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Metrics

to support Agroecological TRANSITIONS for building resilient and inclusive agricultural and food systems
To accelerate the transition towards agroecological approaches, several critical questions need to be addressed, including: how to measure agricultural performance in ways that allow equitable comparison; how to ensure shifts towards agroecology are sustainable and equitable; what roles the public and private sectors should play in such a transition; and what kinds of tools and resources will best support widespread and systemic change.

Project scope and aim

  • Conventional metrics of agricultural interventions limit performance to a narrow set of productivity measures, such as yield or income. Such approaches fail to capture the externalities of agriculture, including its impact on farmer livelihoods and health, biodiversity and ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions and food system resilience to name a few. In this project, we seek to develop novel, holistic metrics of food system performance through embedding participatory research in on-going agroecological development projects across eight countries in the global south. Through these partnerships, as well as the Agroecology TPP, we will develop, test and disseminate novel metrics that support national goals and put agroecology on a level playing field with other agricultural development approaches.
  • Through the participatory development and testing of novel metrics for the performance of agriculture and food systems, a holistic monitoring framework will be developed that enables governments, project managers and other actors to assess the impact of agricultural interventions on economic, environmental and social outcomes.

Modality

Component 1: Holistic Metrics Development

This component will assess the current state of performance metrics for agriculture and food systems through a systematic review. Current metrics and assessment tools will be evaluated on their ability to capture agroecological principles, scales of operation and ease of use. Then, through transdisciplinary and transgeographic working groups, we will develop a framework for holistic assessment of food systems at field, farm / household, landscape and food system scales. A searchable database of metrics, both existing and novel, will be developed.

Component 2: Testing and Evaluation of Metrics

This component will iteratively test candidate holistic performance metrics across scales and geographies in the partner projects in eight countries. Metrics will be participatorily assessed on relevance, usability, and utility to the field teams and end users.Holistic assessments of food systems across scales resulting from field data collection will be compared to conventional monitoring approaches.

Component 3: Supporting Uptake of Metrics

The component will develop supporting information including guidance and protocols for use of holistic metrics, as well as engage stakeholders to position holistic agricultural and food system performance metrics to inform management, planning, policy, and investment decisions.

Location and Partners

METRICS is part of the TRANSITIONS program and will capitalize on Agroecology TPP partnerships with ongoing agroecology projects in eight countries to develop and test candidate metrics for holistic assessment of food system performance across scales works across 8 countries.

Asia: India, Vietnam

Africa: Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Burkina Faso

Latin America: Brazil, Peru

Donors

The METRICS project is part of the TRANSITIONS programme and implemented by The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, CIFOR-ICRAF, IRRI, IWMI, The Transformative Partnership Platform on Agroecology, and the University of Vermont. It is generously funded by the European Union and managed by IFAD. 

Key contacts

Matthias Geck, CIFOR-ICRAF (m.geck@cifor-icraf.org)

Mary Crossland, CIFOR-ICRAF (m.crossland@cifor-icraf.org)

Outputs

Specific project – as well as the TRANSITIONS program – outputs, such as briefs and publications, can be found on a dedicated page.

Related domain

Inclusive cross scale metrics for agricultural systems

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