Diversity of Global Approaches to Agroecology to Enhance Sustainability and Ecosystem Services Provision for Cropping Systems.

The forecasted 9.1 billion population in 2050 will require an increase in food production for an additional two billion people. There is thus an active debate on new farming practices and systems that could produce more food in a sustainable way. In this frame, different approaches in agroecology are presently widely discussed, including to what degree they can contribute to sustainability of systems and enhance ecosystem services provision. In this talk, these global approaches to agroecology will be presented. They include development and extension of agroecological cropping and livestock practices, redesign of cropping and farming systems, but also to go as far as the development of new food systems, the latter often supported by different social or political agroecological movements. One key element in all these approaches is diversification of systems to increase resilience at different levels. This talk will focus on the diversification of cropping systems with the aim to integrate different agroecological practices which are based on valorisation of ecosystem services and reduction of external inputs. The potential use of these agroecological practices for future agriculture will be also evaluated, but also which challenges this might bring to farmers for the adaptation or redesign of their cropping and farming systems. Finally, a small outlook will be given in the ways in which some policies in Europe support a transition to agroecological farming and food systems.