication reflects only the authors' view and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.