IFAD participated in the discussion on agroecology and organic farming in the Himalayas during the UNCCD COP14 side event Future Policy Award led by UNCCD, World Future Council and IFOAM. Practical cases of Sikkim in India and Bhutan in agro-ecology and organic farming were shared. India and Bhutan highlighted the importance of political will, policy frameworks as well as the dynamic role of collective organizations to achieve transition. Changing mind-sets was also identified as crucial, which requires strong policy engagement and leadership. Finally, the need and opportunities for regional collaborations was also raised to facilitate development of policy and an enabling environment.
The session was chaired by Ashok Khosla, Chair of the Centre for Development Alternatives and attended by people who shared their perspectives on how agroecology and organic farming support the transformation to more sustainable agri-food systems.
Introducing the session, Alexander Wandel, Director and Vice-Chair Management Board of World Future Council, gave an overview of the Future Policy Award as an instrument to alert policymakers and the public to the importance of best practices and policy making. It rewards countries states and cities who have taken innovation decisions in promoting agroecology. Based on the examples of the countries or areas that won this Award in the past, such as Ethiopia (Tigray), Niger, Senegal and India (Sikkim), Alexander highlighted the scaling-up of agroecology as an important pathway to achieve the SGDs.
Pradeep Monga, Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCCD, presented the role of agroecology and organic farming in sustainable land management and stressed on how investing in land restoration can contribute to resilience, food and water security including other ecosystem services. Building on the practical experience of China, he strongly believes that investing in innovative policies, practices and partnerships can lead to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets. However, he recognized, the need to have champions at the political level as well as engaging the private sector.
Sharing experiences of Sikkim (winner of the future policy award and first organic state in the world) and evolution of the agroecology concept and process in India, Pawan Chamling, the former Chief Minister of the Government of Sikkim, pointed out that strong political will and leadership is the key of success. His biggest challenge and achievement has been to facilitate a change in the way of thinking and working, starting by convincing farmers and value chain actors. The public sector must create an enabling environment to promote and scale up agroecology.
Yeshey Penjor, Minister of Agriculture and forestry of Bhutan, shared experiences of his country in promoting agroecology and organic farming through decision-making lens. Since 2016, Bhutan has banned chemical pesticides and turned systematically toward organic farming. Bhutan is the world’s only 'carbon-negative' country and working hard maintain this position. He also proposed his political leadership to support regional collaborations in the Himalaya which could more easily operate such “agro-ecological transitions” as it has not yet fully adopted conventional intensification. He expressed interest for instance to work together with India and Nepal on the development and adoption of organic policy
Giving the perspective of civil society organisations (CSO), Rablu Ganguly from IFOA - Organic International highlighted the awareness of smallholder farmers and implications in decision-making for easier up taking up of agroecology and organic farming policies. They presented the Timbaktu collective experience in restoring and regeneration ecosystem alongside organic farming development. Now, 2080 farmers are engaged in organic farming on 10,400 acres and they sell in 251 stores to 25,000 consumers. They are very proud to provide 50 per cent of retail price to farmers. In the follow up discussions, they also mentioned the added value of India Participatory guarantee system to facilitate certification of marginal farmers at a lower costs. They also highlighted how they mobilized self-help group and their specific access to finances to facilitate such transitions.
Jonky Tenou, the IFAD Task Manager of the Resilience Foods Systems programme, emphasized on an integrated and holistic approach to promote agroecology and organic farming that apply ecological and social concepts and principles. Better engagement of stakeholders, including farmers, bringing together formal and informal innovations, and combining indigenous and scientific knowledge are relevant for scaling up of agro-ecology and organic farming.
Find out more: The Mainstreaming of Organic Agriculture and Agroecology in the Himalaya Region. Policy Contexts in Bhutan, India and Nepal