Report on the Challenges for the Implementation of a Transition Process from Conventional to Agroecological Farming in Nicaragua

In the ‘Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas’ (HRCAC 2013), approved in 2013, it is stated that ‘Farmers and rural people have the right to participate in the formulation of policies, decision-making and the implementation and follow-up of any project, programme or policy that affects their lands and territories’ (Article 2.4). In light of this, Nicaraguan rural families have promoted the ‘Farmers’ Jury’ as a space for reflection, analysis and decision-making about the actions needed to contribute to a sustainable production model for the country. In parallel, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) approved the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition (GSF), which recognises that ‘agroecological practices have proved to be important in improving agricultural sustainability as well as the incomes of food producers and their resilience in the face of climate change’. It also underlines ‘The importance of local knowledge in promoting food security, particularly as the latter is influenced by the capacity to manage natural assets and biodiversity and to adapt to the localized impact of climate change’ (CFS 2010: 2.02m). Founded on a broad base of studies carried out by academic, governmental and non-governmental entities, this report examines potential challenges and the possible strategies that would contribute to generating a transition process from the predominant Conventional Agricultural System (CAS) to an Agroecological Food System (AEFS). The report examines the questions presented by the Farmers’ Jury involving: (i) Market policies; (ii) Natural Resource Management (Water and Forests); (iii) Comparative profitability; (iv) Land ownership and public policy; (v) Youth, and (vi) Social awareness about agroecology. It also includes some reflections from witnesses who participated in the deliberative workshop held by the Farmers’ Jury, the Minutes from the Deliberative Process are included in the report’s appendices.Daniel & Nina Carasso FoundationNew Field Foundatio

The Transformative Potential of Agroecological Farmers: An Analysis of Food System Strategies Developed through Participatory Processes in Nicaragua and the UK

Short paper submission for 8th AESOP-Sustainable Food Planning Conference, Coventry (UK) 2017: Re-imagining sustainable food planning, building resourcefulness: Food movements, insurgent planning and heterodox economics. A longer version of this paper can be submitted upon request.In the current social system which tends to marginalise small scale producers, frame the interests of consumers as antithetical to those of producers, and force producers to compete against one another, there are questions about the extent to which strategies and alliances identified by agroecological farmers would be sufficiently transformative (or ‘radical’ according to Holt-Giménez and Shattuck, 2011) to address the problems of our existing food systems. In the context of our globalised and unequal food system, there are also questions about the extent to which strategies of farmers in the so-called global south might complement or contradict those of farmers in the so-called global north. Building on a participatory farmer-led research initiative, this paper analyses the strategies developed by small-scale agroecological producers in the global south (Nicaragua) and north (UK), and the extent to which they might sufficient for transforming food systems to become socially and ecologically regenerative

Learning from Participatory Research and Action Approaches to Transforming Food Systems

Now more than ever, evidence overwhelmingly concludes that our food systems are not currently working to nourish our populations, ecosystems, economies, or social connectionNow more than ever, evidence overwhelmingly concludes that our food systems are not currently working to nourish our populations, ecosystems, economies, or social connections. Agroecological approaches have been shown as having potential to address many of these problems in the mainstream food system, particularly when combined with concepts of food sovereignty, which localise control, and place producers and consumers at the centre of decision-making (Pretty et al 2006, Chappell and LaValle 2009, Sevilla Guzman and Woodgate 2003). However, knowing the principles and the end goals, while invaluable, is not enough. We need to transition from the food systems we currently have to the food systems we envision for future generations. Where do we begin and who should lead that process? In line with principles of food sovereignty, that transition needs to be led and owned not by outside experts or researchers but by the people most directly affected by and typically excluded from decision making within the current food system (i.e. small- and medium -scale farmers, workers involved in harvesting and food processing, cottage manufacturers and consumers across socioeconomic classes). It must also respond to the current level of globalisation of our food systems. For example, a decision to localise consumption in one country can greatly affect export-focused producers and economies in another