Deliverable Report 5.3 Participatory analysis of market and policy instruments for agro-ecological transition

Alemán. This Deliverable is part of the governance and policy assessment of the UNISECO project. The objective of this report is twofold: (i) to create a database of existing market and policy instruments (MPIs) that support Agro-ecological Farming Systems (AEFS) in Europe; (ii) to summarise the analytical review of MPIs to identify and understand the key policy factors that enhance or limit agro-ecological transition in the 15 UNISECO case studies. For that purpose, and building on the theoretical framework of the UNISECO project, the objectives are pursued through comparative case study research, based on a participatory approach. A stepwise qualitative research design was developed to understand complex and context-specific issues associated with the agro-ecological transition in 15 case studies across Europe. These case studies cover key farming systems (arable, perennial, livestock, mixed), at different geographical levels (national, sub-national local) and the stage in the transition pathway (conventional, input substitution, redesign).In each case study, UNISECO partners carried out participatory activities with the stakeholders in the local Multi-Actor Platform(MAP), following common guidelines. The guidelines provided a common operationalisation of the research method while enabling flexibility to overcome difficulties found in local contexts of the case studies(Linares et al., 2019). The data collection process led to the identification of 289 MPIs (policy, market and mixed instruments), covering 14 different types of instruments and implemented at the farming system, value chain and territorial levels. Most of the MPIs are policy instruments, but private initiatives also provide important market opportunities for agro-ecological products and networking and peer-to-peer learning for farmers, which are important for stimulating and promoting Agro-ecological Farming Systems...