Edito
Complementary and interconnected solutions for sustainable change
Today, the challenges posed by climate change vary considerably between countries in the North and those in the global South, due to economic, social and environmental differences. Solutions exist to make vulnerable populations, mainly living in the Global South, more resilient. This requires a systemic and inclusive approach that builds local capacity and supports sustainable agricultural practices, while preserving the environment for future generations.
Sustainable food systems aim to address these issues by providing healthy food while respecting the ecological limits of our planet. To strengthen the resilience of agricultural producers, it is now imperative to promote agroecological practices that favour production systems that are both productive and sustainable. Agroecology promotes biodiversity, improves soil health, reduces the use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers, and supports local knowledge and practices. It integrates social and economic aspects by seeking to strengthen the autonomy of family farms.
By adopting sustainable agricultural practices, managing natural resources efficiently, strengthening local value chains and promoting social justice, it is possible to create food systems that feed the world's population while preserving the environment and promoting economic and social equity. International collaboration, technological innovation and the engagement of local communities are essential to successfully transitioning to sustainable food systems.
There is an urgent need to build a more resilient, equitable and environmentally friendly future. Our teams and partners are working tirelessly to achieve this ideal. In this endeavour, sustainable food systems, agricultural value chains and agroecology are our greatest allies: complementary and interconnected solutions to drive change.
Doriane Desclée
Sustainable Food Systems Theme Lead
Chanmony Sean, a researcher at the Cambodia Development Research Institute, is currently doing a doctoral thesis on the agroecological transition in Cambodia, as part of our project “Agroecology and Safe food System Transitions (ASSET)”.
The overall objective is to build a tool and a methodology adaptable to local contexts, in order to evaluate agroecological systems in transition and support the actors of this transition. Chanmony has already conducted a critical review of current tools, their uses, their effects and their limits.
"The next steps in my work will be to identify the challenges and needs in terms of agroecological transitions and assessment and, finally, to develop adequate tools and methodologies to assess agroecological systems and support stakeholders in this transition," he explains.
Through this work, we hope to best support family farming and rice-growing systems in their transition to agroecology, in order to develop healthy and environmentally friendly production systems.
To address the major inequalities arising from the globalization of markets, Louvain Coopération has been working for several years to develop sustainable food systems. To achieve this, we are developing an integrated and systemic approach that aims to optimize each link and support each actor in the chain, from field to plate.
Did you know that in Togo, as in most African countries, Asian rice costs less than locally produced rice? This example, chosen among many others, illustrates the ineptitudes born from the globalization of our food systems. A globalization that creates great inequalities and tends to keep the countries of the South in a role of basic agricultural production with low yields, unprofitable and very dependent on the fluctuation of prices at the global level.
Louvain Coopération has been working for several years to develop sustainable food systems, i.e. those that respect the environment, producers and the health of consumers. To achieve this, we need to work holistically and territorially, on all the elements of the system and their interrelationships, because a food system includes all the elements, factors and activities related to a food product, from its primary production to its final consumption, including the externalities generated by these activities, including socio-economic and environmental impacts.
In a context where global food systems are facing major challenges, knowledge diversification becomes essential for their sustainable and equitable transformation. The article "Knowledge Democratization Approaches for Food Systems Transformation", co-authored by a group of researchers, including Amaury Peeters, Head of our Research & Development Department and published in May 2024 in the journal Nature Food, highlights the importance of integrating traditional, indigenous and local knowledge into decisions relating to food systems. It identifies several fundamental principles for democratizing knowledge and policy processes.
The article then illustrates various initiatives in different contexts that apply these principles, and proposes three key recommendations: epistemic justice, intercultural co-creation and mutual exchange of knowledge. These principles invite us to reconsider what is perceived as proof and aim to recognize the validity of unconventional knowledge, to foster its dialogue with science and to promote intercultural collaboration. The article is also part of a broader collective work, illustrated by the publication of the compendium "The Politics of Knowledge" in 2022.
From Peru to Cambodia, via Madagascar and Benin, our teams and partners support thousands of actors in food systems: agricultural producers, but also groups and entrepreneurs who make a living from the processing of agricultural products.
Our goal: to enable them to improve their yields, while preserving the land that feeds them. By experimenting and integrating new practices, they become more resilient to climate hazards, obtain fair compensation for the work provided and improve their living conditions.
