Characterizing Agroecological Transitions: Building an outcome-based participatory assessment and modeling transition pathways
Team: Amélie Gaudin, Vivian Wauters, Katelyn Mann, Sonja Brodt, Sara Rosenberg, Becca Ryals
Background:
The global movement towards agroecology has been supported by tools like the FAO’s Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE), which helps producers understand the impacts of their management decisions and provides a framework for considering changes to their system. However, in the context of California’s mid-to-large scale crop systems, TAPE faces two key limitations: it was designed for smallholder family farms, and its reliance on interview-based data lacks the in-field measurements of ecological outcomes that build scientific and farmer confidence and support policy incentives.
Anchored in the framework of agroecological principles, we are co-developing a practical, outcome-based assessment toolkit tailored for San Joaquin Valley orchards and vineyards. We are responding to growers’ explicit concern that they do not want a tool that “grades” them. Instead, we are creating a supportive framework for farmers and advisors to monitor the impacts of management choices on outcomes such as water resilience and biodiversity. This actionable data is then used to model and validate transition pathways, providing agroecological transition roadmaps to farms in the region.
Objective 1 - Co-developing and testing an outcome-based assessment framework
This objective aims to create and validate a practical, outcome-based framework to assess agroecological practices within mid-to-large scale perennial production systems in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The primary strategy is to collaborate directly with early adopter farmers as well as agricultural advisors (such as UCCE Farm Advisors, Pest Control Advisors [PCAs] and Certified Crop Advisors [CCAs]), who serve as key intermediaries to reach a broad farmer audience.
The research will proceed in three phases:
- Framework Development [Current State]: Context-specific agroecological principles will be adapted (aligning with FAO standards) and mapped to measurable outcome indicators relevant to major California farming concerns like water, biodiversity, resilience, and labor.
- Tool Development & Adaptation: Existing, accessible community science tools will be identified or adapted to collect data for these indicators (e.g., developing a methodology to measure wild bee abundance as a proxy for pollinator biodiversity, tested in field soil health assessment). This process will involve preliminary feedback from advisors through informal focus groups.
- Testing & Implementation: The framework and tools will be field-tested with allied farm advisors. This will be framed around the concept of “regenerative agriculture” to align with existing extension efforts and delivered through workshops that provide advisors with continuing education credits.
Objective 2 - Modeling and Validating Agroecological Transition Pathways
Building on the assessment framework from Objective 1, this objective seeks to model the various pathways farms can take when transitioning to agroecological systems. The goal is to identify common entry points, sequences of practice adoption and the resulting outcomes to inform tailored policy and support for the selected cropping systems in the SJV, with broader relevance across the CA landscape.
The research will proceed in three phases:
- Identifying entry points and pathways: Qualitative research (interviews) will be conducted with farmers while implementing Obj 1 to understand their initial conditions, motivations, and the sequence of practices they adopted during their transition. This narrative data will be mapped against the outcome indicator data collected in Objective 1.
- Modeling pathways: Using statistical models and network analysis, the research will identify commission typologies or clusters of farm transition scenarios. This analysis will reveal the relationships between a farm’s starting point, its chosen pathway, and its eventual outcomes. Additionally, network mapping will be used to understand the social structures and information sources that facilitate these transitions.
- Validating and Policy Integration: The resulting pathway models will be workshopped with farmers, advisors, and researchers to refine their accuracy and utility. The final output will be a substantiated roadmap that outlines different transition pathways, the expected outcomes and timelines for each, and how they align with existing or potential policy and economic incentives (e.g., subsidies, market access). By understanding the sequence of adoption, our research can help agencies design more effective, stage-appropriate technical and financial support systems grounded in the reality of CA perennial crop systems.
Areas for Connection with Other COAR Activities
- Policy connections: we see this work as feeding into key CDFA programs such as HSP, and look forward to continue refining our approach based on learnings from key state agency meetings
- Other CATS work: The research will collect baseline ground-truth data for mapping and future monitoring.
- Education: The tools developed and research findings from this objective will be integrated into the Agroecology Short Course for extension professionals and, the Agroecology Field quarter, an additional outcome of the COAR grant.
- Equity: We are cognizant that the framework we develop for orchards and vineyards in this work will not be directly relevant to small-scale market farms nor community-based agroecology movement organizations; we look forward to thoughtful collaborations about how this tool could be adapted to those situations, and how the tool could be used to contribute to sustainable and livable futures in the valley. We also are committed to internal equity principles within our project team and working collaboratively with farmers and farmer-serving orgs (like CAFF) to uplift and validate farmer knowledge and expertise as part of this work.