ActionAid was one of our new partners in 2007, and also one of the largest. We have committed three years of funding to support their work in the dry lands of Ceará State, Brazil. They will be working with some of the poorest families, and within these, focusing on the groups most vulnerable to food insecurity.
ActionAid believes that making sure communities have control over natural resources is the key to promoting food security, so education and support surrounding Seed Banks will form the core of this project. It also aims to strengthen farmers' self-sufficiency and ability to influence public policies.
It is a wide reaching project, with 2,968 family farmers directly benefitting. A further 14,800 people will also feel the impact through improved farming practices.
Families in this area have been finding it increasingly difficult to survive due to a combination factors.
Most recently, long periods of drought have exacerbated poor planting techniques which are damaging the soil. In addition, while credit is available it comes with very high interest rates which are not accessible by many family farmers.
All in all, it means that many people of Ceará State are vulnerable to food insecurity, especially children, women and the elderly.
Government policy has also aggravated this difficult situation, as it provides foreign seeds which require expensive investment and threaten local biodiversity. ActionAid are working with local partners ESPLAR to improve the situation and our partnership has now added to this good work.
The overall aim is to work with family farmers in 10 municipalities and consolidate 130 community seed banks to both raise their profile and to tackle growing hunger problems in the area.
It will support the Seed Exchange Network of Ceará State (RIS-CE) by promoting the exchange of seed bank models amongst family farmers while championing them as a food security public policy for the State.
This will strengthen the ability of family farmers to produce seeds for planting while also preserving biodiversity. Crops include mango, cashew, banana, melon, watermelon, canapum, umbu and graviola.
There are specific goals for each year of the project, and those that will span all three years of the project. Long term they hope to provide technical assistance and training to young people and rural leaders to manage seed banks. This will also include training in community organisation methods, gender issues, communication, participation, and public policy lobbying.
More practically, the project will establish seed production fields to supply 2,968 farmers and families in 15 areas to ensure there is access and training in sustainable planting techniques. Over the next two years it will also consolidate knowledge about seed banks by promoting of RIS-CE meetings, and producing communication material and exchange visits to share experiences. It also hopes to promote the seed banks model as a food security public policy through seminars with civil society and government, and the participation of rural leaders in the Food Security Forum at State level.
Objectives Update : August '07
- ESPLAR representatives have participated in the Biodiversity Working Group and in the Gender Working Group of the National Agro-ecology Alliance. These working groups are made up of NGO's and social movements and aim to make a link between local experiences and public policy.
- Consolidation and re-organisation of seed houses is taking place in some municipalities. This involves both technical and organisational processes being adopted including the selection of seeds, quality of the seeds, storage, stock control, management of Seed Houses and community production.
- Follow up and further training is taking place at the seed production camps that have been set-up. These are exclusive areas that have been set-up for the reproduction of seeds that are threatened by genetic erosion.
- Rural leaders have attended a workshop on agro-biodiversity. The skills learnt are then passed down and spread to farmers in the local communities.
- ActionAid Brazil have financed a paper by ESPLAR on the 'Legislation on Seeds: Rights of and Threats for Family Farming'
- Farmer-to-farmer exchange visits have taken place to the municipalities of Lagoa Seca and Remígio in the Paraiba State.
- A biodiversity and GM seminar in the municipality of Choró has also taken place for male and female family farmers of the central Sertao region. These seminars aim to spread skills and techniques to wide audiences in the region.
www.actionaid.org