Caption: Social movements across the world are mobilizing around the idea that ‘without feminism there is no agroecology’.

See below for some highlights of our latest workand highlights from our networks, including free-to-download articles, videos and other resources. Please pass some or all of this on to your networks or to copy/adapt parts for use in newsletters, etc.or share the entire update via this link: https://wp.me/P67WNH-Nc.* Posts marked with a star include upcoming events you may wish to join in on.

Linking Food and Feminisms

Feminist values are central to many food sovereignty and agroecology movements.  Feminisms that bring an anti-colonial, decolonial or indigenous perspective work to reconstitute non-hierarchical relationships among people, between people and nature, and through this shift, the relationship between people and their food. Read more in this article in our column, Agroecology in Motion: Nourishing Transformation, by clicking here: https://wp.me/p67WNH-Ki

In Solidarity With Farmer Protests In India

On the 26th of November 2020, India witnessed the biggest strike in recorded human history, with two hundred and fifty million labourers and farmers turning out in protest against newly introduced farm laws. Months later, farmers are still camping outside Delhi and many more continue protests around the state. The farmer protests have gained world-wide attention for both their scale and for the repressive clampdowns that they have encountered. We fully support these important demands and stand firmly against the criminalisation of these protests. https://wp.me/p67WNH-JM

21st Century Agroecology

From online food retail to big ag-data, technology is creeping ever further into food and farming systems. In this blog Lynne Davis of Open Food Network UK explores what it takes to shift the design imperative of technology toward agroecology. This article is a part of our column, Agroecology in Motion: Nourishing Transformation. Read the article here: https://wp.me/p67WNH-Mv 

New Book on Political, Transformation and Territorial dimension to bring forward an Agroecological Urbanism

Building on state-of-the-art and participatory research on farming, urbanism, food policy and advocacy, this new bookchanges the ways food planning has been conceptualised to date, and invites the reader to fully embrace the transformative potential of an agroecological perspective. It argues for moving away from a “food in the city” approach, and to rather fully consider (and transform) the economic and spatial processes that drive current urbanisation. https://wp.me/p67WNH-L3

Down with Innovation! Long live rights, agency and justice

“Innovation” is ubiquitous as a way to describe beneficial societal change. Yet, the innovation language is deeply tied to a top-down and technology-centric waysof thinking that shackles the imagination and limits the pathways for change. Chris Maughan and Colin Anderson explore how proponents of agroecology – and other transformative visions of change – are better served byresistingthe call of “the innovation imperative”, and to rather foreground the language of human rights, socially just creativity and people- and earth-centred processes of change. This article is a part of our column, Agroecology in Motion: Nourishing Transformation. Read the article here: https://wp.me/p67WNH-MW 

*Launch Workshop: Making Money Move for Agroecology

Research shows again and again that very little public and philanthropic funding for research, development and aid goes to agroecology. Moving beyond an analysis of the quantity (how little goes to agroecology), this workshop will focus on the quality of funding for agroecology when it is allocated. CIDSE and AgroecologyNow invite you to an interactive workshop on April 19th on the methods, approaches and ways of configuring public and private finance so that it can be most effective in enabling a transformative agroecology. Come ready to share your views and ideas! https://wp.me/p67WNH-MA 

Farming for Climate Justice: Invitation for participation of Early Career Researchers from UK and S. Africa

Farming for Climate Justice is a collaboration with the University of Cape Town that emphasises the co-generation of socially inclusive research for just food and farming systems. We’re inviting early career researchers (ECRs) from the UK and South Africa – from academia and civil society networks – to apply by April 18th to join a program involving a series of workshops and networking opportunities.  ECRs will be mentored to develop interdisciplinary research teams and collaborative action research proposals with food system actors mobilising around, and exposed to climate and biodiversity crises in South Africa. https://wp.me/p67WNH-K3 

Farm Hack UK – Research brief now published

Farm Hack is a diverse network of collaborators set up to share knowledge and skills for a more just and sustainable food system in the UK. Their principal focus is farm tool development according to the principles of ‘appropriate technology’ and horizontal knowledge exchange. As part of aprogram on agroecology and innovation, this report assesses the impacts of the UK Farm Hack network since its creation in 2015. Check out the report here which presents findings from a survey co-designed by Farm Hack members. https://wp.me/p67WNH-IK 

Agroecology or Collapse

Agroecology is archaic, anarchic, and utopian – of course it is and thank goodness! In the final post of this three-part series, Paulo Petersen and Denis Monteiro engage with the language often used to critique agroecology, and reverse it to articulate these terms as critical resources for social transformation. They go on to present the case for agroecology as the alternative model to prevent the looming collapse. Click through to readPart Iandpart IIand now part III: https://wp.me/p67WNH-Ht

Announcing COACH project

Our AgroecologyNow team is excited to engage in COACH, a new project funded by the European Commission, which aims to facilitate collaboration between farmers, citizens, local governments and other actors to scale out agroecological food initiatives, advance food sovereignty and drive innovation in territorial food systems across Europe and in Central Asia.Read more about the project here:https://wp.me/P67WNH-Lt

Launch of New Open Access Book on Agroecology Transformations

This new open access book develops a framework for advancing agroecology in transformations towards more just andsustainable food systems focusing on power, politics and governance. It explores the potential of agroecology as a sustainable and socially just alternative to today’s dominant food regime. A great accessible resource for practitioners, policy-makers and an excellent teaching tool, the book is available and free-to-download here: https://wp.me/p67WNH-HF 

Blinking into the Light – Galvanising Food Movements in Troubling Times

We kicked 2021 off by engaging in the completely on-line Oxford Real Farming Conference. The conference presented new opportunities for alliance and solidarity building around agroecology and food sovereignty to galvanise the global food movement as we entered the new year. And so, as we emerge blinking into the light, from behind our lockdown screens, it is with an invigorated vision of the world we’re collectively striving to build. This blog shares some highlights and links the many videos available. https://wp.me/p67WNH-Jf 

AgroecologyNow! Publications (click through to access)

Highlighted Publications, Events and Updates From our Networks