Agroecology as an alternative

Agroecology as an alternative (Video four of a four-part series)

In August 2018, the Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA) and the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) hosted a speak-out for SADC smallholder farmers in Windhoek, Namibia, on Farm Input Subsidy Programmes (FISPs).

FISPs are government agricultural programmes that promote Green Revolution inputs produced by multinational corporations, such as chemical fertilizers. In Ghana, for example, up to 47% of the agricultural budget is spent on fertilizer subsidies.

But the top-down FISP packages do not support holistic farming practices. To address this, in Ghana CSOs and farmers have come together to form an agroecology network. At regional level they are creating hubs for farmer-to-farmer training and at national level the network is mobilising for the FISP to be expanded to include support for agroecological farming methods.

Peter Gubbels from Groundswell International and Victoria Adongo from the Peasant Farmers’ Association of Ghana share their experiences and discuss how agroecological practices work with nature to preserve the soil and water, providing organic compost and allowing farmers to grow food sustainably.

This is the fourth video in a series of four produced by the ACB on FISPs.

1. Why farmers find FISP problematic
2. Experiences of FISP
3. Alternatives to FISP
4. Agroecology as an alternative

All ACB video releases are available on the ACB YouTube channel here.

For more information on agroecology in Ghana please see this video made by Groundswell International’s partner organisation CIKOD.

Photo Credits: Groundswell International generously shared many images with us for this video series.

Part four credits also include: FAO/Deborah Duveskog P. Casier (CGIAR) Kazita S.Kilungu (CCAFS) International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Global Justice Now