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A new scientific review of over 10,000 studies finds substantial evidence that agroecological practices – like farm diversification, agroforestry and organic agriculture – can significantly contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Here, we present the new report on the impacts of agroecology on climate change adaptation and mitigation. We used the FAO 10 Elements of Agroecology and Glissman's transition levels as a framework for defining agroecology.

The study found that agroecology can play a major role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. So, what does the available evidence tell us? And how can it inform decisions?

Key messages from the review of over 10,000 studies

• Climate change adaptation can be associated with agroecology practices. However, there are many data gaps.
• Evidence for agroecology’s impacts on climate change mitigation is modest, except for enhanced carbon sequestration in soil and biomass. Livestock is a major gap.
• Farmer co-creation and sharing of knowledge consistently supported farmers’ capacity to adapt to local conditions, improving both adaptation and mitigation.
• Experience in scaling up agroecology involved interventions, enabling conditions and barriers similar to conventional agriculture, although gave more emphasis to farmer co-creation of knowledge and local solutions.
• Few studies compared agroecology performance against alternatives and cost-effectiveness in LMICs and the tropics.
• To avoid contention about what is defined as agroecology, the authors recommend an outcome-based approach to assessing performance that integrates agroecological principles and climate change adaptation and mitigation indicators.