Guía de mejores prácticas para la agricultura y cadenas de valor (anexo 3 del informe técnico final)

The “Best Practice Guideline for Agriculture and Value Chains” is a document developed by the organic movement and a contribution to the global discussion on sustainable agriculture. This document encompasses the entire value chain until the final consumer. Each party in the value chain can use the guidelines regardless of their own stage of development. The guidelines and practices the document describes are the result of a participatory process by members of the organic movement and reflect the collected thought gathered in that process. The document is intended to be formative, not normative. It divides sustainability into five complementary and interactive dimensions: social, ecological, economic, cultural and accountability. Each dimension is presented with its own objectives and is divided into a set of complementary facets with its related best practices that are discussed in terms of the values and approach of the organic movement. This document recognizes that best practice is context specific and sustainability is dynamic: what constitutes a holistic approach to best practice evolves over time for any given party. Best practice implicitly embodies an attitude of continual improvement

Participatory system of guarantees – PSG of the Red de Mercados Agroecológicos de Bogotá Región RMABR. A contribution to the sustainability of agroecological producers and markets

Following the development of a framework of sustainability indicators for the Red de Mercados Agroecológicos de Bogotá Región – RMABR, in 2016, it was identified, that only 56% of its producers were agroecological, while the remaining were mostly in the process of agroecological transition. To address this problem, this Participatory Action Research – PAR was carried out in 2016, which included the design, implementation, and evaluation of a PSG. The methodology was subdivided into five phases: participatory diagnosis, agreement on the same language, design of the Participatory System of Guarantees – PSG, pilot implementation, evaluation, and adjustment. The developed PSG encompasses a structure with a PSG committee and certification visiting teams; a justification, definition, and principles of agroecology; formats for participatory certification, agroecological transition plans, seal, and sanctions. PSG is operating, it is cheaper than the Third Party Certification – TPC, it allows certifying producers giving coherence to markets and confidence to consumers, promotes agroecology in producers and allows them to sell in local markets, and has generated cohesion in the RMABR