Handbook for the evaluation of agroecology

This handbook is a methodological tool to evaluate the conditions for development of agroecology and the agro-environmental and socio-economic effects of agroecological practices and systems.

Intended mainly for development stakeholders, it is designed as an easy-to-use tool with a reliable common methodology enabling systematic production of references, which are still lacking today, with a view to promotion and support of the development of agroecology.

The handbook provides methodological benchmarks for evaluation of agroecology, whether as part of a one-off evaluation (during, at the end of, or outside of an intervention) or in the case of implementation of a monitoring and evaluation system within an intervention. Its objective is to help development stakeholders to evaluate the results and effects of their agroecology interventions, proposing various evaluation criteria, together with indicators and methods presented in the form of factsheets. Furthermore, the creation of references on the economic, social and environmental performance of agroecology will make it possible to inform arguments
in favour of agroecology via-à-vis donors and deciders, while identification of conditions for the development of agroecology can be considered in the design of interventions and public policies in favour of agroecology.
This handbook is a first methodological document, which will be improved and adjusted based on findings when the tools and methods proposed are implemented in future evaluation work conducted by GTAE and its partners.