PARTICIPATION

Encourage social organization and greater

13
participation in decision-making by food
producers and consumers to support
decentralized governance and local adaptive
management of agricultural and food
TRANSFORMATIONAL
LEVEL 5 systems. LAND AND NATURAL
Build a new global food system based on

10
FAIRNESS
12 RESOURCE GOVERNANCE

FOOD SYSTEM
participation, localness, fairness and justice Recognize and support the needs and
Support dignified and robust interests of family farmers, smallholders
livelihoods for all actors engaged in and peasant food producers as sustainable
food systems, especially small-scale managers and guardians of natural and
food producers, based on fair trade, genetic resources.
fair employment and fair treatment
of intellectual property rights.

11
LEVEL 4
Reconnect consumers and producers
through the development of alternative
food networks
SOCIAL VALUES AND
DIETS CONNECTIVITY

9 CO-CREATION OF Ensure proximity and confidence

Build food systems based on the
between producers and
KNOWLEDGE

8
culture, identity, tradition, social
consumers through promotion of
and gender equity of local
Enhance co-creation and fair and short distribution
communities that provide healthy,
horizontal sharing of networks and by re-embedding
diversified, seasonally and
knowledge including local food systems into local
culturally appropriate diets.
and scientific innovation, economies.
LEVEL 3 especially through farmer-

1
Redesign agroecosystems to-farmer exchange.
AGROECOSYSTEM
ECONOMIC RECYCLING

7 6
DIVERSIFICATION SYNERGY Preferentially use local
renewable resources and
Diversify on-farm incomes by
Enhance positive ecological interaction, close as far as possible
ensuring small-scale farmers have
INCREMENTAL

synergy, integration, and resource cycles of nutrients

LEVEL2 greater financial independence and
complementarity amongst the elements and biomass.
value addition opportunities while
Substitute conventional inputs and of agroecosystems (plants, animals,
enabling them to respond to demand
trees, soil, water)
practices with agroecological alternatives from consumers.

ILLUSTRATIONS:DOROTTYA POÓR
BIODIVERSITY INPUT REDUCTION

LEVEL 1
Increase efficiency of input use and
5 Maintain and enhance diversity of
species, functional diversity and
genetic resources and maintain
biodiversity in the agroecosystem
Reduce or eliminate
dependency on purchased
inputs.

3
over time and space at field, farm
reduce use of costly, scarce or and landscape scales.
environmentally damaging inputs

SOIL HEALTH

4
Secure and enhance soil health and
functioning for improved plant
ANIMAL HEALTH growth, particularly by managing
Ensure animal health and organic matter and by enhancing soil
welfare. biological activity.

THE FIVE LEVELS OF TRANSITION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS AND THE RELATED 13 PRINCIPLES OF AGROECOLOGY
SOURCE: GLIESSMAN (2007) AND HLPE (2019)