Following the success of three regional meetings on agroecology for food security and nutrition in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia and the Pacific, from 23–25 November 2016, another regional meeting was held in Budapest, Hungary with the title “Agroecology for sustainable agriculture and food systems in Europe and Central Asia”.
The symposium is organized by FAO and hosted by the Government of Hungary, with the support of the Government of France.
The objectives of the meeting were to facilitate exchanges on agroecology among different stakeholders to contribute to a better understanding and initiate partnerships; to show case existing practices, interventions and systems; to start a synthesis about the agroecology approaches in Europe, in reference with the other three regions: Latin America, Asia & the Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa; to identify government initiatives at policy level and start to identify key entry points policies in national policies and in common European policies. The symposium addressed topics related to agroecology overview in the region and challenges; agroecological design and transitions for sustainability and resilience; innovations and knowledge sharing (including poster presentations); access and right to natural resources; valuing agroecology and sustainable food systems; and transformative policies and processes.
The symposium started its three-day programme with a field visit at the Research Centre for Farm Animal Gene Conservation (HáGK) in Godollo on 23 November afternoon.
At the end of the symposium, a set of recommendations endorsed by participants have been provided.
