GFA Area - AGROECOLOGY

PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE PATHWAYS IN A CHANGING WORLD

Three out of four poor people in developing countries live in rural areas. While most rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, climate change, biodiversity loss and unsustainable food systems intensify pressure on land and natural resources. By embedding ecological principles into farming, agroecology provides a transformative and just path to sustainability and resilience.

GFA concept and services

Sustainable agriculture depends on healthy ecosystems amid growing land and water scarcity. Aligning incentives, investments and policies with agroecological principles enables resilient agri-food systems that protect watersheds, biodiversity and vulnerable groups. Expanding sustainable markets drives the bioeconomy through innovation in finance, institutions, biotechnology and information technology. GFA leverages these opportunities across rural development, irrigation and land management.

© A NON | stock.adobe.com GFA supports the spread of context-specific, climate-resilient technologies to close production gaps caused by climate change. A key focus is strengthening agricultural extension through demand-driven, multi-stakeholder approaches. Guided by agroecological principles, GFA promotes services that diversify value chains, reflect local diets and reduce input dependency through circular practices. Recognising the barriers smallholders face in accessing markets and inputs, GFA fosters fair, enabling environments by improving market linkages through diversification, connectivity, governance, information and green finance. We provide public policy analysis aligned with global regulations, such as the EUDR. Our work also targets strong land and natural resource governance, drawing on experience in participatory land management, tenure regulation and GIS-based planning to build reliable land registries and cadastral systems. Access to water and irrigation is vital for productivity and climate adaptation. GFA advances landscape-level water management based on integrated and participatory principles.