Regional agroecological stewardship: a framework to analyze the (re)territorialization of sustainable food systems

Abstract

The negative effects of climate change as well as the COVID-19 pandemic have underscored the fragility of the current global food system. To respond to such crises, the European Union’s (EU) “Farm to Fork” strategy strives to reshape the region’s food system to be more resilient and calls for new approaches to do so. The practices connected to the concepts of both agroecology and environmental stewardship are referenced for their potential to foster a transformation toward a more sustainable food system. However, these practices have been conducted on a small scale and independent from each other. A combined and holistic view of food systems based on the practices of both concepts remains missing. To close this gap, we developed a regional agroecological stewardship framework using the current literature to explore how these concepts can be combined to generate new insights for (re)territorialization by expanding agroecological practices beyond individual initiatives. To validate and refine the key components of the framework, we used an illustrative case study (Free State of Saxony, Germany) and interviewed relevant stakeholders including an agroecology expert, farm workers, network actors, and public officials from different governance levels. We identified actors and their motivations and capacity, a stewardship network, the outcomes of agroecological activities and the amplification of (re)territorialization as key components for regional agroecological stewardship. The framework can be used as an evaluation tool to assess the status of agroecological stewardship in a region and to determine regional challenges that need to be addressed.