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Agroecology and the transformation of food systems in West Africa

In West Africa, transforming food systems in line with agroecological principles is a major challenge in promoting more sustainable agriculture as well as healthier and more balanced diets. However, few research studies succeed in simultaneously addressing issues relating to production systems and those specific to food systems, which hinders the agroecological transition.

The AWA project aims to remove these obstacles by developing research that moves beyond sectoral approaches – focusing on production, processing, distribution or consumption – in order to adopt an integrated approach that takes account of the different scales of food systems, from the local level to the national level.

Multi-scale research to support the agroecological transition

The AWA project is funding four doctoral theses, two postdoctoral positions, seven Master 2 internships and a “researchers’ school”. The doctoral and postdoctoral work, jointly supervised by researchers from different disciplines and units, is part of an interdisciplinary and multi-scale approach.

The research covers all levels of food systems, from agricultural practices (the effects of agroecological practices on soil health, crops and food quality) to value chains and their territorial integration (the co-design of agroecological innovations, food supply diversification, biological disease control), as well as at the national level, by modelling the impacts of dietary diversification on production systems.

Some of the research studies adopt an upstream to downstream perspective (for example, examining the impacts of agricultural practices on food), and others a downstream to upstream perspective (for example, mobilising consumer expectations to co-design agricultural practices). Bringing these two perspectives together is a distinctive feature of the project.

Dynamics of scientific and territorial collaboration and expected impacts

The scientific team based in Montpellier, together with all partners involved in the AWA project, will develop a more systemic, cross-sector understanding of agroecology and food system sustainability. Building on existing research, they will strengthen the capitalisation of knowledge on the agronomic, socio-economic and institutional conditions required to implement coherent agroecological innovations at the different levels of food systems. The project will also foster the emergence of new scientific collaborations, particularly with researchers from other disciplines, in order to consolidate the interdisciplinary approach.

At the same time, stakeholders in the territories and value chains studied in Senegal and Benin – producers, processors, traders, local authorities and civil society organisations – will be closely involved in developing agroecological innovations, analysing the barriers and drivers of the agroecological transition, and carrying out integrated assessments of their economic, agronomic and sociological impacts. This participatory approach will enable them to develop a more systemic and holistic understanding of the levers needed to drive the agroecological transition of their agricultural and food systems, by taking ownership of the results generated by the capitalisation of research.

These combined changes in practices and approaches, both within the scientific community and among the communities of actors in food systems, will contribute to the intended impact of the AWA project: to design and support coherent agroecological transformations at different levels of food systems, conducive to the emergence of sustainable agriculture, food security, and the overall health of soils, plants, animals and human populations in West Africa.