Mobilizing sub-national policy to drive agroecology and landscape transitions

September 4, 2026

By Sara J. Scherr, PhD

Sub-national governments are becoming key drivers of both agroecological and regenerative landscape transitions. Supportive national-level policy is certainly critical to promoting both agroecology and regenerative landscape transitions, as shown in the Agroecology Coalition’s country case analyses, and in the 1000 Landscapes-GALLOP Landscape Policy Vision. But national policy alone is insufficient to achieve this.  The real work in implementing policy is closer to the ground: on farms, across landscapes, and in municipalities and regions where farmers and their allies produce food, regenerate ecosystems, and turn policies into action. Thus sub-national governments, closer to local realities, play a critical role. 

A new brief just released, Sub-National Policies for Agroecological Transitions, explores these roles. The brief synthesizes the results of an on-line “deep dive meeting” organized by the Implementation and Policies Working Groups of the Agroecology Coalition. It was published by the Agroecology Coalition, together with Biovision Foundation, FAO, Persimmon Co-Lab, and the Himalayan Agroecology Initiative. On behalf of Persimmon Co-Lab (a Coalition member), I contributed to organizing the “deep dive” webinar and preparing the brief,  with Pierre Ferrand of FAO; Ingrid Fritsche of the World Future Council; Amelie Steu, Valentina Pavarotti,  and Oliver Oliveros of the Agroecology Coalition; and Eliane Steiner and Charlotte Pavageau of the Biovision Foundation.

The deep dive identified four main roles for sub-national governments:

1. Creating enabling environments

2. Supporting farmers and local actors

3. Connecting national strategies with local implementation

4. Building policies and institutions that reflect local realities

Case studies in Sicily, Italy; Catalonia, Spain; Catubig, Philippines and Nakuru County, Kenya  illustrate diverse approaches and inform our recommendations. The group generated recommendations for sub-national governments policies supporting agroecology, financing agroecology transitions, agroecological markets and value chains, and integrated territorial and landscape development.

General recommendations of the group related to landscape and territorial policy were to:

1. Explore and embrace the potential for farmer and agroecology organizations to partner with other sectors to advance the agroecological transition

2. Embed agroecology within subnational legal, policy and planning frameworks on climate change, watershed management, territorial management, forest, biodiversity, nutrition, rural development or local development plans

3. Promote the use and strengthen capacities for inclusive, participatory, and spatially explicit planning, decision-making, and implementation process, and

4. Redesign monitoring and accountability systems to assess agroecology through shared food system and multifunctional landscape outcomes 

These discussions provide important insights for the food and agriculture component of integrated landscape development strategies, and for considering ways to take advantage of synergies between agroecology and landscape actors.  Agroecology has benefits across so many sectors (e.g., food security, watershed management, biodiversity, nutrition), that it can play a central role as a ‘connector’ in advancing integrated landscape management. At the same time integrated strategies can provide powerful mechanisms for advancing  agroecology. The brief highlights quite diverse sub-national strategies from 12 countries for achieving these synergies. 

I hope that the exchanges promoted by this initiative of the Agroecology Coalition with its partners will spark deeper connections between the agroecology and regenerative landscape communities and more impactful transition strategies.