CGIAR Multifunctional Landscapes

A major milestone for food systems transformation in Ethiopia.

The National Agroecology Strategy for Food System Transformation (2026–2040) is now available on CGIAR’s CGSpace.

Developed through a national, multi-stakeholder process led by the Ministry of Agriculture, the strategy sets out a long-term framework to transition Ethiopia’s food systems toward greater resilience, sustainability, and inclusiveness. It responds directly to the challenges facing smallholder, rain-fed systems — from climate variability and land degradation to biodiversity loss and declining soil fertility.

The strategy positions agroecology as a pathway to align productivity with environmental stewardship, integrating ecological principles, local knowledge, and innovation to deliver outcomes across food security, livelihoods, and landscape restoration.

This milestone reflects strong collaboration across partners, including Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and CIFOR-ICRAF, alongside contributions from the CGIAR Multifunctional Landscapes (MFL) Science Program. Through its work on integrated landscape approaches, MFL supports the kind of cross-sectoral, evidence-based planning and implementation that this strategy advances.

Launched in Addis Ababa on 14 March, the strategy provides a coordinated national framework to guide investment, strengthen institutions, and scale agroecological approaches across Ethiopia’s diverse production systems.

📄 Read the full strategy: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/182055

Behind every national strategy is a process of alignment, evidence, and partnership.

The policy brief “Forging Ethiopia’s Food Future through its Groundbreaking National Agroecology Strategy” captures the thinking and collaboration that shaped Ethiopia’s agroecological transition.

Developed in support of the Ministry of Agriculture and in collaboration with Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and CIFOR-ICRAF, the brief outlines how the Ethiopian National Agroecology Strategy was co-created through extensive stakeholder engagement and grounded in national priorities.

It highlights the ambition of the strategy built around six strategic objectives and 26 focus areas to address interconnected challenges, including climate vulnerability, land degradation, and food insecurity.

Importantly, it shows how agroecology is being positioned not only as a set of practices, but as a national movement to restore ecosystems, strengthen livelihoods, and build a climate-resilient food future.

With contributions from CGIAR programs, including the Multifunctional Landscapes (MFL) Science Program, the brief reflects the role of integrated, landscape-level approaches in shaping coherent and scalable policy frameworks.

Together with the full strategy, this provides both the evidence base and the pathway for Ethiopia’s food system transformation.📘 Read the policy brief: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/180444

What does it take to connect landscape-level innovation with policy?
In this blog, CGIAR’s Multifunctional Landscapes Science Program reflects on its engagement at IF-ALL 2025 and what it means for advancing agroecological transitions.

The blog draws on presentations and discussions that explored governance of agroecological transitions, participatory co-design methods, and the role of living labs as a science, society, and policy interface.

It also highlights how living labs can support experimentation, generate evidence at relevant scales, and create space for policy dialogue and alignment.

As CGIAR prepares to host IF-ALL in 2028, this work positions the program to bring Global South perspectives more strongly into global conversations on food systems and landscape transformation.

Read more: https://www.cgiar.org/news-events/news/cgiar-multifunctional-landscapes-if-all-2025-linking-local-innovations-global

How can communities strengthen resilience to climate shocks while restoring degraded ecosystems?

A new blog from CGIAR MFL explores how a series of recent field activities of the CGIAR Multifunctional Landscapes Programme B-REAL project (Biodiversity for Resilient Ecosystems in Agricultural Landscapes has exemplified how community-led initiatives can weave together education, agroecology, women’s leadership, and seed sovereignty in the Indigenous Reserve of Gran Cumbal of Nariño in southern Colombia.

From implementing ecosystem-based adaptation strategies that integrate traditional knowledge with scientific innovation to restoring degraded lands, diversifying crops, and improving soil and water management, these rural communities are enhancing productivity and climate resilience in the face of increasing climate variability.

Working with local organisations and producers to co-design interventions that support sustainable landscapes, reduce vulnerability, and foster socio-ecological stability, this collaborative approach demonstrates the role of context-specific science in advancing resilient food systems.

👉 Read more: https://www.cgiar.org/news-events/news/cultivating-resilience-gran-cumbal



Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa - AICCRA Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT Coady Institute CIFOR-ICRAF