Transcript Sharing on Farmer-led solution for Food Soveregnity and

Sharing on
Farmer-led solutions for Food
Sovereignty and climate resilience
6th, Jan, 2011
Vu Lan Huong
CARE International in Vietnam
Agenda
11th – 15th, Nov, 2010 in Luganda and Luzon, Philipine
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Participants: NGOs from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philipine, Indonexia, Malaysia,
Nepal
Presentation
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Global imperatives for a paradigm shift in food and agriculture
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Government food security programs and their impacts on the rural poor
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GMOs and the impacts on biodiversity and livelihoods: how the seed corporations chain farmers
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Rural adaptation mechanisms on climate change: towards what direction?
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Increased people’s participation leads to empowered and sustainable communities
Discussion:
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The main barriers to scaling up sustainable agriculture/ or main challenges to achieving food
sovereignty in the communities we work with?
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How to strengthen our rural communities’ capacity for climate adaptation and resilience
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The main elements of participation and empowerment
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Planning
Field visit:
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Back-up farm office in Luzon
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Interview with farmers
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Organic fertilizer model visit
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Food security and sovereignty
GMOs
Land issue
Green revolution
Famer’s
technologies
Food
security
and
sovereignty
Emerging trends in
science
Climate change
Patenting
Biofuel
Government policies
Food security and sovereignty
Green revolution:
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Genetic erosion
Reduced Biodiversity (rice; associated biodiv.)
Soil nutrient imbalance and depletion
Pest and disease outbreaks
Pesticide poisonings
GMOs:
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conflicts with goal of food security and control of one’s destiny
Result more dependence on specialized technologies controlled by
agribusiness corporations
Crops will be contaminated without farmers’ knowledge or consent
Farmers not allowed to save, exchange, sell or improve seeds
Genetic engineering technology creates dependency to Companies
Food security and sovereignty
Biofuel:
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Ethanol from corn (in U.S. and Europe) is responsible for 10 to 15% of the rise
in global food commodity prices (FAO).
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25% to 33% of the rise in global food prices can be explained by ethanol
production from corn (IFPRI)
Government policies:
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Land issues:
High Yielding Varieties (HYV)
Hybrid Rice
High Value Crops (for export)
Genetically Modified Crops
Famer – led approach
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Farmer led approach creates venue for farmers to share and
discuss their experiences on agricultural biodiversity conservation,
low cost adaptable technology transfer and protection of farmer
innovations.
Farmers led approach recognizes the contribution of farmers in
developing technologies as well as intends to bring back farmers
control over genetic resources.
Farmers are the main key maker of all development interventions
Not only draw on farmers’ existing knowledge and practices, but
on their assessment of particular circumstances and priorities
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People’s/ Farmer’s organizations
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Partnership with NGOs and Scientists
Application from different project
• Participatory planning and development with farmers
• Efficient and effective utilization of local resources.
• Establish rights and control over production inputs (land,
seed, knowledge and technology)
Climate change adaptation practices
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Floating Agriculture (Bangladesh)
Cultivation of Adaptive Variety (Bang, India, Phi,
Indo)
Raising seedling in Water hyacinth boll (Bang)
Local Rice Varietal screening and breeding
(Bangladesh, Philipine, Indo)
Diversified integrated farming system (Philipine)
Organic-farming (Laos, Mal, Bangladesh, Indo.)
System of Rice Intensification – SRI (Mal)
Barriers to scaling up SA to achieving
food sovereignty
Awareness:
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Mindset of farmers that GR is better
Lack of education: Knowledge on food sovereignty issues and sustainable agriculture among
the other sectors
Land tenure:
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Dependence to feudal lords, economic bondage and money lenders
Big companies becoming more powerful than the national government
Policies:
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Lack of government support to SA
Government subsidies to chemical farming, or to organic farming that is centered on
Companies
Conflict on the law and practice of the government
Climate change
Others:
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Lack or decreased availability of nutritious and healthy food
Traditional culture is distorted – consumption pattern has changed, lifestyle in general has
changed
Lack of interest in farming on part of educated younger generation
Strengthening capacity for climate
change adaptation and resilience
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Push for genuine agrarian reform
Collective work
Strengthening the education
Strengthen the meaningful participation of women in
decision-making in agriculture
Influencing the government to support farmer-led
agriculture
Strengthen the peoples’ organization for stronger
national- and local-level lobbying
Promotion of diversified systems
Participatory seed breeding
Strengthening capacity for climate
change adaptation and resilience
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Identification of (alternative) healthy foods for mothers and babies
Increasing the farmers’ capacities to raise small ruminants as
source of milk and food
Value, acknowledge and support the initiatives of the farmers
organization or the traditional practices which are actual climate
resilience
Biodiversity conservation, Seed exchanges, networking of
farmers groups
Inform communities regarding existing Government programmes,
facilities for dealing with climate change related disasters.
Informational documents to be translated in local language
Exchange knowledge
Networking
Advocacy
Planning
Workshop report
 Networking
 Newsletter
 Crossvisit among different countries.
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