Farmers groups, rural women, indigenous peoples, advocates and rural youth from 13 countries in Asia Pacific push further agroecology advocacy in the framework of food sovereignty as an alternative to chemical-based farming and corporate agriculture in a three-day workshop tagged as SAMAKI: Community- Building for Agroecology held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia last September 1-3.
During the three-day gathering of around 70 individuals, workshops and panel discussions on different issues around agroecology and food sovereignty and a farmer field visit were facilitated. By the third day, everyone renewed their commitment to the struggle for agroecology and food sovereignty with concrete national and regional plans of action for the next six months.
SAMAKI was opened by Mr. Sam Vitou, Executive Director of Cambodian Center for Study and Development in in Agriculture (CEDAC), the host organization. He gave an overview of the Cambodian context and called for learning exchanges as one of the ways in forwarding agroecology in the country and across the region.
For her part, PANAP Executive Director Sarojeni Rengam gave an overview of the group’s agroecology advocacy in Asia Pacific which set the tone of the three-day workshop. Through photographs of different agroecology practices and struggles by PANAP partners and networks, Rengam presented a comprehensive history of peoples’ movements across the region, with the struggle for land and resources rights at the fore. Rengam shared, “PANAP sees food sovereignty as the framework of our agroecology advocacy.” She added that “women’s assertion to right to land, and workers’ rights are very critical in the struggle for food sovereignty and agroecology.”
Promoting agroecology: land rights, community innovations and markets
For the first panel discussion “promoting agroecology”, panellists from organizations with long-time experiences on practicing agroecology took the lead- Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Development Association (SAEDA- Laos), Thanal (India) and host organization. The three panellists drew unique context and practices in practicing agroecology.
For his part, Jayakumar Chelaton of Thanal spoke of the different food cultures and political context of agroecology in the state of Kerala. He also shared the communities’ struggle for food sovereignty and some of the major successes and outcomes. Their work has gained ground as the State government now supports organic farming. It is clear that their perspective on agroecology is very much linked with the fight for social justice.
SAEDA’s Thongdam Phogphichith shared their group’s collaboration with the government of Laos which has contributed greatly in promoting agroecology as an alternative to chemical agriculture. Vitou of CEDAC shared their group’s initiatives in empowering small farmers through cooperatives, forming savings groups and building capacity to improve their lives and communities. Their agroecology practices are widely recognized in the Mekong region.
The first workshop which was “on land and resources and community innovations,”linked the struggle for land and resources to the promotion of agroecology. The resource speakers were Magimai Appakuti of Tamil Nadu Women’s Forum (India), Vicky Lopez of SIBAT (Springwell of Science and Technology/ Philippines) and Angelina Bisuna of UMA (National Federation of Agricultural Workers/Philippines). Appakuti shared the successful struggle for land by the Dalit women Tamil Nadu and once they got the land titles they pooled the land and started their collective farming. For the Dalits however, the struggle does not stop. Amid continuous threats from governments and corporations, their resolve to carry on the fight grows stronger each day. Lopez and Bisuna discussed about successful land occupation of big parcels of lands owned by landlord (haciendas) and how farmers groups transformed the lands into organic farms benefiting the communities.
The participants went into 2 break-out groups after the plenary discussions and discussed how to strengthen struggles for land with agroecology and came up with recommendations for future work.
Southeast Asian participants recommendations included involving the peasants in the fight for land rights; make education an important part of the struggle; build a new generation of farmers that will practice agroecology; develop industrialisation hand-in-hand with agroecology; and build a network that will address/link agroecology with landlessness.
The South Asians participants recommended community cooperatives and initiatives must be strengthened; women must be recognized for land entitlement; to fight policies that encourage land grabbing and come-up with laws and policies that will bring about land ownership by the small farmers; call for non-conversion of agricultural lands; encourage traditional farming practices; recognize the rights of Dalits and Indigenous Peoples; link-up with scientists and environmentalists to support cases and to have agroecological policies in place; encourage farmer-to-farmer exchanges; document successes; and sustain campaigns against corporate farming.
The second workshop focused on “ markets and livelihood innovations,” the resource speakers were from KUDUMBAM (India), VIKALPANI women’s federation (Sri Lanka), MASIPAG (Philippines) and PACOS (Malaysia). After the sharing of the speakers, participants had to discuss and come up with plans answering the question, “what are needed to get more support for agroecology and its products?”
The recommendations were: Solidarity enterprise, e.g. PACOS has a collecting center to help producers package and label products; Trainings on SRI, vegetable production, crop diversification, etc. to improve yield and quality of products, and earnings; Recognition by government of the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS); Consumers’ education; Passage of an Organic Law that would include the PGS., and with the local market as the primary target; Creative fund raising, e.g. VIKALPANI sell their products during events/meetings and save/invest this in income-generating projects; Link up with the value chain (ensuring standards, farmer-markets, etc.); Collective action in marketing produce and improving climate resilience; Consumer awareness raising towards market transformation; Socialized pricing scheme. Lower to those who could hardly afford it, and higher to those who could; Green Market, to remove middlemen; Involve consumers , government, and the church in PGS system to make them trust such certification scheme; and Create/Improve institutional systems to get greater support for agroecologically grown crops.
Field visit and youth mobilisation
The second day of the workshop was the youth sector’s involvement in agroecology, which was one of SAMAKI’s main themes. A workshop entitled “mobilising the youth for agroecology” followed by the Community-based Pesticide Action Monitoring (CPAM) App were facilitated in the morning. In the afternoon, the participants had a fruitful visit in the field of one of the farmers supported by CEDAC.
For “mobilising youth for agroecology,” the speakers were Marlon Lester Gueta of National Network of Agrarian Reform-Youth (NNARA-Youth/ Philippines) and Youth for Food Sovereignty, an international network of youth organizations advocating food sovereignty, for the welfare and interests of the youth in rural areas, and their communities; Nasira Habib of Khoj Society for People’s Education (Pakistan, Santhosh Francis of International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth (MIJARC) and PANAP’s Deeppa Ravindran.
Gueta, Habib and Francis shared how their organizations mobilise the youth to be involved in agriculture. Gueta and Francis both belong in youth groups that are actively involved in campaigns while Habib’s is an educational institution for young women and girls that integrates agriculture in the curriculum. Taking off from their sharing, two points were discussed and answered: what are the constraints in mobilising the youth for agroecology? And What are the support needed in mobilising the youth for agroecology?
For the first question, the answers that came up were: Absence of role models that will inspire them to go agroecology; Children of farmers almost have no access to education; The education system pushes the rural children out of farming; Persistence of landlessness; farmers not free to choose the method of farming but are dictated by the landlords; Persistence of land/market monopoly by TNCs; Poor socioeconomic conditions of farmers; Lack of alternative education; Those that give alternative education, do not receive support from government and are “demonized” by the military; and Dislocation/forced evacuation due to militarization.
For the second questions, the answers were: Continue with or put in place rural integration of urban youth programs that will create awareness on the importance of agroecology, and make possible exchanges of life realities between the rural and urban youth; Put together and publish (popularize) case studies of successful farmers; Have celebrities to champion agroecology; Revise the curriculum to include subjects/topics that will entice the youth to go agroecology; Involve the youth in curriculum development; Make youth realize that migrating to cities does not mean better life; Utilize artistic approaches such as theatre, drama, music, visual arts, etc to make the youth excited about agroecology; Engage the youth to join the Youth for Food Sovereignty, a global network; and Organize festivals (e.g. rice/food festival, sports festival, etc.) and events (cooking competitions, best farmer awards, etc.) that will encourage agroecological practices.
For her part, Ravindran shared PANAP’s own innovation, the CPAM App, which allows young people to put their interest in gadgets (mobile phones, tablets, etc.) to good use. The CPAM app is a downloadable application that can be used in monitoring the community’s use of pesticides and its impact to the different aspects of people’s lives.
After the youth workshop, SAMAKI participants had a half-day visit and exchange with Mr. Roos Mao, one of the farmers supported by CEDAC. Apart from diverse organic vegetables, among the features in the farmer’s field were an innovative water system, chicken coop, pest management system, etc. The participants were happy to be part of the visit and agreed that the farm was a smart and creative innovation. It was also cited that the farmer has increased his income greatly. Mr. Mao is only one of the many organic farmers that CEDAC is supporting, in the country.
On IPAM, Pushing policies, campaigning for agroecology and planning for actions
On the third day of the workshop, Terence Lopez of PANAP discussed about PANAP’s agroecology platform, IPAM (International People’s Agroecology Multiversity) and its main feature, the Field Learning Sites (FLS). After the discussion, Lopez facilitated a workshop which encouraged the groups to be part of the FLS if they were not yet part of, and drew recommendations in improving the said platform. After the workshop, 19 FLS were registered, making a total of 46.
After IPAM, a workshop on policy advocacy and campaigning was facilitated. Among the speakers were Meriel Watts of PAN Aotearoa, Yang Hongyan of Pestcide Eco-Alternative Center (China), Rowena Buena of Stop Golden Rice Network and Chennaia Poguri of Asian Peasant Coalition. Watts shared the international advocacy and campaign for agroecology and the banning of highly hazardous pesticides while Hongyan shared the context of China which is now, among the major pesticides producers. Buena discussed about the network’s ongoing campaign against commercialization of golden rice and other Genetically-Modified crops in the region. Poguri shared his groups regional campaigns and advocacy which is focused on farmers rights, land and resources rights and food sovereignty. Sarojeni Rengam of PANAP reported on PANAP’s recent corporate accountability campaign consultation and strategy workshop which was conducted before SAMAKI. She also shared the different regional campaigns and platforms facilitated by PANAP.
The participants then came up with their national plans of action and committed to the regional plan of action to be carried on by PANAP from October 2017-June 2018. Among the regional plans were, the Bhopal tragedy commemoration and No Pesticide Use Week on December 3-10, Human Rights Day action on December 10, Day of the Landless on March 29, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the 16 Days of Global Action on Land and Resources on October 1-16 with the theme “youth’s involvement in agroecology.”
The three-day workshop was concluded by the participants sharing their most significant learnings and the areas that can be explored and tackled on for the next gatherings.
SAMAKI, which means Solidarity in Khmer is a proof that indeed, people are rising up, fighting together in the midst of continuous threats from corporate agriculture and other imperialist forces. A people, united, is truly never defeated. ###
Discussion about this post