Globally connected: News from the AgriCultures Network

By
30 March 2014

With the International Year of Family Farming in full swing, members of the AgriCultures Network are actively involved in a number of initiatives that strengthen family farmers and agro-ecology. Here are a few updates.


IED Afrique: Launch of IYFF and a new Observatory

Civil society in Senegal and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have jointly launched the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) and created a new Family Farming Observatory. At the event, which took place at the House of Culture Douta Seck in Dakar, the National IYFF Steering Committee was officially established. Its co-ordination is in the hands of the National Council for Consultation and Rural Cooperation. This was one of the outcomes of a seminar organised by IED Afrique and the AgriCultures Network in August 2013.

At the launch, which was facilitated by IED Afrique, a new institute was announced: the National Observatory of Family Farms in Senegal, led by ROPPA, the Network of Peasant Organisations and Producers in West Africa. The Observatory will serve as a tool to strengthen advocacy of farmers’ organisations and producers’ networks for policies that support family farming.


AS-PTA and AME: Global forum on family farming

Budapest, HungaryEarly March 2014, AgriCultures Network members Paulo Petersen of AS-PTA (Brazil) and KVS Prasad of AME Foundation (India) were among the speakers at the Global Forum on Family Farming, hosted by the Hungarian government. The Global Forum contributed to the IYFF global dialogue on policies and programmes to support family farming. It addressed “building blocks and policy options in achieving family farming as a global priority in the agricultural, environmental and social policies”.

Paulo Petersen, director of AS-PTA, made a presentation under one of the central themes: family farming and the three dimensions of sustainability – social, environmental and economic aspects. KVS Prasad, director of the AME Foundation, made another contribution about strategies and activities in India for the IYFF. Other speakers include FAO director José Graziano da Silva, the Hungarian minister of rural development and Gerda Verburg, chair of the Committee on Food Security.

Parallel to the Conference ran the Expo, which provided family farmers from around the world with the opportunity to showcase their activities and demonstrate the potential and values of family farming to policy-makers and society at large.


ILEIA and IED Afrique: Amplifying agro-ecology

Joining forces, IED Afrique and ILEIA are working in a coalition with others to strengthen agroecological family farming in West Africa. Supporting this coalition through documentation and systematisation, the aim is to amplify agro-ecological solutions that can reverse soil degradation and increase productivity.

Solutions include farmer managed natural regeneration and a range of proven techniques to preserve water and stop erosion, such as zai holes and contour bunds. Through a solid farmer-to-farmer methodology, the groups are spreading these practices from village to village, greening the Sahel. The coalition is analysing the factors and barriers to success for scaling up these practices. At the same time, they are conducting studies on policies that promote or hinder agro-ecology and food sovereignty in order to lobby for more favourable legislation.

Throughout 2014, IED Afrique and ILEIA will work together with this coalition to strengthen agroecological practice and policy. Partners include Sahel Eco (Mali), CIKOD (Ghana), ANSD (Burkina Faso), and US based Groundswell International and FoodFirst.