Ouagadougou: The regional coordination of COPAGEN and allied members and platforms met on Thursday to develop a roadmap and establish a permanent consultation framework for social movements, around peasant agroecology in West Africa.

For the Secretary General of COPAGEN, Jean-Paul Sikeli, the objective of the regional workshop is to contribute to strengthening the action and reaction capacities of social movements favorable to peasant agroecology in West Africa.

‘Agroecology has three dimensions, notably the agronomic dimension which translates on the ground into the adoption of sustainable farming practices, the scientific dimension, agroecology being since the 80s a discipline taught in specialized schools and universities and the dimension linked to social movements,’ he continued.

Jean-Paul Sikeli and spokesperson for the workshop, indicated that the emphasis is placed on the first two dimensions of agroecology, the third being neglected and obscured in the debates.

However, according to him, the grow
th and influence of agroecology depends on taking into account the three dimensions which present themselves as sine qua non and cumulative conditions for the realization of this virtuous agricultural model.

‘By way of conclusion, the various networks and platforms have renewed their interest and demonstrated their desire to work more closely together to succeed in the challenge of promoting and effectively scaling up the agroecology of our terroirs and in our nations,’ added Mr. Sikeli.

The Secretary General highlighted as salient points the strengthening of capacities for the critical analysis of policies/programs, the management of collective advocacy campaigns for the recognition and promotion of farmer research, by pooling the strengths of different platforms and organizations. and production of evidence to strengthen the argument.

Jean-Paul Sikeli also cited the implementation of support-advice mechanisms to facilitate the popularization of successful models in terms of subsidizing bio-inputs and the
mobilization of more resources focused on endogenous mechanisms.

As a prelude to the meeting, a map of networks and platforms was developed and served as a basis for reflection.

These actions are planned as part of the ‘Support for ecological transition by CSOs in West Africa’ Program, supported by the NGO OXFAM.

Source: Burkina Information Agency