As a prelude to the Regional Forum on Agroecology in the Congo Basin (FRA-Congo Basin), SAILD organized a brainstorming workshop on August 8 and 9, 2024 at the Ariston Hotel, in Ebolowa in the South region.
Introducing the Regional Forum on Agroecology in the Congo Basin (FRA-Congo Basin); identifying sub-themes; key experts and speakers, and defining the methodology to be adopted during the event were the main objectives of this brainstorming workshop.
Opened by an address from the Secretary General of the Support Service for Local Development Initiatives (SAILD), the meeting was attended by a range of players with specific skills in the fields of agroecology promotion: markets, seeds, policy, biodiversity, etc…. Notably civil society organizations, technical and financial partners such as GIZ, and the government represented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Sustainable Development (MINADER).
Stakeholders were first enlightened on the forum’s objectives and challenges, including:
♦ Influencing policies to recognize agroecology as essential in
production systems, biodiversity and resilience to climate change ;
♦ Establish a framework for concertation between the state and civil society organizations (CSOs) to influence policies ;
♦ Promote local marketing and consumption.
Afterwards, each of the participants drew on their own experiences to add dynamism to the discussions. Thanks to everyone’s contribution, sub-themes were identified for the forum. These included “Agroecology, gender and social inclusion”, “Agroecology and food sovereignty”, “Agroecology and economic issues”, “Policy framework for agroecology”, “Agroecology and production systems”, “Agroecology and capacity building” and “Financing agroecological systems”.
Participants also expressed the hope that the forum would make a significant contribution to raising awareness of agroecology, promoting its development and, above all, influencing agricultural and agroecological policies in the Congo Basin and Cameroon.
After three working sessions, the workshop was able to structure and draw up the terms of reference for the Regional Forum on Agroecology in the Congo Basin (FRA-Congo Basin). Scheduled for November 2024, the event will help raise the profile of agroecology in the sub-region.
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