The measure of agroecology: Developing an assessment framework to capture economic, environmental and social impacts of agriculture and food systems

A key objective of the CGIAR Agroecology Initiative is to develop a holistic assessment framework that generates evidence on the performance of food systems across various dimensions and scales of agroecological transition. Although many tools have been developed to assess the sustainability of agricultural systems, most do not comprehensively represent environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability, nor use indicators that are sensitive to agroecological principles. Assessment frameworks also struggle to balance the trade-off between capturing standardized, globally comparable metrics or capturing metrics that are locally relevant and context-specific. These factors make it challenging to assess the multi-functional and multidimensional performance of AE across food systems in diverse contexts. This is particularly true for frameworks developed in the Global North, which may not be applicable to the conditions present in the Global South. Therefore, there is a critical need for an AE-specific assessment framework that not only integrates key features of AE, but also encompasses the salient features of local AE endeavors.