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Ecological agriculture
in Africa Ecological agriculture
can provide food security and improve rural livelihoods for African
farmers, as well as mitigate and help farmers adapt to climate change.
This was the main conclusion of a Conference on Ecological Agriculture:
Mitigating Climate Change, Providing Food Security and Self-Reliance
for Rural Livelihoods in The Conference was
organised by the African Union (AU), UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ethiopia,
in collaboration with the Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD),
“Support and greater
investment in smallholder farmers should be the path to end poverty
in About 80 participants
from 18 African countries attended the conference to discuss, debate
and map the way forward for ecological agriculture in Please find below
a press release issued on the first day of the meeting and the closing
remarks of the AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture. With best wishes, Lim Li Ching Item 1 African Union Press Release No 153/2008 Workshop on Ecological
Agriculture held in The Workshop is
organised by the African Union (AU), UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ethiopia,
in collaboration with the Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD),
“Support and greater
investment in smallholder farmers should be the path to end poverty
in “Many diverse and creative ecological agriculture practices based on rich traditional knowledge and agro biodiversity are found in Africa, which have been effective in tackling poverty,” she continued, highlighting that “the steep rise in petroleum prices and the consequent increase in the cost of chemical fertilizer is making it essential to improve soil fertility and agricultural productivity in Africa through an effective management of the local resources that are found in the agricultural and surrounding ecosystems”. “Agriculture can be at the centre of the solution to climate change and this is especially true if we link sustainable natural resource management with agriculture. This then can be the basis for development and food security, such as has been demonstrated in ecological agriculture projects in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia”, said Mr. Alexander Mueller, Assistant Director-General of the FAO. Dr Aberra Deressa, Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ethiopia elaborated, “Improvement of natural fertility through organic agriculture is the greatest necessity or alternative option for the future. This can only be achieved by effective management of the ecosystem”. More than eighty participants from primarily Eastern and Southern African countries are attending the workshop. They include representatives from various governments, non-governmental organizations, farmers’ organizations, and international and regional bodies. The Conference was
preceded by a field trip to the Tigray Region in northern The
conference will continue until 28 November 2008, and will present recommendations
derived from discussions during the deliberations, including on how
to mainstream ecological agriculture in ------------ Item 2 CLOSING REMARKS BY H.E. RHODA PEACE TUMUSIIME COMMISSIONER DEPARTMENT FOR RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION * Your Excellencies members of the Diplomatic Community, * Members of Farmer Organizations, NGOs, civil society organizations, * Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen It
is indeed a great pleasure for me to be make some concluding remarks
at this Conference on Ecological Agriculture: Mitigating Climate Change,
Providing Food Security and Self-Reliance for Rural Livelihoods in Africa
– focusing on the rural farmers in More
than 80 participants from 18 African countries as well as international
partners have in the past one week gathered here in Given that agriculture in Africa is dominated by smallholders, (of whom the majority are women); your deliberations here have focussed on the potential of ecological agriculture practices to raise their productivity, rehabilitate the environment, improve incomes and rural livelihoods, as well as mitigate and adapt to climate change. This is crucial to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, several of which could be addressed by ecological agriculture interventions. Specifically the
conference addressed the following issues: 1)
Implications of high input chemical agriculture on the smallholder farmers
of Africa, particularly those in areas threatened by climate change
and desertification and the need for alternative approaches to address
these challenges, 2)
Sharing ecological/sustainable/organic agriculture practices, experiences
and lessons learnt from selected countries, including the Ethiopian
experience in addressing the issues spelled out in this workshop, 3)
Exploring approaches to develop ecological agricultural policies and
strategies for household food security and sustainable rural development
in The challenge is to speed up and share such knowledge, practices and experiences so that policies can be developed to foster and harness the contributions of ecological agriculture and to respond and provide policies that will favour smallholder farmers, while addressing the all encompassing and pressing needs of food security and food safety, environmental degradation, and climate change. This is urgent. The
African Union Commission (as the highest Policy making organ in the
continent) therefore, will accord priority to the recommendations of
this Conference and provide the framework for policies that will not
only act on them, but such that these policies address the needs of
the most vulnerable among us. Policies that will not only empower our
farmers, but will also give them the dignity that they deserve as providers
of food security at household level in In so saying and looking forward to working together, I wish to express our deep appreciation to all of you who have participated in this workshop; and in particular thank the following for their generous financial support and contributions: * SwedBio *
The * The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) * The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) * The Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD), who provided all the logistics for the success of this conference and also organized the field visit to their Tigray Project. *
The *
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of I wish you all safe journeys back to your countries and hope to see you again soon.
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