Agroecology

Work Package 5: Understanding and influencing agency and behavior change

Contacts: Sarah Freed (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), Anne Rietveld (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT) 

The Latest

Accomplishments at a glance

• A review of previous initiatives and a participatory timeline of actor experiences in agroecological transitions in five target countries improved the understanding of how to best shift the agency and behaviors of groups and individuals towards agroecological transitions. This led to the development of a framework for identifying the agency and behavior change entry points for agrifood system transformation.
• In Lao PDR and Peru, innovation opportunities for cooperative decision-making and widespread behavior change have been identified.
• In five countries, lessons were drawn from analysis of the relations between rural youth and agroecological transitions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

A framework for improved understanding and action
The Agroecology Initiative pursues a systems transformation approach, which requires a better understanding of the behavior and agency of diverse food system actors as well as the wider conditions that enable or impede change. To this end, WP5 research addressed the roles and experiences of multiple actors (including women and youth), and in some of the ALLs, the research has already informed further action.

WP5 developed a framework to examine the agency and behavior of diverse actors in transforming agri-food systems (ACT framework). Integrating insights from multiple
disciplines (social and behavior change science, gender and youth studies, agricultural innovation systems, and socialecological systems), this framework presents three elements that agricultural research for development must take into account when aiming for agri-food systems transformation:

• Diverse actors, their experiences, and the implications in terms of their power and agency.
• Opportunity spaces for change – the nexus of structural elements and individual behavioral factors that determine the behavioral options available, both for individuals and groups.
• The effect of action situations (where stakeholders interact and produce individual and collective behavioral changes) on structural elements of the food system.

Insights for success in addressing agency and behavior
By virtue of its design, the ACT framework draws attention to issues of inequality, marginalization and actors not having a say in matters that concern them. The framework was used to analyze an inventory of current and past agroecology interventions in Zimbabwe, Peru, Kenya, Tunisia and India. This inventory drew on 239 initiatives and a subset of 29 case studies developed through desk research and key informant interviews. The analysis generated insights into how past agroecology initiatives have addressed actor agency and behavior:

• All initiatives targeted producers’ behaviors through activities aimed at increasing their knowledge.
• Structural elements shaping agency and behavior – such as infrastructure, institutions or social norms – were less often addressed, although these were often identified as enabling or impeding behavior change (see Figure 4).
• Initiatives addressed actor diversity in various ways, ranging from gender-blind to gender-transformative approaches, though the latter were rare.
• Approaches to agency and behavior change seemed to reflect unspoken assumptions, as key informants rarely knew about the underlying Theory of Change. Some shared assumptions were identified across the cases that need to be refined. For example, although knowledge dissemination was commonly assumed to be a key enabler of behavior, this alone, in fact, rarely enables change.

Research findings underscore the need to design, implement and assess more critically the behavior change targets and approaches of agroecological initiatives. This, in turn, has implications for how such initiatives are designed, structured and funded, including their duration and partnerships. A wide set of actors are involved in agri-food systems transformation and need to be included through actions such as developing a shared vision, strengthening agency and innovation capacity, and changing discriminatory social and gender norms.

Focus on: Experiences of agency and behavioral change in ALLs
In 2024, WP5 finalized studies in five countries on the agency and experiences of ALL farmers and other actors in their local agricultural and food system transitions. Summarized below are insights from three of these studies.

In Zimbabwe’s agricultural transition, government and international NGOs have led agricultural decision-making; while traditional leaders have substantially lost their traditional power, and farmers and private sector have had limited agency. Among farmers, men were often better positioned than women and youth to gain agency in their on-farm decisions, largely because of knowledge and incentives provided by government and NGO projects. The behavior of smallholder farmers was targeted more often than that of commercial farmers. Strengthening action around the social principles of agroecology could enhance the agency of marginalized actors, while fostering behavior change towards an agroecological transition.

In Peru, social movements led by local NGOs and farm communities have supported the agroecological transition and enhanced these actors’ agency. A coalition of different farmer groups provided training in agroecological practices, raised awareness of the negative effects of slash-and-burn practices, and brought about legislative change, including one law that promotes an organic production model and another that favors family farmers and Indigenous peoples. Increased political will and resources are needed to fully implement these laws.

In Tunisia, farmer behavior profiles shifted, as the technology-adopting “leader farmers” of the 1990s evolved into today’s “co-creators of knowledge” on agroecology and sustainable practices. The Initiative underlines the value of inclusive networks, targeted training, adaptive financial support and incentives, and infrastructure enhancement to encourage agroecological shifts for broader, more equitable impact.

“The ACT framework we developed can help initiatives shift from linear approaches to behavior change to a systems perspective. By recognizing and addressing the diversity of food system actors and their opportunities for innovation and change, initiatives can more effectively contribute to agroecological transitions.” Sarah Freed, Applied Scientist – Human and Ecosystem Well-being, Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, and WP 5 Lead

The way forward
Based on the research findings summarized above and the behavior changes prioritized through the vision-to-action exercises, the ALL teams will identify actions that can bridge past experiences of change with a desired future trajectory. Lessons learned from WP5 research over the past 3 years are critical for enabling scientists, funders, policymakers, business partners and civil society to adjust strategies and action plans for agroecological transformation in the ALLs. Social inclusivity, fairness and justice are critical, requiring sustained action across scales.

Behavior change will receive attention in all areas of future CGIAR research on multifunctional landscapes but especially in work on gender equality, social inclusion and fairness. Researchers will develop approaches that better enable socially excluded groups to benefit from the transformation of agri-food systems as well as from the restoration and conservation of landscapes. Their work will address behavior change particularly in relation to these emerging topics: (1) livelihoods and quality of life as contributors to thriving societies, landscapes and food systems; (2) gender-transformative approaches to address inequality in agri-food systems from households and communities to whole landscapes, particularly for women, youth and Indigenous peoples; (3) inclusive institutions for agricultural and landscape innovations and cooperative decision-making; and (4) food sovereignty, which concerns local control over food systems and the resources on which they rely.

Progress towards the Initiative goal
In three countries, scientists, funders, policymakers, business partners and civil society have started to adjust their strategies and action plans based on knowledge gained from scientific studies about the mechanisms underpinning behavior change and the capacity of farmers, business partners and consumers to implement agroecological transformation.