Network of Agroecological symbiosis (NAES)

However, a single AES operating in isolation cannot change the food system outside of its immediate context. Thus, we propose that rearranging many different farming, food processing, and energy systems to follow the concept of AES could create a Network of AES (NAES). The development of an NAES would result in a shift to sustainable food production at system level, which would serve as the foundation for the emergence of a food system that is agroecology-based, place-based, and culturally contextualized.

Figure: Helenius et al. (2020)