Advancing the peasant-Led Global AgroEcology and Peasant Seeds Agenda

Partner Organizations: ETC Group (Canada), GRAIN (Spain)

Location(s): Global

Award: $255,000 for 24 months (2014-2016)

This is a collaboration with global reach of the world’s largest peasant movement, La Via Campesina, and two prominent research and advocacy organizations. Activities include research and dissemination of publications, technical support for increased plant breeding and seed storage, facilitated policy discussions and convening the first Roman Forum on Food Sovereignty. This project will provide evidence that agroecology and small holder producers are the foundation for food sovereignty, biodiversity conservation, and climate change.

Goals

Strengthen grassroots peasant agroecology and seed diversity activities worldwide by linking existing initiatives, by networking between peasant agroecology schools, and by facilitating horizontal farmer-to-farmer learning processes;
Substantially increase peasant farmers' voices and participation in international debates and policy fora, to achieve policy environments that favor peasant agroecology;
Campaigning/advocacy/mobilization directed at both public opinion and policy makers, concerning the advantages, for addressing the food, social, climate and other crises, of peasant- and family farm-based agroecology as part of the construction of food sovereignty.
Challenge the industrial food chain by documenting its inefficiencies, lack of diversity, and lack of innovative incapacity to address the climate crisis and food insecurity, and by showing how the corporate controlled food system undermines agroecology and biodiversity.
Strengthening the capacity of LVC regions to amplify on-the-ground agroecology practice through agroecology schools and other training processes, while taking advantage of the training environment to also building advocacy, campaigning and mobilization capacity.

Challenges that the Collaborative faced(s)

Agroecology is at a crossroads, facing its possible cooptation by the mainstream. In this new moment, in which agroecology is being given prominence by both institutions above and movements below, we see universities rush to offer agroecology curricula and government ministries to create agroecology departments and programs and policies. But which view of agroecology will be represented? Will the food system be transformed, with more healthy food for all, or will business as usual continue with a light veneer of "greenwashing"? We are at a critical moment for agroecology, and need to redouble our collective efforts.
Our efforts are seriously constrained by a lack of resources. LVC, for example, represents some 200 organizations in 80 countries. ETC and GRAIN work in many countries. When you get down to it, divided that many ways, the total support available in the funding community still falls way short.
We need to focus more on understanding the processes and key elements behind successful cases of bringing agroecology to scale. So far it is clear that grassroots social movements are the essential starting point. Organization and collective are the culture on which agroecology grows and spreads. But what specific steps can and should movements take to accelerate and strengthen these processes?

Impacts/Milestones/Accomplishments

Agroecology Fund support helped us initiate an agroecology schools network that is strengthening peasant agroecology training in America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Farmers voices have been heard at key forums around the world. In the FAO agroecology process the peasant voice has dominated the agenda and the discourse and we continue to be able to negotiate favorable documents with FAO and some governments.
We have put out crucial reports and materials, and circulated them widely, achieving notable press coverage and a multiplier effect with numerous links on web sites around the world.
We have held many important seed exchanges and provided training to the participants.
The partnership has had an important impact promoting agroecology and food sovereignty as a strategy to deal with the climate crisis.

We have identified major successes in bringing agroecology to scale in the cases of the Campesino-a-Campesino (farmer to farmer) agroecology movement in Cuba, and the Zero Budget Natural Farming movement in India. Through numerous farmer-to-farmer exchanges and training courses offered in India and Cuba, we have sparked new Zero Budget processes in at least Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and new Campesino a Campesino processes in Mozambique, South Korea, El Salvador, Brazil, Colombia, the United States, Canada and elsewhere. Peasants say that “seeing is believing;” being able to visit peers who already practice agroecological farming successfully, who live well and achieve personal satisfaction from it, is what finally convinces other peasants and family farmers to take the leap themselves. Visiting peer organizations with successful agroecology processes, has a similar effect for leaders of other peasant organizations. Through this collaborative, we have been able to take “farmer to farmer” processes to the levels of “farmer organization to farmer organization,” “country to country,” and “continent to continent.”