HOLPA-based multidimensional assessment for context-specific agroecological transitions in semi-arid Tunisia

Abstract

Agroecological transitions offer a viable pathway for transforming agri-food systems toward sustainability, yet fostering durable adoption and meaningful impact requires a deep understanding of local socio-ecological contexts to design targeted, context-sensitive interventions. This study aims to characterize the socio-ecological context, adherence to agroecological principles, and multi-domain performance to identify leverage points for strengthening system resilience. We applied the Holistic Localized Performance Assessment (HOLPA) framework in six rural communities (167 farm households) in the semi-arid Kef–Siliana transect (Tunisia), combining household surveys, soil sampling, contextual diagnostics, scoring of adherences to agroecological principles, and performance indicators (agronomic, environmental, social, and economic). Results reveal pronounced heterogeneity across the studied communities, with distinct degrees of agroecological integration reflecting divergent biophysical conditions, resource endowments, and institutional contexts. Overall, Tunisian rural communities appear to be engaged in an incipient yet uneven agroecological transition. A consistent duality characterizes this process: Social values, including fairness and equity, and some recycling practices are relatively well established, whereas ecological functionality (soil health, ecological synergies), knowledge co-creation, and climate-mitigation practices remain weak. This heterogeneity underscores that agroecological transitions are highly context-specific processes shaped by local assets and governance environments, rather than uniform or linear pathways. Performance patterns highlight the interplay between diversification and resilience: more diversified systems exhibited lower crop losses, while simplified systems (monoculture-dominated systems) suffered greater agronomic and environmental vulnerability. Our application reveals that HOLPA’s current household-level and static design constrains the analysis of temporal dynamics and landscape-scale interactions; capturing the full complexity of transitions will require future iterations to integrate longitudinal and spatial monitoring. Nonetheless, this study demonstrates that HOLPA proves effective in integrating farm household-level diagnostics with system-level performance, offering structured guidance for developing localized roadmaps that highlight context-specific entry points and potential pathways to co-design resilient, equitable, and context-sensitive agri-food systems.