Bridging Agroecology and Nutrition: Insights from N4G Summit 2025 Side Event

EcoFoodSystems researcher Vibeth Porras Gonzalez recently attended the N4G Summit 2025 side session on Agroecology, Food Systems, and Nutrition: Bridging the Gaps Between Food Production and Meeting Dietary Needs in LMICs.

Vibeth Porras Gonzalez, Ciara Varley, Anna Lorente Sebastian, Peter McKeown.

“How can we address the critical challenges at the intersection of food production, nutrition, and sustainability?”

This was the opening question from Hélène Berton of the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) at the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit 2025 side event “Agroecology, Food Systems, and Nutrition: Bridging the Gaps Between Food Production and Meeting Dietary Needs in LMICs.” EcoFoodSystems researcher Vibeth Porras Gonzalez explored this question with 100 other participants attending the event.

Co-organised by the Agroecology Coalition and Agrinatura, the session brought together policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to explore nutrition-sensitive actions for food systems. The session placed an emphasis on both production and demand-side interventions as means to tackle malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

How Does Agroecology Relate to Food Systems?

Agroecology – an approach to farming and food system design that applies principles from ecological and social science – may have positive benefits for food and nutrition sensitive outcomes. Keynote speakers provided evidence for this school of thought, highlighting research from around the world on the benefits of an agroecological approach to food and farming systems.

• Helene Berton (European Commission, DG INTPA) highlighted how, despite increases in global food production, malnutrition and diet-related diseases remain major problems. Monocultures and ultra-processed foods dominate diets, undermining local food systems and contributing to health inequalities, biodiversity loss, and climate pressures. Berton emphasized that solutions require combined efforts in sustainable production, nutrition-sensitive policies, and systemic interventions.
• Emile Frison (Agroecology Coalition, IPES-Food) shared her perspective on how agroecology can improve food security, dietary diversity, and incomes while promoting environmental sustainability. She stressed that policy and investment priorities need to shift to fully support these systemic changes.
• Rachel Bezner Kerr (Cornell University) emphasised that agroecology is not just about farming techniques. It also promotes equity, social justice, and cultural traditions. Her research in Global Food Security  finds that 78% of studies show positive outcomes for food and nutrition outcomes when agroecological practices are used. Looking to Malawi as a case study, Dr. Kerr highlighted her findings that show that participatory agroecological interventions can improve food security, income, and social resilience among farming communities.
• Gabriela Albuquerque (University of Lisbon) noted that dietary patterns are increasingly shifting toward ultra-processed foods. Driven by convenience, affordability, and marketing, this shift adds further pressure on global obesity rates, worsening the double burden of malnutrition. Dr. Albuquerque highlighted that while consumers may make poor dietary choices, their decision making ultimately remain constrained by structural barriers like food availability, time to cook, and knowledge gaps.

Roundtable Highlights from Brazil, Kenya and the Netherlands

The event shifted focus to country experience during the roundtable discussion, which focused on practical strategies to bridge the gap between agroecological food production and consumer demand.

• Stineke Oenema (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs) highlighted that agroecology’s demand-driven, sustainable farming approaches can improve food security and dietary diversity over time.
• Angela Odero (Kenya, Real Fish) outlined the barriers facing women farmers in financing and market access. From her organisation’s work training farmers, she has identified a need to bridge the gap between small-scale farmers and fragmented markets.
• Francine Xavier and Fabrício Muriana (Comida do Amanhã, Brazil) discussed how urban food policies can link sustainable agriculture with consumer education. One of their initiatives, LUPPA, the Brazilian Laboratory on Urban Food Policies, uses a community-driven platform to engage stakeholders on local food system dynamics and policies.

Key Takeaways for EcoFoodSystems Stakeholders

For food system stakeholders, a few key takeaways emerge:

• Agroecology is underfunded. While agroecology can improve food security and nutrition while supporting biodiversity and climate resilience, it is not backed by the finance needed (Emile Frison, Agroecology Coalition).
• Women’s participation in agriculture enhances household food security and dietary diversity (Rachel Bezner Kerr, Cornell University).
• Structural barriers shape dietary choices. Affordability, availability, time constraints, and knowledge gaps are the key barriers limiting healthy eating habits (Gabriela Albuquerque, University of Lisbon).
• Investing in agroecology requires shifting funding priorities away from monocultures and toward diversified, sustainable systems (Rachel Bezner Kerr).
• Governments, private sector actors, and research institutions must align their efforts to create inclusive, nutrition-sensitive food systems (Stineke Oenema, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

For the EcoFoodSystems team, the event’s insights provided foodfor thought as the team considers where, when and how agroecological practices can be best be integrated into our own research and decision-making tools.

Learn more about these discussions and solutions by watching the side event below.