Deepening the integration of agroecological principles in farmer field schools: consultation and beneficiaries

Under the GEF project "Strengthening Integrated Cultural Practices for Food Security, Nutrition and Biodiversity in Burkina Faso and Mali", FAO will organize a scientific and technical training workshop in agroecology from 2-7 October 2017 in Sélingué, Mali in close collaboration with the CNOP (National Coordination of Farmers' Organizations). The objective of this training is the capacity building for the development of agroecology policies and programs in Mali and West Africa.

In preparation for this training, a mission took place from 14 to 19 August 2017 to inform and consult with local partners (Ministry of Agriculture, FAO-Mali, farmers' field schools). The consultation focused on possible ways of strengthening the integration of agroecological principles into the learning-by-doing approach of FFSs. Indeed, some 20 years ago, FFSs were set up in Mali on topics such as integrated crop and pests management applied to rice growing, horticulture, rice-fish farming, integrated vector management of water-related diseases, adaptation to climate change, integrated agro-pastoral management etc. The Ministry of Agriculture has always supported this learning approach and has initiated a process of institutionalization of the FFSs.

The principles of agroecology, favoring a holistic approach, in particular by integrating the socio-economic aspects and at the territory level for agricultural development, can be a value added to the FFS and to the process of institutionalization. To this end, this first consultation of the beneficiaries of the FFSs and the facilitators initiated the reflection which will be further developed during the training of 2-7 October 2017 in Sélingué. One of the major results of this workshop will be proposals for improving and deepening the practical integration of agroecological principles in the FFSs by the participants of the workshop. These proposals will be presented and commented by the producers.

Other activities

International Course on Peasant Agroecology and Global Governance

Next 25^th of September and for 13 days, the first International Course on Peasant Agroecology and Global Governance will take place in the Città dell’Altra Economia, Rome, and in nearby farms located in the Bio-distric- Biodistretto delle Via Amerina e delle Forre (Viterbo province). The Course will gather members of peasant organizations from around the world to discuss issues related to global food governance, peasant knowledge, progresses and struggles, agroecological practices and farmers empowerment, among other topics. The training, which will be based on horizontal dialogue and “Diálogo de Saberes” between farmers, scientists and activists, aims at developing and providing knowledge capitalization and sharing tools in order to strengthen peasant movements and achieving better food sovereignty for all.

The Course will include both theoretical and practical activities. The training will orbit around five modules:

• Introduction: participants will be introduced to each other, as well as the practices, methodology and framework of the training course will be described.
• Socio-Economic aspects of food systems: it will focus on the global governance of food systems, their structure, power relations and internal dynamics, as well as on how food policies are decided at different geographic scales.
• Agriculture and livestock agroecological production and processing: different agroecological practical elements will be discussed, such as biodiversity, crop and livestock integration, composting and recycling, multicropping or agroforestry.
• Territories and Communities: this module will discuss, through practical cases, socio-cultural aspects like peasant knowledge, recovering popular and traditional memory, peasant cultural identity or rural extension. The role of women and the importance of their empowerment will be a central part of this discussion.
• Peasant Empowerment: the module will discuss sharing and learning tools to improve the skills to build, strengthen and expand peasant organizations and autonomy. It will highlight networks and initiatives such as the IALA Agroecology Schools, the European Peasant Agroecology Exchange Network or the Collective on Agroecology, Seeds and biodiversity.

Publications