IFOAM and INOFO participated in the UN Decade of Family Farming Mid-term Forum
This global Family Farming Forum took place at a specially built Farm Venue outside FAO headquarters in the framework of the World Food Forum. Centred around innovation, the space included an exhibition area displaying creative solutions by family farmers, as well as a global radio station broadcasting discussions to audiences across the world and a presentation corner to address small groups of attendees.
IFOAM – Organics International and INOFO were actively involved in the following activities:
Session on “Equitable access to and use of land, water and the other natural resources”
Shamika (INOFO President) opened the session sharing her journey as an organic farmer and leader of INOFO. She highlighted the importance of her family supporting her work and personal development both as a conservationist researcher producing 74 traditional rice varieties and on becoming a farmer by choice. She also mentioned the need of work on rural women farmers’ better inclusion at different levels, from the field to the highest level of farmers’ organization, national through OFAI and internationally through INOFO, to access to land and resources, among others. Her testimony as a young women leader brought inspiration to the whole panel and the audience.
The session recording is available in the link below:
Session on “Diversification of economic and market opportunities for family farming"
Patricia Flores (IFOAM Senior Manager Global Academy), one of the speakers of the panel for this session, made a balance and highlighted previous initiatives that helped to bring family farmers and agroecology to better arguments to build public policies focusing on markets (the 10 elements of Agroecology, TAPE – tool for agroecology performance assessment, the food systems transformational level). She underlined that markets are a social construction and they have transformative role. On this regard she mentioned several experiences: from PGS evolution worldwide, to farmers fairs (Agroferias Campesinas), to markets as a learning and educational space to improve nutrition and territorial approaches. At the end she mentioned 4 elements necessary for public policies with a people-centered approach: i) participation, ii) representation iii) solutions and iv) capacity development for civil society, farmers and public officers
The session recording is available in the following link: https://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/6835/icode/
Side event on "Which public policies to support agroecological and organic family farmers?" at the “Presentation Corner”
At this interactive space IFOAM and INOFO addressed interested attendees on their work to highlight public policies on family farming based on agroecology and organic farming.
Cristina Grandi, IFOAM Food Security campaigner, introduced the session underlining the role of OA and AE for a family farming sustainable development and on the importance that organic and agroecological family farmers and their organizations are involved in the design and implementation of public policies for family farming.
A short video from the #IGrowYourFood campaign was shown where a young woman farmer from Ecuador gave a key message for more enabling agroecology in a local context.
Afterwards Shamika Mone (INOFO President) shared how public policies in India evolved around Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) to support small scale organic farmers as an alternative cost-effective group certification system where shared efforts between FAO representatives at that time, IFOAM and local Organic Farmers Organisations like OFAI, Keystone, Timbaktu among many other grassroot organisations, made it happen. Currently, it has been implemented with a few lacune highlighting the importance of including grassroot organisations not only designing but implementation of public policies.
She additionally mentioned about such platforms - ALGOA (Asian Local Governments on Organic Agriculture) and GOAD (Global Organic Agriculture Districts) - where Government officials and grassroot organisations come together to push for a higher acceptance and promotion of organic and agroecology practices for a better future.
Moreover, Patricia Flores was interviewed by the Rural Radio Voices for Change
She introduced IFOAM – Organics International, its principles and how organic agriculture and agroecology can contribute to family farming. She highlighted the principle of health and the multiple benefits of organic and agroecology. The value of ancestral agriculture and family farming connected with the 4 principles and how much research, co-creation of knowledge, market development are important to strengthen agroecology and family farming. She also pointed out the need to work on advocacy for family farming, which needs a multidisciplinary and territorial approach to convene the strategies for a more sustainable and inclusive food system. Civil society organizations play a key role in this process, providing a diversity of solutions, innovation and demanding quality processes in a challenging world.
You can listen to her interview here:
